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When Worship Becomes Sin
Isaiah 58
Introduction: The Lord has repeatedly exposed Israel’s sins of idolatry and their adulterous covenantal relationships with the nations in order to deliver them from being attacked. But suddenly in this chapter we see the Lord says nothing of idolatry and nothing of the spiritual adultery with the nations. Instead, the Lord examines how they worship him. But don’t get the wrong idea. There is no mention of “sinful” worship in the sense of worshiping differently than the Lord commanded. But their worship is sinful nonetheless.
It seems that one of the greatest challenges every generation faces is the reality that worship to God can be sinful. In fact, from the beginning to the end of scripture there are examples of people being rejected because of sinful worship. Most of the time we think of this in terms of doing things God did not authorize. But when we are really shocked is when the worship is sinful though all that is done is authorized. That’s what we see in this text.
In view of how much Isaiah has exposed their rampant idolatry, my guess is that the Lord is anticipating the kind of worship they will give him once they come out of captivity. Therefore, this section would also serve as a warning to future disciples of the Messiah that this type of worship is worthless before the Lord.
58:1-5 When Worship Becomes Sin
Note the beginning words, “Cry aloud…lift up your voice like a trumpet.” This is God using his prophet to shout his message to emphasize the seriousness of what is happening. It is shouted like a trumpet, which was used to either signal for an approaching enemy or to gather a solemn assembly.
At first glance, we struggle to see the problem in their worship. They seek the Lord daily and delight to know his ways. What could be wrong with that? They ask about God’s righteous judgments and God even mentions a second time to their “delight” to draw near to him. I’m sure we would be fairly happy with a member who did what these people were doing.
But 2cd exposes their motives. They seek to know God’s ways “as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God.” In other words, seeking God had nothing to do with actually living for God, becoming more like God, or serving God because they loved him. We might ask, “Then why are they so intent in their worship? As with an idol, they were seeking to pressure God into giving them earthly pleasures: “in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure” (3c).
As a reminder, we need to note again that just because we are are obeying God to the “letter of the law” does not mean we are obeying God. The law of God cannot be known until it is known in the context of understanding God. Israel’s “Sabbath keeping” is an example. Matt. 23:23 is another.
Further, their “fast” did not change anything in regard to their relationship to their fellow brother. Their fast only ended up in abusiveness. This is very similar to the rebuke of James (4:2-4) where they prayed but only to reap their own desires: “You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”
Another error that is exposed here is even more subtle. The Lord never commanded a regular fast. A fast was commanded on the Day of Atonement and at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. Obviously, there were other appropriate occasions for a fast, but these fasts were an invented way of proving their humility before the Lord. (Pharisees!) Verse 5, they pretended to be humble, bowed their head like a reed, and spread out sackcloth and ashes. But this had nothing to do with afflicting their soul and mourning for their sins. They were simply trying to stir God up to give them what they wanted.
This exposes a typical error in human thinking: more worship activities do not equate to more righteous living before God. It is thinking that multiplying worship activities causes God to be “impressed” with us, as if we are meriting favor with him. Cf. Col. 2:20-22.
You will notice that all they did was merely “outward form” and not because their hearts were tied to God’s heart. Cf. Matthew 6:16, “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.” We really must keep before us that “worship” has a purpose of drawing us to repentance and transformation into the image of God. We do not sing because God needs to hear pretty music. We do not give because God needs money. We do not pray because God gets lonely or because it is the only way we can satisfy our earthly wants. Worship is not appeasing God!
Nor is there a spiritual benefit to formalistic worship. We come here to be real with God and learn greater love for one another. What causes a reed to bow? It is simply a response to the wind. The reed doesn’t bow because of any humility or emotion before God. When I was young, an elder gave me some wise words about worship: “If your cup runs over, wonderful! But don’t slosh it out.” Israel’s worship to God was nothing but a performance.
58:6-14 God’s “Fast”: Take Delight in the Lord
Verses 6-7 address their treatment of their fellow Israelites. Again, we see their abusiveness. They oppressed people. They did not share their food with the hungry or provide refuge for those who had no place to live or clothe those who had insufficient clothing. Please be aware, these are people who are helpless and cannot work. They are not people who will not work (2 Thes. 3:14).
Verses 8-12 offer the benefits of true worship. These remind Israel of God’s covenant with them. He would heal them from the effects sin had on them. God would be their protection and when they cried to him, he would be there immediately.
But again, the Lord reminds them that for these blessings to happen there needed to be a complete repentance and change in how they treated each other.
- No more yoke – treating those who worked for them or the weak and poor as nothing but a beast of burden.
- No more “finger-pointing” (CSB) [addressing a person with disdain] and malicious speaking.
- On the other hand, offering themselves as a servant to the hungry and those who were afflicted or oppressed.
If we summarized these warnings from NT texts, the idea would be a clear distinction between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:19-23).
The works of the flesh are obvious…“hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy”
But the fruit of the Spirit is, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” May I highlight three of these: peace, kindness, gentleness.
There is a word my wife and I learned to use when raising our children. The boys would get into spats and fights and other such things. When we would investigate, there were always “good reasons” for why one yelled at the other or spoke unkindly or did some kind of violence. In their defense, they would give some great, and often truthful reasons why their brother was in the wrong. Therefore, the word we learned to use was regardless. In other words, no matter how much in the “right” you are, regardless, you had no right to do what you did to your brother. We need to remember that. We have absolutely no justification to be insensitive, to not be tenderhearted, to speak in any way except kindness, and to always be gentle. The Lord never gave an exception to these rules, an exception to fruit of the Spirit. Anything else, and the works of the flesh are obvious.
Verses 13-14 highlight our approach to worship. Notice the word “delight” in contrast to “doing your own pleasure on my holy day.” Consider some conclusions we should draw:
The Lord uses “delight” in regard to the Sabbath and in regard to him. God wants them to “call the Sabbath a delight” and he wants them to “take delight in the Lord.” These are compatible. Since the primary purpose of the Sabbath was to have a time to commune with the Lord, God expected them to eagerly anticipate this time with him. Isn’t it interesting that this was to be a whole 24 hour dedication to communing with God – not a couple hours – the whole day.
In fact, look at verse 13. They were not to do their own pleasure on that day or “go their own ways,” or “seek their own pleasure,” or to “talk idly” (CSB & NET “talk business”). The restriction seems to be against outwardly observing the Sabbath by not working, but not using the Sabbath for true dedication and communion with the Lord.
We should ask ourselves the same questions as have been described in this chapter.
- Are we dedicating a worthy amount of our time to communing and seeking the Lord?
- Are we treating our collective worship with the purpose for which God designed it?
- Do we delight in worship? Do we delight in the Lord? Are we truly eager to learn more about him and to draw closer to him? Or, do we just get a couple hours in so we can feel good about going back to what really pleases us and to where our desires really lie?
Verse 14 shows a reversal of the fast. Jesus said to the Pharisees that when the bridegroom is present, it is not appropriate to fast. The coming of our bridegroom and the eternal kingdom is a day of an everlasting feast. NIV translates the end of verse 14, “I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” This chapter began with Israel repeatedly practicing a ritual fasting. But it was never God’s design for his people to see their relationship with him as a fast. When our hearts are struck in repentance and we delight in him, he brings us a feast. It is a feast of all the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus used the parables of the Great Supper and the Wedding Feast to illustrate what he had in store for the righteous. Surely, with that before us, we look joyfully on the times we can join together in delighting in God and treating one another with the respect, gentleness, and kindness due brothers and sisters in the family of God!
Berry Kercheville