There is none that calleth upon thy name: that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity.
וְעַתָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אָבִ֣ינוּ אָ֑תָּה אֲנַ֤חְנוּ הַחֹ֙מֶר֙ וְאַתָּ֣ה יֹצְרֵ֔נוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדְךָ֖ כֻּלָּֽנוּ׃
4 Church Fathers comment on this verse
No one invokes Your name or reflects on You; thus, You have turned Your gaze from us. In Your wrath, You instilled fear within us, leading us to shy away from You. You have given us over to our transgressions. This is not a message meant for the prophet, but rather for the people. It could be more accurately expressed that because He was displeased with us, we have perpetrated even more grievous wrongs; consequently, He turned against us and showed indifference.
And there was no one among them who understood the necessity of seeking God, or who remembered the importance of pursuing a vibrant relationship with Him. However, they lament that we have descended into such a state of misery that You have turned Your gaze from us and allowed us to fall prey to our own transgressions; for it was unfeasible to show favor to those who had alienated themselves from You, and it was essential for those laden with countless sins to be subjected to various afflictions.
There is no one who invokes Your name, who will rise up and remain steadfast for You. You have concealed Your face from us and afflicted us with the consequences of our transgressions. No one calls upon Your name or remembers to seek after You. For You have turned Your countenance away from us and have given us over to our sins. Like leaves falling from trees, dried and scattered by the wind, there was no one found who called upon Your name, who emerged from the ruins of his sins, grasped onto You, and proclaimed with the bride, "I have found whom my soul loves; I will cling to Him and will not let Him go" (Song of Solomon 3).
Scripture mentions the wind in three contexts: as a symbol of significant temptations, as a reference to false teachings, or simply as the natural wind which gathers clouds and condenses the air. The Gospel speaks of temptations in this way: "The rains descended, the rivers came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; yet it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock" (Matthew 7:25). Concerning the shifting of doctrines, we are warned not to be swayed by every wind of teaching propagated by deceitful men (Ephesians 4:14). In a literal sense, it states, "and they could not row because the wind was against them" (Mark 6:48), which may also be understood allegorically, serving merely as a metaphor. When God withdraws His face from us, we experience the afflictions of our iniquities or are tested because of our sins. Thus, we learn that iniquity has its own hands, just as all sin seeks to hold us tightly. In this way, the tongue holds both death and life (Proverbs 18:21), and the righteous pray not to be overcome by the prideful (Psalm 35:12). As the Lord turns His face from us, we remember that it is written, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Joel 2:32), and we will invoke His name, saying, "I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide" (Psalm 31:5). I confess my wrongdoing to the Lord, and You have removed the wickedness of my heart. Consequently, the Lord will respond, "I have removed the burden of your iniquity and the veil of your sins" (Isaiah 44:22), and we shall declare: "Shine upon us, O Lord, and we will be saved" (Psalm 79:4), that we might not remain captives of sin, but be servants of Yours. For anyone who engages in sin is enslaved by it (John 8:34).
Isaiah expresses a deep sorrow when he states, "And we are all faded as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away. And there is none that call upon Thy name, that lay hold on Thee" (Isaiah 64:6-7). Nonetheless, the righteous, due to the purity they have attained, can endure the scorn of such accusations. Yet, they are not so fortified in their goodness that they can eliminate the consequence of death from humanity. The Savior of mankind, who became the mediator between God and humankind through His incarnation, is the only one who has revealed Himself as truly righteous among people, yet He faced suffering without deserving it. He instructed humanity to avoid sin and interceded with God, pleading that the human race not be condemned. He embodied innocence and willingly bore the punishment for wrongdoing.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS