Isaiah's repentance

Chapter 6 of Isaiah contains only 13 verses, but, wow, is it dense! Over the course of those 13 verses, Isaiah

• sees a vision of God in heaven surrounded by angels
• realizes his own lack of holiness in relation to God's perfection
• repents of his sins
• receives a (painful) forgiveness of his sins
• answers God's call to be his messenger
• hears God's plan of impending destruction, and the reason for that coming doom
• receives a hint of God's plan to save a holy remnant

That is, in essence, the entire message of the Bible jammed into 13 verses! Needless to say, there is too much material here to cover in one post.

Therefore, I'd like to draw attention to Isaiah's repentance and forgiveness. In verse 5 (KJV), Isaiah proclaims,

Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

Then, in verses 6-7 (KJV), one of the angels...

... having a live coal in his hand ... laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Isaiah didn't offer excuses or explanations for his sins. He didn't even name specific transgressions. Rather, he simply and humbly acknowledged his falling short of God's perfection. God does not require flashy shows of repentance or eloquent appeals in iambic pentameter; he only requires a contrite heart.

But note that the process of forgiveness was painful! A hot coal, taken from the alter, must have scorched Isaiah's mouth. The Bible includes many examples of painful cleansing from sin. But more important than anything, Isaiah was, indeed, cleansed.

Simply repentance, and simple (yet possibly painful) forgiveness. Let those ideas animate our prayers today.