As the Prophet Isaiah proclaims a new day – sins forgiven and a new love for the Lord – we read some disconcerting words.  Maybe they are distressing because they cut to the quick. I am trying to read the following passages by substituting my faith in my good deeds.  Listen in.

 “For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.”

This does sound familiar. Are we not a Godly people, doing what we hope will please Him? Hold tight. They fasted to gain God’s favor, presumably. They thought God would be pleased. Here is what God replied, through the Prophet Isaiah.

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.

“Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.  You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

“Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to  humble themselves?  Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?  Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”  From Isaiah 58.