Isaiah 63:19

We are thine. “Thine” is supplied. It is possible to translate the passage, “We are as those over whom thou hast never ruled, as those upon whom thy name has not been called.” The basis of Israel’s plea is that they had sunk to the level of the heathen, who had never acknowledged God. Was that right? Should God allow the children of Abraham, those who had acknowledged Him as their Father (v. 16), to be in the same condition as others whom He had never recognized? Isaiah’s confession on behalf of the people (see on ch. 59:12, 13) here reaches its lowest depth of anguish. They feel themselves to be deeply humiliated in that God has seemingly rejected them, and they beg humbly that they may not be cast off utterly. It is this spirit of utter dejection and despair that causes them to lift up their eyes to Heaven in the prayer that opens the following chapter. For the background of this situation see on ch. 40:1.