NOTES for Isa 58:1-9
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. |
2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. |
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. |
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. |
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? |
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? |
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? |
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. |
9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; |
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Today the prophet Isaiah tells us how any works we do while obeying God and acknowledging His rightness and wisdom still become food for our egoism. Fasting would appear to be something a person does because the Lord has said many times how important it is for strengthening faith. Yet the confidence that I am the center of the world is so strong that God, and even more the people around us, become those who must patiently endure my bad mood, my nasty character, and everything connected with me. The main purpose of the world around me is to forget itself and serve completely the smooth running of my fast. This picture is terrible and funny. It is hard to imagine a greater absurdity. And nevertheless the prophet warns us that this is precisely the first and difficult trial for a person: fasting is a time of service to God and neighbor. Service, not bringing both God and neighbor into line with my ideas about how they should behave during my fast.
Readings for 7 March 2025
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