Isaiah 63:15 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Look down from heaven: now they, or the prophet, begin to pray, and expostulate with God, and to argue both from the goodness of his nature, and from the greatness of his works that he had done. God sees every where and every thing, but he is said to look down from heaven, because there is his throne, whereon he sits in great majesty and splendour. Behold is added to note that he would not only barely see and look on, but that he would behold with regard, and respect his poor people in captivity. The habitation of thy holiness; a description of heaven by a periphrasis, frequently used and explained, Deuteronomy 26:15. W here is thy zeal ? what is become of that love which of old would not let time suffer thy people to be wronged? Isaiah 37:32. Thy strength; that power of thine manifested in those valiant acts which thou didst put forth for thy people, Psalms 145:11,12 Psalms 150:2: see Jeremiah 14:9. The sounding of thy bowels: by the sounding thereof may be understood those sympathizing sighs and compassionate groans that proceed from the bowels when they are affected, which being thought the subject of pity are often by a metonymy put for compassion, and hence proceed those rumblings of the bowels occasioned by strong passions called yearnings: it is spoken of God after the manner of men. Is all this shut up from me? Thou art naturally so compassionate, dost thou lay a restraint upon thyself, that thy bowels shall not move towards me? Are they restrained? or canst thou be thus straitened? Psalms 77:7-9 Isaiah 64:12; an expostulation, that agrees very well with the next verse, Doubtless, & c. How can this come to pass?