“Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.””
Isaiah 6:5-7 NASB1995
I am often bemused (or disturbed) by people who claim that when they die and supposedly reach heaven, they are going to stand there and waggle a finger and give God an earful of complaints about the injustices and inequities that happened in their lives. I think their real reaction would be more like Isaiah’s, in that they would now realize how much of a miserable sinner they are when faced with a terrifying Holy God. Or perhaps they will react like Peter did, when he realized who Jesus was (my emphasis added):
“Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.””
Luke 5:1-10 NASB1995
We are like rats scuttling around in the darkness, then the pure light of righteousness shines on us and we either freeze in place or scatter into the shadows. That light shows us as we really are. J. Vernon McGee has this to say about Isaiah (and others) and their reactions to a Holy God, as quoted in Precept Austin:
Isaiah was God’s man before he had this experience, but it still had a tremendous effect on him. The reaction of Isaiah to such a vision is revolutionary. He sees himself as he really is in the presence of God -- undone. It reveals to him his condition. When he had seen God, he could see himself. The problem with many of us today is that we don’t walk in the light of the Word of God. If we did, we would see ourselves. That is what John is talking about in the first chapter of his first epistle: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth [keeps on cleansing] us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7). If we walk in the light of His Word, we are going to see exactly what Isaiah saw -- that we are undone and men of unclean lips. You have never really seen the Lord, my friend, if you feel that you are worthy or merit something or have some claim upon God.
Job had an experience similar to Isaiah’s, and his reaction was, “I abhor myself.” Job was a self-righteous man. He could maintain his integrity in the presence of his friends who were attempting to tear him to bits. They told him that he was a rotten sinner, but he looked them straight in the eye and said, “As far as I know, I am a righteous man.” From his viewpoint he was right, and he won the match against them. But he was not perfect. When Job came into the presence of God, he no longer wanted to talk about maintaining his righteousness. When Job really saw who he was, he said,
“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5, 6).
If you walk in the light of the Word of God, you will see yourself, and you will know that even as a child of God you need the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you from all sin.
You will find that other men had the same reaction when they came into the presence of God. John, on the Isle of Patmos, wrote, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead … “ (Rev 1:17-note). When Daniel saw the Lord, he said, “Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength” (Da 10:8-note). That was also the experience of Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul the apostle. After Paul met the Lord, he no longer saw himself as a self-righteous Pharisee, but as a lost sinner in need of salvation. He then could say, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Php 3:7-note). He saw his need of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah hears the beautiful singing of the seraphim and immediately realizes that he is ruined (using the words “woe is me”) because his lips are unclean and he lives with a people that have unclean lips. I recently cited part of this passage from Matthew but am repeating it again, because it reinforces the idea that our lips and mouths are sources of great sin:
“You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.””
Matthew 15:7-20 NASB1995
I am convicted of my sin every time I read this passage. I still use swear words and occasionally take the name of the Lord in vain (I’m getting better - these are long-ingrained habits). I still prevaricate and slander others and lie with false flatteries and have evil thoughts. What goes into our sewers is much less filthy that what we humans bring out of our hearts and through our mouths.
The seraphim gathers a burning coal from the altar and brings it to Isaiah, touching it to Isaiah’s lips, telling Isaiah that his iniquity has been removed and his sin is forgiven. That sounds pretty painful and I’m so glad that my sins are forgiven by the atonement of our Lord Jesus on the cross.
This commentary from Enduring Word is quite good:
a. Woe is me, for I am undone: What made Isaiah feel like he was coming apart? Two things. First, the sight and sound of the seraphim. Second, the vision of the Lord GOD.
i. When Isaiah saw the angels, in all their holy humility, obedience, and praise to God, he realized not only that he was unlike the Lord GOD, he was also unlike the angels. They could cry out Holy, holy, holy and praise God so beautifully, but he could not because he was a man of unclean lips. “I am a man of unclean lips; I cannot say, Holy, holy, holy! which the seraphs exclaim. They are holy; I am not so: they see God and live; I have seen him, and must die, because I am unholy.” (Clarke)
ii. When Isaiah saw the LORD, he knew what kind of man he was. As poorly as he compared to the seraphim, that was nothing in relation to how he compared to the LORD. This vision (or actual experience) of the throne of God did not immediately make Isaiah feel good. The more clearly he saw the LORD, the more clearly he saw how bad his state was.
iii. Isaiah’s deep sense of depravity is consistent with the experience of other godly men in the presence of the LORD. Job (Job 42:5-6), Daniel (Daniel 10:15-17), Peter (Luke 5:8) and John (Revelation 1:17) each had similar experiences.
iv. I am undone is not a bad place to be. “God will never do anything with us till he has first of all undone us.” (Spurgeon)
b. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: Isaiah saw his sinfulness, and the sinfulness of his people, mainly in terms of sinful speech.
i. By nature, our lips are full of flattery and false intent: With flattering lips and a double heart they speak (Psalm 12:2). By nature, our lips lie and are proud: Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous (Psalm 31:18). By nature, our lips deceive: Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit (Psalm 34:13). By nature, our lips are violent: Swords are in their lips (Psalm 59:7). By nature, our lips bring death to others: The poison of asps is under their lips (Psalm 140:3).
ii. Isaiah did not think for a moment that this was his only sin, but he saw that this was an example of the great and incurable disease of sin in him and his people.
c. For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts: Isaiah was a righteous, godly man by all outward appearance. Yet when he saw the enthroned King, the LORD of hosts, he saw how sinful he was in comparison.
i. Isaiah’s life may have been as brilliant as a diamond. But when you lay a diamond against a perfectly black background and have the right light upon it, you can see every flaw and imperfection – flaws that were invisible before. Even so, when Isaiah’s righteous life lay against the background of God’s perfection, it looked different.
…
And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”a. And he touched my mouth with it: This must have been painful; a burning hot coal applied to the lips, one of the more sensitive areas of the body. Yet, nothing is written that Isaiah reacted in pain. Either there was no pain, because of a special blessing by God, or the pain did not matter because of the majesty of the surroundings and the goodness of the cleansing.
i. Isaiah knew he did not serve the LORD like these seraphim, the burning ones. So God said, “I will light a fire in you, also!” That is why a burning coal was used to purify Isaiah. “Jehovah, who is a consuming fire, can only fitly be served by those who are on fire, whether they be angels or men.” (Spurgeon)
ii. Isaiah cried out, Woe is me, for I am undone! (Isaiah 6:5) We might think that a burning coal to the lips would be more painful than a vision of the holy God. But for Isaiah, it was more disturbing to see the holiness of God, and to see his lack of holiness, than it was to have a burning coal applied to his lips.
b. Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged: Isaiah’s sin had to be burned away; the fire of judgment was applied to his place of sin.
i. This was obviously a spiritual transaction. If one has a sinful mouth, it will do nothing to place a burning hot coal on their lips. That will not take away or purge their sin.
ii. Yet, the same principle works on our behalf in regard to Jesus’ work on Calvary. Our sin was placed upon Him, and He was burned with the fire of God’s judgment. Yet because He was holy and righteous Himself, the fire of God’s judgment did not harm Him; it only burned away the sin, our sin.
iii. Once Isaiah had met with the LORD, been convicted of his sin, and cleansed from its guilt, then he was ready to serve God. “The effect of that live coal will be to fire the lip with heavenly flame. ‘Oh,’ says one man, ‘a flaming coal will burn the lip so that the man cannot speak at all.’ That is just how God works with us; it is by consuming the fleshly power that he inspires the heavenly might. Oh let the lip be burnt, let the fleshly power of eloquence be destroyed, but oh for that live coal to make the tongue eloquent with heaven’s flame; the true divine power which urged the Apostles forward, and made them conquerors of the whole world.” (Spurgeon)
We are undone by the presence of God. It is not an experience that makes Isaiah, a God-fearing and righteous man, feel good or at peace. We as believers in Christ can be eternally grateful that we will not be subjected to the Great White Throne judgment of those who do not believe (Revelation 20:11-15). No one will be stomping their feet and yelling at a perfect God, but they will have the deep and woeful understanding at last that they are bound for eternal and painful separation from that God. And hell will not be a party of unrepentant sinners high-fiving each other. Is this fair? God’s judgment and righteousness are always perfect and fair. It is up to us to catch the fire and go out into the world to preach Christ’s salvation to as many as possible before that judgment arrives.
My next devotional examines Isaiah 6:8 - Isaiah says “send me”.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - When I shine a light on myself from Your Word, I know that I am a dreadful sinner. I cannot express enough gratitude to You for Your salvation of miserable sinners. Please help me to bring Your message to many! Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 09/11/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 6:5-7.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. At the link referenced, the bibliography used by David Guzik can be accessed.