6 “Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
7 “Is it not to divide your bread [c]with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The [d]pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you [e]give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the [f]desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
11 “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your [g]desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not [h]fail.
12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the [i]streets in which to dwell.13 “If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
14 Then you will take delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Previously in this chapter, God rebuked His people about their fasting, because it was only for their own gain, and not actually about serving and obeying Him. Now God continues telling them what a real fast should look like, and what it really means to serve Him. Let’s take a look and see exactly what that means.
In v. 6, they were to let the oppressed go free, instead of ensnaring them through corruption and trickery. In v. 7, serving God involves sharing food, shelter, and clothing with those who have them not. If they do these things, God says their “light will break out like the dawn…” Because they are so awesome? No, because the glory of the Lord will be their rear guard, and thus displayed for all the world to see.
So it is for us, as we see this theme continue in v. 13-14, if we seek our own pleasure, our own ways, and speak our own words, no one is going to see anything but us, sinful and weak. That sort of thing is rampant, and we see it all around. Rather, we are to “turn our foot” away from our own pleasure, so that we call His commands a delight.
When we take delight in God, His glory will shine through our lives, and we will do incredible things. But not for us, or our gain, nor even for power or prestige. To God alone belong all those things, and He will take care of us, to “feed us with the heritage of Jacob”. Jacob also was a selfish man in his younger days.
Only when Jacob humbled himself before his brother (whom he had cheated and swindled), and put his trust in God–then God blessed him and reconciled him to his brother Esau. Don’t trust your own schemes, or those of others, but trust God fully and obey His commands with all your heart.