Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD? Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?
As we have the Lamentations of Jeremiah, so here we have the Lamentations of Isaiah; the subject of both is the same - the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans and the sin of Israel that brought that destruction - only with this difference, Isaiah sees it at a distance and laments it by the Spirit of prophecy, Jeremiah saw it accomplished. In these verses, I.
Commenting on Isaiah 64:6-12
Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord?.... From delivering us out of our troubles and miseries, and taking vengeance on our enemies, and showing thy zeal for thine own glory; or, as Kimchi paraphrases it, "how canst thou contain thyself for these things, and not have mercy?'' how canst thou bear to see Judea, and all its cities, a wilderness; Jerusalem, and the temple of it, in ruins?
for these things--Wilt Thou, notwithstanding these calamities of Thy people, still refuse Thy aid (Isa 42:14)? In Isa 64:9, their plea was, "we are all Thy people." In answer, God declares that others (Gentiles) would be taken into covenant with Him, while His ancient people would be rejected.