This Advent Series, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, helps us to imagine the longing the Israelites must have felt as they waited for Jesus the Messiah to come, and it helps us to grapple with the longing we feel now as we wait for His return.
To know someone is to understand who they are on the most personal level. ... A basic idea that underlies the entire Old Testament is that God may be known by His actions in the world. The Israelitesunderstood that God's actions in the arena of human history were not just God amazing mortals with His power. Neither were they solely aimed at easing the plight of the people, although they did that. God always acted in history to reveal Himself to the world.
Israel wanted God to do for them what He had done in the past. They may not have realized their part in their own pain, but they knew that they were in pain and needed God to make Himself known to relieve that pain. This ia a call for God to do the work that He has done in the past, by any means necessary.