Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 130th episode. In this episode I want to return to our study of the book of Isaiah. We are in chapter 58. In this chapter Isaiah lays out an indictment against religious hypocrites. The purpose of these charges is to show the hypocrites their transgressions. The admonition found in this chapter was directed at the religious hypocrisy in Israel, both during Isaiah’s time and during the Babylonian exile. But it’s not limited to hypocrites of any particular age – it still applies to us today. The religious hypocrites in Israel were terrified of God’s word to them that they would have no peace. But instead of reorienting their hearts away from wickedness and back toward God, they chose to seek shelter in their external performance. In particular they made a show of fasting. Isaiah rebukes their false piety by explaining to them that their devotions mean nothing to God while their hearts are wrapped in evil. The Pharisees who lived during the time of Jesus were guilty of this sort of hypocrisy. They would boast about their fasting and their pious devotion yet they were unwilling to submit their hearts to the Lord. Jesus called them whitewashed tombs which meant they looked fine on the outside but were full of corruption on the inside.
This chapter shows us how the hypocrites made plausible professions of faith. So to human eyes these people might first appear as pious servants of God. When it comes to religious hypocrites, the first red flag is whether or not they boast about their faith. A person who uses their faith to bring glory to him or herself is likely a religious hypocrite. Rather than improving themselves through wise introspection, these people tend to blame God when He takes no notice of their devotion. The reason God rejects their offering is the same reason He rejected Cain’s offering – because their hearts are not right with God. How do you know if your heart is right with God during your devotions? The key here is motive. Those whose fasting God rejected were not doing it for the right reasons. They were fasting to display themselves as praiseworthy and to seek conflict with others – they were not fasting to please God. In addition to rebuking them, just like He did with Cain, God offers them instruction as to how to correct their hearts and make their devotions acceptable. Then He goes on to elaborate the blessings that await those who keep their devotions properly and sanctify the Sabbath. So let’s begin with verses 1 and 2:
Isa 58:1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.
Isa 58:2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
When Jesus was discussing His departure from earth with the disciples, He told them that it was advantageous for them that He should go. He said that if He goes then the Comforter or the Helper will come. He was of course referring to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comforts and helps us, but He also convicts us. The conviction of the Holy Spirit is a necessary part of Him preparing you to receive comfort. God does not comfort the wicked, so the conviction of the Holy Spirit separates those who will be comforted from those who will not. Isaiah was given a similar role to the Israelites as God’s prophet. Isaiah was sent with words of comfort for Gods people, but he was also given words of conviction so that might have a chance to see their own sins. This was a tall order because Israel considered themselves to be the people of God and the house of Jacob. There was a sense of arrogance and a false sense of security associated with their lineage. Many of them believed that since they wore an honorable title this honor was automatically transmitted to their character. Isaiah’s antidote to Israel’s arrogance was to tell them the truth. To tell them the truth faithfully and plainly.
The most grievous mistake in modern psychology is the belief that a person’s negative emotion is purely associated with their self-esteem. This misunderstanding has caused too many psychiatrists and pastors to tell their people they are perfect just the way they are. It’s wrong to think self-love means embracing yourself just the way you are. This terrible mistake has resulted in an entire generation of people who view themselves as the epitome of perfection and expect reality to shape itself around their own desires. When the notions of good and bad become purely about subjective opinion, society rapidly loses sight of God. Real self-love does not tell you to embrace yourself just the way you are. Real self-love has the courage to tell you that you have divine potential. Real self-love is willing to tell you that you’re not quite there yet – you have a lot of room for improvement. Real self-love is supportive of the best parts of you and seeks to rebuke the bad parts. It’s pretty easy to see when you think about it for a few moments. If a person is having a difficult time in life and you tell them they are perfect just the way they are, you rob them of any hope for improvement. It’s like: Oh, your marriage is falling apart, your finances are a mess, you have no good friends, and you’re way out of shape? None of that’s your fault. That’s just the way life is. You’re perfect the way you are and if the world doesn’t like it that’s on them! This is the wrong thing to say to someone because when you outsource the responsibility you crush whatever glimmer of hope they might have had. If you outsource the responsibility then you’re telling them they must change the structure of reality instead of changing themselves. But it’s impossible to change the structure of reality. It’s not impossible to change yourself.
So Isaiah had to tell Israel the truth about how bad they really were. God wanted Isaiah to show them their transgressions, their sins, and to be particular in telling them about their faults. Israel was blind to many of the sins they committed. They convinced themselves that some of their sins were not actually sins at all. Praise God for the areas where Israel had reformed, but it was still necessary for Isaiah to show them the areas where they remained as wicked as ever. I need to be very careful in making a distinction here. This idea of being sub-optimal the way you are might be reminding you of a parent or spouse who you could never please. That’s not what I’m talking about and that’s not how God looks at you. The person who is only ever critical is toxic. The truth is, for whatever twisted reason, that person is more interested in being critical than they are in watching you succeed. They are being critical for their own selfish need to be critical. Contrarily, the reason God convicts you of your sin is because God is your biggest cheerleader when it comes to you living your best life. God loves the good in you and He wants you to love the good in yourself.
So when God looks at His people and sees sin in them, it displeases Him because He knows this sin is holding them back from their best. Human nature causes us the tendency of being unable or unwilling to see our own sins. We need our iniquities revealed to us which is precisely what the Holy Spirit is doing when He convicts us. You’re not all that you could be because you did this. You’re not all that you could be because you won’t do that. Being convicted by the Holy Spirit is a painful process to be sure. But it’s made far less imposing when we realize that God is the One who empowers us to clear the iniquity from our lives – we don’t have to summit that mountain on our own.
Isaiah had a difficult job because God called him to cry out to Israel and not spare them the pain of rebuke. There was no being delicate with the wicked who were straying from God. Isaiah had to plunge the sword of truth all the way to the bottom of the wound. He was called to expend all his strength and his spirit in crying aloud to the sinners. He must not spare them even though his shouts of conviction would cause their ill-will towards him and bring him a bad reputation among them. He had to make his admonitions abundantly clear for those who were prone to being deaf regarding their own shortcomings. Isaiah’s rebukes had to be given in the most powerful and pressing way that he could manage. After all, if he really loved God’s people then he needed them to pay attention to his words. Isaiah’s warnings were loud and shrill like a trumpet, but they were perfectly intelligible and made clear the fatal consequences of sin.
Remember, Isaiah came to tell the truth, not simply to be negative about everything. When he warned Israel of their sins, they came back at him with how they were diligent in attending God’s worship. Isaiah was perfectly willing to acknowledge this goodness. The problem arose when Israel used their good deeds as an excuse to shut their eyes to their wickedness. Even when hypocrites do that which is good they shall not be denied the praise of it. But things begin to go very far sideways when good deeds are used as a justification for bad deeds. Isaiah openly admitted that they had a form of godliness. Their church attendance was impeccable. They made sure they allotted hours each day for prayer and devotion – and they were studious in preventing other things from distracting their piety. They accepted and enjoyed sound preaching. They delighted in hearing God’s word in the same way Herod gladly heard John and the rocky ground readily received the word with joy. By outward appearances they took great pleasure in the exercise of religion and they were comfortable in church culture. It appeared as if they delighted in approaching God, but in truth it wasn’t God who they were approaching. Their delight was derived from the festivals, the company, and the religious ceremony – they didn’t much care whether God was involved or not.
They were inquisitive people and made great effort to learn the ways of God. They wanted to know the ordinances of justice. They wanted to know the rules of piety in the worship of God. They wanted to know the rules of equity in their dealings with their neighbors. But of all these things they sought to understand, they never considered actually doing them. To the eyes of the world the religious hypocrites appeared conscious of their duty. Many people saw them as a nation of righteousness that never overlooked the ordinances of their God. Even they themselves pretended to be such. They concealed from their neighbors anything that appeared in contradiction to their pious professions. But they couldn’t conceal these things from God. Religious hypocrisy is among the worst offenses because it is attempting to use the holy name of God as a tool for facilitating your own wickedness. When I talk about religious hypocrisy, I don’t mean Christians who still struggle with sin. I myself still struggle with sin. Religious hypocrisy is more like if I use my devotion to God as a way to shield myself from the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Religious hypocrisy is to convince myself that my outward devotion to God gives me special license to be exceptionally evil and dark. The predator priest is a good example of this. This is the crime Isaiah was warning Israel about. Their arrogant religious impulse had become an aggravation to their sinful nature. The world has a bad definition of religious hypocrisy. Their definition claims that Christians who struggle with sin are hypocrites. But this is wrong in terms of biblical religious hypocrisy. Biblical religious hypocrisy is to no longer view your sins as sinful on account of your piety. It is using the name of God as a reason to embrace the evil inside of you. Let’s read verses 3-7:
Isa 58:3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.
Isa 58:4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Isa 58:5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
Isa 58:6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Isa 58:7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
At some deep level you can classify people in just two ways: those who give their best and those who pretend to give their best. Those who give their best are classified along the dimensions of Abel. Those who pretend to give their best are classified along the dimensions of Cain. The Abels of the world are interested in giving their best because they love God, they love their neighbor, and they trust that their sacrifices will be used for His purposes. The Cains of the world pretend to give their best not because they love God, not because they love their neighbor, but because they want themselves to appear as if they love God and love their neighbor. The fundamental motivation of Abel is to promote the well-being of others. The fundamental motivation of Cain is to promote the well-being of himself. Abel gives to God because he loves God. Cain gives to God because he wants the reward. One of the most common ways people experience the transition from Cain to Abel is when they have children. This transition is what people mean when they say they no longer live for themselves but for their children. All of us have a little bit of Cain and a little bit of Abel inside of us. Most of us spend our lives bouncing between the two. One of God’s objectives in sanctifying your heart is to keep you on the side of Abel for longer and more consistent stretches of time.
Israel had been captivated by the attitude of Cain. They had such a high opinion of their own performance in following God’s ordinances that they were angry with God when He rejected their offerings. They considered it a gross affront that God would dare to tell them they were wrong. Their external religious services were motivated by their desire to deceive God and when He wasn’t deceived they became deeply offended. They set out to cheat God and they themselves felt cheated when it didn’t work. They began to view themselves as victims unjustly slighted by God and by reality. The wicked in Israel became lost in the pathological narrative that no matter what they do God would be unfair to them. This distorted mode of thinking led to them boasting about their own fasting and devotions. They became proud of how humble they looked. You see this a lot in the church today – many Christians will go to great lengths to show everyone how humble they are. But the truth is humility is not thinking less of yourself. Humility is thinking of yourself less often.
In western culture we’ve noticed an economy of prestige surrounding victim status. A non-white person has more prestige than a white person because they claim the victim status of being non-white. But a non-white homosexual person has even more prestige than a non-white heterosexual person, because the non-white homosexual person can claim two oppressed groups instead of just one. The idea of being proud of your victim status is birthed by the same twisted attitude that possessed Cain. Cain didn’t want to make the self-sacrifice to present an acceptable offering, so instead he blamed God and he blamed Abel for his misfortune. Activists refuse to make the sacrifices necessary to ascend a given hierarchy, so instead they blame systemic prejudice and ensconce themselves in a victim narrative. They become trapped in the fiction that they are perfect just the way they are and so when their offerings are rejected they demand society must change to accommodate every aspect of their identity. They lack the humility to ask themselves if the reason their sacrifices aren’t bearing fruit might be associated with an internal change they must make. Often these people do not know God and so they have no reference point of perfection by which to compare themselves so they can see their own flaws.
Israel had a high view of themselves and their religious performance, so naturally they had great expectations of how God should react to them. They thought God should take great notice of them and they believed God Himself owed them for their services. The religious hypocrites knew about the blessings God had promised to the sincere so they believed God owed these blessings to them as a matter of course if they acted religious enough. You see this same sort of thing happen among hypothetical nice guys and their relationships with women. There are men who will pretend to be interested in a woman and do all manner of nice things for her simply because he wants sex. These supposed nice guys will pay attention to what women say they want. Then they’ll act as if they are genuinely interested in the woman’s well-being, when in truth their motivations are self-oriented. Generally speaking, women see straight through this facade and are deeply repulsed by it. The hypothetical nice guy can’t understand why he’s been rejected – after all he’s done and said all the right things. But the real reason he’s been rejected is because his heart isn’t right and she was able to sense that. If a man is arrogant enough to think he can manipulate a woman, he probably lacks the humility to see the problem inside his own heart. He fails to change himself and instead he blames women in general for his rejection. That’s just another example of Cain’s attitude surfacing in modern people.
Israel considered their rejection as a very heinous action on God’s part. After all, they believed God owed them for all their religious movements. But God saw through their religious exterior to the wicked motivations of their hearts. He refused to put His mark of favor on them and He declined to immediately deliver them from their troubles. When the people saw that God wasn’t going to advance them to honor and prosperity, they charged God with injustice and partiality. In other words they accused God of being bigoted against them. Once they gave themselves over to the deception of being a helpless victim abused in God’s cruel universe, there was only one thing in order: revenge against God. Revenge against God meant dissolving whatever vestiges of religion they had left and embracing evil. They justified their revenge with the belief that following God had profited them nothing and praying to God was useless. All the while their arrogance prevented them from seeing that their hearts were never there at all.
When a person accuses God or religion of being simple hypocrisy, it’s likely because their own experience was simple hypocrisy. If you pretend to follow God because you want His blessing and then life deals you tragedy upon tragedy, you’re going to think following God is useless. But the truth you’re unable to see is that pretending to follow God is useless. The unfaithful reflect upon religion has hard and melancholy service. They don’t think God has anything to offer them when in truth their unfaithfulness is preventing God from offering them anything. God refused Israel’s fasting because their hearts were motivated by self-interest. Evidence of this was found in their lack of behavior change outside of fasting. They indulged themselves in all manner of wickedness and then used fasting as a way of justifying it. The real problem wasn’t their fasting. The real problem with Cain wasn’t his offering. The real problem with each was that they considered their own inclinations as superordinate law over God’s law. It’s hard to imagine a game more dangerous than that.
Imagine someone who is bad and knows that they’re bad. This person understands that his or her actions are wrong and therefore sees the need of repentance and forgiveness. A step worse than that is to imagine a person who is bad and doesn’t realize it. This is your typical mob participant. They are just going with the crowd. If they don’t realize their actions are wrong then they see no need for mercy – let alone repentance and forgiveness. This is why people will do horrific things as part of mobs that they would never do on their own as an individual. But if you take yet another step into the darkness you encounter someone who is possessed by something even worse than the mob. This is the kind of person whose very presence will give you post traumatic stress disorder if you are naive to the reality of their existence. This is the person who is possessed by evil. This person is perfectly aware of what he is doing but he’s become so warped that he views evil as righteousness. Not only is this person unmerciful in his abuse, but he actually carries it out with the zeal of someone who is in the midst of worship. The suffering he inflicts on others is an act of worship to the pathological ideology that has full possession over him. If you don’t have a philosophy for good and evil and you encounter a person like this – or if you see this monster arise inside yourself – your brain will be physically damaged as a consequence. This damage will be permanent until a therapist helps you reinterpret the memories in such a way that accounts for the reality of evil.
Many people in Israel began to embrace their evil actions as righteous ones. They abused their servants and increased their workloads without mercy. They were rigorous in their extortion of the poor despite the fact that many of them had once been poor themselves. Their spiteful attitudes caused them to desire conflict with each other. The fasting became a pretense to falsely accuse innocent people of sins they themselves were guilty of. Even the guilty argued among themselves and blamed each other for God’s rejection of their offerings. The bitterness and resentment that festered among these people caused them to turn on each other in circular firing squads of fake virtue and accusations. Instead of using their fasting days for introspection and judging themselves – they used these days to condemn each other. Cruel task-masters beat their servants and creditors delivered insolvent debtors to be tortured. Innocent people were abused by the hands of the wicked.
God had given Israel the ordinance to fast as a means of sanctification but they turned it upside down and used it as a vehicle to promote their own sin. So God would put a stop to their fasting altogether. If they couldn’t do it with proper hearts they wouldn’t do it at all. God viewed their devotions as vain, noisy oblations and He wanted nothing to do with them. God has a way of putting an end to ostensible religion. The predator priest gets caught and excommunicated. The covetous church loses members until they are forced to close their doors. The cult of personality becomes so corrupt that forces on the outside corner it and bring it down or else it implodes on itself. You can think of cult leaders like David Koresh or Jim Jones for example. God doesn’t bless false worship and He doesn’t allow it to extend forever. God doesn’t view their devotions as devotions at all and He refuses to hear their prayers. When a person uses religion as a vehicle for wickedness, they mock God and deceive themselves.
So what does Isaiah tell us about the proper implementation of fasting? In general fasting is intended for the honoring and pleasing of God. Our efforts on a day of fasting aim to approve ourselves to God and obtain His favor. That’s why performing a fast then beating your neighbor half to death doesn’t work. Fasting is also meant to humble and abase ourselves. These devotions present a time for genuine repentance. When we set aside time for God and personal reflection we should feel genuinely sorrowful for our sins. A good practice during a fast is to ask God what it is you’re doing that’s making your situation worse than it needs to be. You can also ask what you’re not doing that you should be doing which could make your life better. It’s a painful thing to ask God because He will show you your shortcomings. But He also gives you the grace and forgiveness necessary to take steps forward on the path He’s laid out for you. Days of devotion allow us to repent for the parts of ourselves that have yet to be sanctified – but they also allow us to feel pleasure for the parts that have been sanctified. Chances are you’ve come a long way from the beginning of your journey. Never allow yourself to forget the incremental progress you’ve made in building your life to this point.
Isaiah provides further illumination on what fasting is by telling us more about what it’s not. It’s not about sulking around and making yourself look depressed. Again, this is something the hypocrites did to garner attention and cast themselves as victims. It’s true that a day of reflecting on your sins can and will grieve you. Isaiah isn’t saying that it won’t genuinely make you sad, he’s saying you shouldn’t mimic this sadness simply to show off to others. The interesting thing about arrogant people is that they lack authenticity in both directions. When they show off how humble they are they obviously lack authentic humility. But these same people often lack authentic confidence as well. Prideful people tend to belittle others in order cast themselves in a better light. They wouldn’t need to do this if they were imbued with true confidence. Arrogance has a way of stealing the authenticity out of your personality until the only thing left that’s true of you is that you’re arrogant.
When it comes to devotion, it’s not enough to simply go through the motions. The people in Israel would spread ashes and sackcloth under themselves to make it look like they were mortifying their sin when really they paid no regard to it. To afflict your body without afflicting your spirit is not what God is looking for. The reason is because it’s pretty easy to forget about bodily discomforts the moment they’re gone and you return to the lap of luxury. Simply going through the motions is not enough to make your worship genuine. I think one of the reasons people go through the motions without their hearts being in it is that they are afraid of making themselves vulnerable. You’re not perfect the way you are, so opening your heart to the Holy Spirit means allowing God to transform you. Most human beings are terrified of change and so allowing God to work in you requires a solid foundation of faith. You may have heard people say fake it ‘til you make it works in religion – and this process may have worked for some people. But Isaiah seems to be making the case rather definitively that this isn’t the optimal solution. God considered the devotions of the religious hypocrites an abomination. I think a much better way is to give yourself entirely to God, knowing full-well that you need grace, time, and forgiveness to become who He wants you to be.
This idea of afflicting the soul and subduing our corrupt nature is not reserved only for fasting. It’s the work of our entire lives. It pleases God when we deal justly with those whom we previously dealt harshly. God wants us to reform our lives and – to the extent we can – repair the wrongs we have committed. Another concept described here is to let go of any grudges you might have. The thing about grudges is that they often start out as a proper response to a genuine injury. But then it evolves over time. If you refuse to forgive someone then your proper response will, over time, turn into a snake that slowly creeps into your heart and corrupts you. In Israel’s case the context was creditors and their debtors. These servants were enslaved over debts that happened so long ago it made no sense to persecute them. The creditors went from laying proper obligation to pay back debt on the shoulders of the debtors to laying cruel burdens on the shoulders of the poor under which they were about to sink. They kept prisoners oppressed and made life bitter to them. God wanted them to discharge and forgive debtors who had nothing to pay. He wanted them to release servants who were detained beyond their time of servitude. Indeed, God wanted them to break the yoke of all servants and end the scourge of slavery itself. God desired that they be charitable to those in need of charity.
It’s possible that working to release the enslaved and forgiving the indebted can be considered a form of charity. But Isaiah becomes even more explicit about what God looks for in charitable giving. Most important was giving food to the poor. During biblical times there were little if any social safety nets so starvation was a real threat for those who lived in poverty. The stipulation here was that the food must originally belong to the person giving it. The fasting was ineffective if you simply stole bread from someone else and gave it to the poor. It had to be the bread of your own allowance. It had to be loaves fit for you to eat and given with some dignity – we’re not talking about tossing your leftover scraps to the masses here. Another form of charity highly regarded by God is providing shelter to those in need of it. They could be travelers, the poor, or maybe the ostracized. A good practice for Christians is to prepare and maintain a room in their house for helping people get back on their feet. Obviously you don’t want to be letting dangerous people live with you – but if you know someone who’s in a bind it’s considered good charity to provide them with shelter until they bounce back. Personally, I’m not very good at this one. I feel most comfortable when I have my home to myself and I’m not yet ready to be as generous as some other Christians I know.
Isaiah also recommends that we provide clothing for those in need. We should seek to clothe the poor so they are both protected from the weather and presentable to their neighbors. There’s an emphasis here on taking care of your family. 1 Timothy 5 says that if you refuse to provide for your own family or for members of your own house then you have denied the faith and are worse off than an unbeliever. When you do good things for people you’re actually doing a lot of good for your own spirit as well. Christlike acts of kindness go a long way in building a good foundation for your life. I’m always careful whenever I talk about compassion ministries and acts of kindness. The reason is because blind compassion is not very helpful. There are certain people who, if you just handed them enough money, would be dead of an overdose the next morning. So we have to watch our motives when doing compassion work. Are we genuinely interested in promoting the well-being of others or do we just want to look virtuous? If you’re really interested in helping someone, you’ll take the time to learn about them and find out what it is they actually need. Let’s read verses 8-12:
Isa 58:8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Isa 58:9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Isa 58:10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
Isa 58:11 And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Isa 58:12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
After going into detail about true devotion versus religious hypocrisy, Isaiah describes some of the promises offered by God to those who are faithful. It is a life characterized by just actions and the love of mercy. God’s guidance puts distance between ourselves and violence. We cease to do evil and learn to do good. It’s part of our fallen nature to be inclined toward fraudulence but this too is taken away. If they were faithful, the leaders in Israel would be commissioned to stamp out slavery and oppression anywhere they found it among the people. It wasn’t just a simple order to prosecute oppression – rather it was a command to restructure society so that the yoke of slavery was taken away permanently. In Israel the poor suffered from false accusations contrived to generate contempt against them. To be faithful would mean an end to such things. There’s also an emphasis on speaking truth to each other. It’s hard to calculate the amount of damage done to the social fabric when individuals lose regard for honesty. This problem is plaguing us today. The mainstream media and the universities used to function as sense-making apparatuses. We could trust them to deliver the news accurately because the organizations were composed of individuals who viewed integrity as sacred. These institutions don’t work like that anymore. There are too many individuals within them that prioritize agenda over honesty. The result is a full-scale breakdown of our information infrastructure. We will rebuild it, although what it will look like remains largely unknown.
Those who live lives of faithful devotion will also abound in all acts of charity and benevolence. This willful generosity is a very important idea. The principal reason communism doesn’t work is that it requires citizens to give of themselves against their own free will. God’s command is that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Obedience to this command is impossible without free will. If you force individuals to give their wealth to the poor all you’ll accomplish is the degradation of incentives. One of the most famous sayings from the Soviet Union was: we pretend to work and they pretend to pay us. Every society needs willful generosity in order to maintain its integrity. If the wealthy allow the poor to starve then society is torn apart in a way that negatively impacts the wealthy. If the wealthy are forced to give to the poor then society is torn apart in a way that negatively impacts the poor. The only solution to this problem is willful generosity. It is charity and benevolence motivated by love. When Jesus healed and fed the masses He did so because of the great compassion He felt for them. Those of us who are in privileged positions should do all that we can to help satisfy and ease the pain of those who are suffering.
In addition to laying the groundwork for a solid and functional society, faithful devotion is also tracked and rewarded by God Himself. God promises that your works of charity shall be abundantly made up to you. In the case of Israel this abundant reward came in the form of God’s mercy after a long time spent in exile. One of the rewards God will give you for doing good is the ability to enjoy good unencumbered by any sense of guilt. God promises mercy for those who show mercy. It’s also true that helping to heal those in need will increase your likelihood of getting help yourself when you need it. Although there are bad actors who will take advantage of you, many people will never forget what you’ve done for them when they needed you the most. Isaiah also lays out a path to honor and eminence for those who are born into obscurity. It doesn’t matter if you come from a broken home or a history of mistakes – if you do good to others you will increase your standing in society. This is not simple vanity either – it’s a real impact that your life has on the souls of others. No matter how small you are today, you have the power to change the course of the future for yourself and those around you.
There’s a stupid sentiment that washes through our culture which says you shouldn’t care what others think about you. This is generally aimed at unfounded criticisms and I understand the good intentions behind it. But a better way to frame it is to just say: you should be resilient to unfounded criticism. The truth is you do care what others think about you because you have a deep need to be loved. This is normal and should not be resisted – this need to be loved helps calibrate your interpersonal skills so that you can be part of a functional community. If you force a person into solitary confinement first they go insane and then they die. You need to feel the love of others. The most certain way to make yourself illustrious and to shine bright in your generation is to learn how to do good things for other people. The person who is greatest of all, and most-loved, by humility and productivity makes himself a servant to all. This is what Jesus taught us when He, King of Kings, stooped down to wash the feet of His disciples. Loving reciprocity endures beyond brute dominion every single time.
Faithful devotion and the will to do good also maximizes your own safety in this life. Not only will you possess the wisdom to step aside from danger, but you’ll also have an army of neighbors watching your back. God Himself promises to be your rearguard. Obviously we know there have been many Christians who lost their lives on account of their faith – so this idea of safety must be speaking a deeper truth as well. I think it’s pointing to the danger of being tempted and possessed by evil. If you do good works for the glory of God, He will keep you safe, easy, and quiet from the fear of evil. Christ is the captain of our salvation and the Lord of our righteousness. If we devote ourselves to Him, then we can be sure that He will guide us in the ways of righteousness and ultimately bring us home to the Kingdom of Heaven. We can depend on Jesus to give us safety when our sins pursue us and attempt to take hold of us.
One of the major differences between religious hypocrites and faithful people is that God shuts out the hypocrites and remains near to the faithful. Faithful devotion ensures that God will always be near to you and He will always listen to your prayers. The hypocrites ignored the cries of the poor, so God ignored the cries of the hypocrites. The faithful show mercy and attention to those in need, so God shows mercy and attention to the faithful. It’s fascinating how God lowers Himself in readiness to hear our prayers. It’s normal to picture ourselves responding with readiness when God reveals Himself to us in His word. Sort of how Abraham responded to God’s call with readiness. Sometimes when we cry out to God it can feel like He’s on some great height at a distance. But He reminds us that He is much closer than we think. When danger comes close to us we can certain that God is even closer. God is attentive to the prayers of the upright. If we practice faithful devotion to God His promised reward is to remain near to us at all times.
The world is very complex. Every day we face problems that are too complicated for us to solve easily. If we were left to our own devices in this wilderness we would quickly lose our way and become lost. Faithful devotion assures us that God will guide us through life continually. Those who work to remain good in God’s sight will be rewarded with wisdom that is profitable in all cases to guide us. Instead of depending solely on our own eyes, we can use our senses as supplemented by the omniscient wisdom of God. God’s intention is to lead you on good paths. That’s not to say that life won’t be difficult – indeed life is full of suffering and tragedy. But it never has to turn into hell. I know you know the difference between someone who is going through suffering and someone who has chosen to take up residence in their misery. You’ve watched righteous people suffer and come through it. You’ve also watched godless people suffer and twist that suffering into permanent and dysfunctional misery. Both are painful, but there is a universe of difference between faithful suffering and godless hell. God’s providence will help you find the pathway of duty that will maximize your comfort through the vicissitudes of life.
In addition to guidance, God’s providence for the faithful is to give their own minds abundant satisfaction. Searching for spiritual satisfaction in this world is like searching for water in a dry desert. It’s possible for us to be unaware that we need spiritual nourishment, and so our thirst increases over time. This thirst is filled with all manner of pastimes like drugs, alcohol, sex, just pick your addiction. Life does not have to be an endless cycle of highs and lows. There is another option on the menu. It is the joy of God. The joy of God burns more like a slow ember in the background. It’s not always as captivating as worldly pleasure but it’s also far more durable. The joy of God is one of the only positive emotions that appears to transcend negative external circumstance. It’s almost paradoxical when you think about it. You can be sad, broken, and grieved yet still feel the joy of God. The joy of God which imbues the conscience with the assurance of God’s favor seems to exist on a different dimension than our temporal emotions. It’s an infinite well of holy love instilled in us by God which we can draw on at all times to do good for others. Isaiah says it satisfies our soul and fills our bones with marrow – this illustration is meant to show how the joy of God nourishes us from the inside.
In addition to the immeasurable butterfly effect of your good deeds today, your legacy will continue to work good things after you are gone. The people you impact will raise families of their own who will benefit from your impact. This new generation will grow up to be different because you lived to the best of your ability. In this way not only is your soul immortal, but the impact of your life will be preserved in this world as a fossil is preserved in stone. Israel’s faithful devotion meant they would rebuild cities that had long been left to desolation. The people of Israel went to work in building upon foundations that were laid long before they were born. Your own faithful devotion puts you in contact with your predecessors going all the way back to Jesus Himself. The project of living a godly life means your active participation in the work of the Creator Himself. Israel repaired the breach made by the enemy in the walls of Jerusalem. You have the opportunity to repair the breach where virtue is running out and judgment is breaking in. The primary benefit of faithful devotion is that it promotes well-being, spiritual prosperity, and stability for yourself and for many people who come after you. Those who do justly and love mercy shall be comforted by God in this world. Let’s read verses 13 and 14:
Isa 58:13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
Isa 58:14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
When the Jews were held captive in Babylon they placed great emphasis on due observance of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a day of rest set aside for the Lord, and observing it allowed them to distinguish themselves from the idol-worshipers who held them in exile. You can still do this today. Setting aside one day per week to step aside from your normal routine and contemplate God is a great way to keep yourself properly calibrated to Him. There are also practical benefits to having a day of rest, as there is strong evidence linking lack of rest with decreased productivity and performance. A day of rest to reflect on the Lord is a gift from God to you. Your observance of this day is an expression of your own obedience to God. The Sabbath allows you to remember that no matter how hard you work – God is ultimately the one who’s running the show. It’s also important to remember you shouldn’t dread this day. If you hate going to church you need to ask yourself if there’s something wrong with you or if there’s something wrong with that church – or both. And then you should work to fix it because the Lord’s day should be a blessing that you look forward to.
Does it have to be on Sunday? No. Do you have to physically go to a church? Becoming part of a physical church is generally recommended but even here I think there’s flexibility. You can listen to a podcast like this one and set aside moments for prayer and contemplation. If you opt for a non-traditional route like that, it’s important to remember to live the Sabbath day with other-mindedness. You need community even if that community gathers online or in a small group. The main things to remember about setting aside a weekly day for God is to keep God in your focus and don’t get lost in yourself. If you can manage those two things I think there’s far more flexibility to this than many churches will let on. If all seven days of your week are indistinguishable from each other then you’re either extraordinarily devoted or you need to mark out a day for rest and contemplation. I think you’ll be amazed how just one day per week can change your whole life.
The day you set aside for God should be approached with veneration and honor. Don’t think of it like a burden or a chore. It’s a great privilege that the Creator of the universe has revealed Himself to us so that we may reflect on Him. So much of this is about finding God’s purpose for you. Once you know your calling you can pursue it on the day you set aside for God. Of course you’re not limited to one day per week, but one day per week seems to be the minimum for maintaining focus. Actively doing what God designed you to do will help you be in communion with Him. Ideally you want to be in a situation where your Sabbath day is such a delight that others can sense your joy and seek to join you. Keeping your Sabbath day holy and sacred will help you in separating it from your days of common use. It is a day for you to honor God and worship Him.
God promises that if you keep the Sabbath then you will have comfort in it. If you delight in the Lord’s day, then He will increasingly reveal Himself as the object of your focus and affection. Human beings are self-oriented by nature. It’s hard for us to make investments unless we know there’s going to be a return. What you need to remember about honoring God is that you will not find joy in it unless you first do it joyfully. You must have the faith to step out into communion with God and satisfy His purpose for you – the faith comes before the reward. If you honor God, He will also honor you. The world is a difficult place and we would all be surprised if we knew how many of us were in a continual struggle to maintain a positive spirit. Delightfully communing with God will cause your neighbors to see that you’ve figured something out about life. You’ve found the infinite well of living waters that nourishes your thirsting spirit. This makes you fundamentally different from those who are still searching. God sets you on a high place above the world so that it no longer influences you the way it did when you belonged to it. You can see the big picture now where once you were lost in the trees. This puts you in a position to honor God and to endure the trials of life – but it also puts you in a position to help your neighbor find their own way home. We’re all born into this life with no idea what we’re doing. We spend much of our days trying to figure things out and survive into tomorrow. But if you set aside one day of your week to remember who is behind it all – who created you – He will give you a foretaste of what’s to come. If you walk through life with faithful devotion then you will live in two worlds – one foot on earth and the other in the Kingdom of God. Better still, you’ll have the assurance that each step you take brings you closer to place where everything is what way it ought to be. Faithful devotion will bring you closer to God who made you, and closer to heaven which is your eternal home.
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