Isaiah Chapter 58 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Isaiah 58:1–2
Shout out loud! Don't hold back! Raise your voice like a shofar! Proclaim to my people what rebels they are, to the house of Ya'akov their sins. "Oh yes, they seek me day after day and delight in knowing my ways. As if they were an upright nation that had not abandoned the rulings of their God, they ask me for just rulings and [claim] to take pleasure in closeness to God,
The shofar speaks of God's faithful provision for the needs of his people to carry out his will. Here, Isaiah is told to shout out loud like a shofar telling the people of Judah about their disobedience to the will of God. This verse reminds us that the first step in serving God is to properly deal with sin. We see that it appears like the people are seeking God and desiring to be close to him.
Isaiah 58:3–5
[asking,] 'Why should we fast, if you don't see? Why mortify ourselves, if you don't notice?' "Here is my answer: when you fast, you go about doing whatever you like, while keeping your laborers hard at work. Your fasts lead to quarreling and fighting, to lashing out with violent blows. On a day like today, fasting like yours will not make your voice heard on high. "Is this the sort of fast I want, a day when a person mortifies himself? Is the object to hang your head like a reed and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself? Is this what you call a fast, a day that pleases ADONAI?
Now, we see that there is a problem and that is the fact that the people are fasting and praying not for drawing close to God and his plan but for their own plans. They are doing so in hopes of gaining strength to fight the enemy but that is not God's purpose and so it has no effect.
Isaiah 58:6–7
"Here is the sort of fast I want - releasing those unjustly bound, untying the thongs of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke, sharing your food with the hungry, taking the homeless poor into your house, clothing the naked when you see them, fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen!"
In this passage, we see that God's desire for us is to alleviate the suffering of those around us and not fasting in hopes of God giving us what we want.
Isaiah 58:8–10
Then your light will burst forth like the morning, your new skin will quickly grow over your wound; your righteousness will precede you, and ADONAI's glory will follow you. Then you will call, and ADONAI will answer; you will cry, and he will say, "Here I am." If you will remove the yoke from among you, stop false accusation and slander, generously offer food to the hungry and meet the needs of the person in trouble; then your light will rise in the darkness, and your gloom become like noon.
When we do this, we will be an instrument that displays the glory of God and we will be in his presence.
Isaiah 58:11–12
ADONAI will always guide you; he will satisfy your needs in the desert, he will renew the strength in your limbs; so that you will be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. You will rebuild the ancient ruins, raise foundations from ages past, and be called "Repairer of broken walls, Restorer of streets to live in."
When our focus is on serving others, God will guide us and will also provide for our needs. There will be a restoration and we will be known as people that are working for the kingdom that is to come.
Isaiah 58:13–14
"If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, ADONAI's holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them. If you do, you will find delight in ADONAI - I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya'akov, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken."
Now, we see the importance of Shabbat which is the seventh day of the week and that we are to honor it by focusing on the things of God instead of our own ways. When we do so, we will experience the delight of the Lord and he will change our perspective and allow us to see things clearer.