Isaiah 58 - True Fasting

True Fasting

¹ "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
² 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.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
'and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?'

"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
⁴ 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.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

⁶ "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?
⁷ 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 him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness ^F125 will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

¹³ "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
¹⁴ then you will find your joy in the LORD ,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.



Sometimes, we tend to do things for the sake of doing things. We go to church, come for cell groups, serve in ministries, weeks after weeks, months after months. In the beginning of Isaiah 58, people's hearts were not with God, they were religious; they gathered together during Sabbath day, they were fasting. They did all they were required to do, they followed the law (Levicticus 16:31). They asked God why He hasn't answered their prayers.

God replied in v5 and v6. What is the type of fasting He has chosen? Isn't it about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, setting the oppressed free? Isn't it about blessing others with what we have? Too often our fastings has been according to our own reasonings and ideas. The heart of fasting is not for God's sake, but for us being sensitive enough to go out and meet others' needs.

1 Chron 4:9-10

⁹ Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, ^F38 saying, "I gave birth to him in pain."
¹⁰ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

Jabez prayed for blessings, territory, protection, power. In the last part of his prayer he asked for deliverance from the devil.

When we are blessed by God with many things, the devil is not gonna be happy. He's gonna try to take things away from us; he came to this earth to steal, kill and destroy.

When our territories are expanded, the devil is gonna try to take back these territories. He knows that wherever we go, we are an influence to these territories that we have, and we carry God's blessings into them.

When we know God's hand is with us, the devil is gonna put his thoughts and lies in our mind. He's gonna twist the truth and stumble us.

Jabez prayed "that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" He wanted to know that when the devil approach him, God is gonna stand in front. When temptation comes, he wants to be sure that God will deliver him away from sin.

When we are tempted, we tend to think that we are able to cope with it, just because we have been Christians long enough, that we have the "ability" to stay away from it.

Jesus was tempted, yet He did not sin! When Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11), He quoted scriptures. He quoted the truth. We need not struggle with temptation, we simply turn away from it. The truth is that it is not about our ability to fight with temptations, coz with our humanly abilities we are defeated. It is about how we face it, do we turn to Him, who loves us so much that He chose to die for our sins, or do we depend on what we can do? He gave us a new life, a life free from oppression; we need not turn to our old ways anymore :)

Psalm 39:1-13

¹ I said, "I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are in my presence."
² But when I was silent and still,
not even saying anything good,
my anguish increased.
³ My heart grew hot within me,
and as I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ "Show me, O LORD , my life's end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting is my life.
⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each man's life is but a breath.
Selah
⁶ Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.

⁷ "But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
⁸ Save me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the scorn of fools.
⁹ I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
for you are the one who has done this.
¹⁰ Remove your scourge from me;
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
¹¹ You rebuke and discipline men for their sin;
you consume their wealth like a moth-
each man is but a breath.
Selah

¹² "Hear my prayer, O LORD ,
listen to my cry for help;
be not deaf to my weeping.
For I dwell with you as an alien,
a stranger, as all my fathers were.
¹³ Look away from me, that I may rejoice again
before I depart and am no more."


David thought that it would be better for him to keep quiet; not to say good or bad when the wicked are in his presence, but he found out that it burned him from within when he was silent. As Christians, we are called to be salt and light of the world, we are called to make a difference. It's in our nature (Christians) to make things right, and to do right things. This is what we are commissioned to do.

I am not making a difference if I keep everything to myself, pretending that it's more peaceful. In fact, I am an influence, an influence in my church, cell group, workplace, uni. I should stand up and stand for what is right, and turn down what is wrong.