Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Remember when you were in school and you were typing a paper? Maybe it was a lengthy paper and you had done a lot of research and put a lot of time into it or maybe it was last minute and you were scrambling to get it in on the due date. At any rate, you get the paper done, push print, something happens, and your entire paper disappears. Wow! What a frustrating experience! Imagine that was scaled to an entire year? What if everything you have given your efforts to this year was gone, worthless. What if all your health goals, your financial savings, all the work you did at work, all the things you learned in school were just gone? It would be devastating to have wasted all that effort.
What if it was something even more devastating? What if it was your relationship with God? Everything you had done, giving, church attendance, good deeds, was all just absolutely worthless? Well, Isaiah 58 gives us just that very prospect. God is addressing people who actually took delight in being religious and spiritual. They sacrificed and fasted, something that we Americans don’t seem to do much, yet God basically told them in verse 4, “You can’t be religious in the way you are being religious right now and expect your prayers to be heard in Heaven.”
What did He mean by that? Verse 6 God goes on, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” God goes on to essentially say, “This is the fast that means something to Me, when you do right by other people.” To be sure, God was not abrogating the Jewish people their obligation to Him as far as worship of Jehovah was concerned, but He was saying that the kind of worship of God that is significant is when it goes along with your heart. It is not just something you are doing, it is something you are. That is indicated by not just how you treat God, but by how you treat other people.
I have to tell you that in the morning there are times I can feel really spiritual. I am reading my Bible and drinking good coffee. It is quiet and dark and I am seeing great things in my Bible that I think will help me that day. I feel really spiritual until about 7:20 when I find people. Even if the people are ones I love and work with and there is a question, problem, or text before the day begins, it can cause irritation, I’m sorry to say. What happens is that I’m not nearly as spiritual as I felt like I was. The reason is because your relationship with God will never rise higher than your relationship and dealings with other people.
Is it possible for someone to be a “nice guy” who treats other people well, but doesn’t even know God? Yes! Well then, is it possible for someone to be very religious, maybe even a preacher, to do good things, to sacrifice, to give, and to be involved in the community, yet not be right with God? In other words, this person is very religious outwardly, but has no relationship with God that is worth much. The answer is yes. Isaiah 59 goes on to say, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened.” It is not that God can’t hear you to save you, but your iniquities have separated you from your God.
What follows is a chorus on judgment. God says that judgment, justice, and truth have fallen away. He basically says, “You are worshipping Me, but you are not doing right by other people.” Any religion that doesn’t change the way you treat other people is not what God wants. In Isaiah 1 God says, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?” He goes on essentially saying, “I am full of all the burnt offerings you have given Me. I didn’t ask you to do this. Your sacrifices are vain, an abomination, an iniquity. My soul hates them. It is a trouble to Me. I’m weary to bear them. Away with them.” That is really strong language.
God is not saying that your religion, actions, or worship are unimportant. What God is saying is that worship should be from the heart, and worship from the heart is going to include your dealings with other people. If you are not right with the people in your house, you are not right with the people in your church, which means you are not right with God. If you are not doing right by the people in your church, no matter how much of a leader you may be, how pious you may be, or how many religious things you do, you can’t possibly be right with God.
If you are using your power to do wrong by other people, God knows that. If you are using your power to even affect your superiors, withholding information they need regarding what you will do, that is just a different form of not doing right by people. I want to do right by God, and I don’t want anything that I do “for the Lord” to be a waste.
So, Isaiah 58 and 59 remind us that your relationship with God will never rise higher than your dealings with other people.