Isaiah – Chapter 58

 

Theme:  God rejected formal worship without practical godliness, but He would bless the man doing both.

 

Outline:

1-2       Isaiah Called to Expose Formality of Religion  

3-5       Israel’s Ritual Ordinances Did Not Please God

6-7       God Required Godly Living for True Religion

8-12     God Would Mightily Bless True Worshippers

13-14   Example of Godly Worship for Great Blessings

 

Preparatory Reading:  Isaiah 1; Psalm 50; II Timothy 3:1 – 4:4.

 

Related Links:

 

Introduction:

1. This is one of the greatest chapters in the Bible, with the simplest conditions for the greatest blessings.
   1. Our God, unlike heathen gods requiring child sacrifice, here wanted Israel to treat others kindly.
   2. Our God, unlike heathen gods that offer no real blessings, would enhance every part of their lives.
   3. The breadth and depth of God’s blessings enumerated here makes this a go-to chapter for promises.
2. Previous chapters reintroduced God’s judgment on Israel, for their lazy pastors, idolatry, and iniquity.
   1. Chapters 52-55 had glorious promises of Messiah’s reign and detailed justification by His death.
   2. But at the end of chapter 56 the prophet called forth the wild beasts of the earth to devour Israel.
   3. Chapter 57 graphically and repeatedly showed idolatry as spiritual adultery and coming judgment.
3. Due to emphasis of Israel’s idolatry in the preceding chapter, Isaiah warned of Manasseh and Babylon.
   1. The emphasis on fasting and the sabbath suggests they were captives without temple ordinances.
   2. The next chapter (hypocrisy and sin) is more related to this one than the previous chapter (idolatry).
4. We live in perilous times of the last days – when an effeminate and compromising brand of Christianity is the greatest threat to the worship of God, the survival of churches, and our profit (II Tim 3:1 – 4:4).
   1. Isaiah blasted against the same form of godliness without any power (or changed lives) in his day.
   2. We must examine ourselves to measure faith and religion by personal righteousness from the heart.
   3. Ritualism is not the error of only Jews and Catholics: we default to it and hypocrisy without effort.
   4. No matter how good external worship might be, the Lord of glory measures our hearts and holiness.
   5. The situation is clear: we live in perilous times of compromise, yet godliness has great reward.

 

 

  Isaiah Called to Expose Formality of Religion  –  Verses 1-2 

 

1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

1. God called Isaiah to the work of warning His church against their ritualistic religion.
2. The description of ministry here totally defies seeker sensitive types so popular today.
   1. Fools say, “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar,” but who wants flies.
   2. Fools say, “I just love to hear so-and-so preach; he is such a sweet and kind man.”
   3. Fools say, “Fire and brimstone and loud pulpit pounding ended with the dinosaurs.”
   4. If anyone thinks today does not call for Isaiah’s methods, they are blind and deaf.
   5. Instant Preaching (II Tim 4:2) … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2003/instant-preaching/.
   6. Rude Preachers (II Cor 11:6) … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2003/rude-preachers/.
3. Cry aloud! There is no time for calm, sweet, polished, genteel discussions, storytelling.
   1. Seeker sensitive churches work to keep the pastor quiet and the rock-n-roll very loud.
   2. They want a man sitting on a stool that is calm and cool with golf shirt and flip-flops.
4. Spare not! There is no time to tiptoe around to avoid offending the sensitive or weak.
   1. The philosophy of seeker sensitive churches is to spare everything but serial killers.
   2. The whole practice of seeker sensitive churches is everything is a matter of liberty.
   3. Paul told Corinth, a church he founded and loved, he would not spare (II Cor 13:2).
5. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet! There is no time for speech and oratory entertainment.
   1. What minister in the Bible practiced giving pleasant speeches to preach the truth?
   2. What were Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and Paul like?
   3. Jesus severely blasted the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders (Matt 23:1-39).
6. What is right content? Plainly show the audience of God’s people their transgressions.
   1. John and Jesus both illustrated this content, if you read Matthew chapters 3-7 right.
   2. Paul wrote to reprove, correct, rebuke, exhort, etc. (II Tim 3:16-17; 4:2; Tit 2:15).
   3. Pastors are at war against hearers, not cheerleaders in a speech club (II Co 10:4-6).
   4. It is one thing to blast the world’s sins, and it is another to blast church members.
   5. Paul tried to persuade men in light of the terror of Christ’s coming (II Cor 5:9-11).
   6. When he had an opportunity with a governor, he warned of judgment (Acts 24:25).
   7. When he had an opportunity in Athens, he warned of judgment (Acts 17:22-31).
7. Christians today do not want real preachers, but entertainers and fables (II Tim 4:3-4).
   1. Isaiah had encountered and condemned preaching popular content (Isaiah 30:8-11).
   2. The LORD Jehovah through Jeremiah mocked dreamers and such (Jer 23:28-29).
   3. With no alternative, they will flatter a preacher while disobeying (Ezek 33:30-33).
   4. They will hear about getting saved, saving the lost, Christmas pageants, etc., etc.
   5. Perilous Times (2014 slides) … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2014/perilous-times/.
   6. Perilous Times (2008 details) … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2000/perilous-times/.
   7. They Promise Liberty … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2004/they-promise-them-liberty/.
   8. Contemporary Christian … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2000/contemporary-christianity/.

 

2  Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

1. The people had an excellent spirit for getting together in assemblies to hear about God.
   1. God had already shown Isaiah their national hypocrisy (Is 1:10-15; 29:13; 48:1-2).
   2. God described their false confidence in Jehovah’s temple in Jerusalem (Jer 7:1-11).
   3. God described these people similarly under Ezekiel’s ministry (Ezekiel 33:30-33).
   4. Moses and Joshua knew the hypocritical hearts of Israel (Deut 5:28-29; Josh 24:19).
   5. Saul confirmed David was the better man by exalting sacrifice (I Samuel 15:21-23).
   6. Jesus borrowed from Isaiah’s prophecy to condemn His generation (Matt 15:7-9).
   7. Compare Herod Antipas’s interest in hearing John the Baptist to a point (Mark 6:20).
2. God indicted His people for fine pretenses about loving Him and seeking righteousness.
   1. The four statements are hypocrisy only, shown by the two similes in the middle.
   2. They sought, delighted, asked, approached like a righteous nation, but they were not.
   3. They delighted hearing God’s word preached and delighted in its beauty and power.
   4. They gave every impression of being a nation that wanted to follow God’s ways.
   5. They kept up an outward show they were concerned to perpetuate His ordinances.
   6. They approached God and appealed to Him for wisdom to judge well in the land.
3. Hearer! Make sure you are not guilty of this very sin of hypocrisy, pretending religion.
   1. Do not trust your daily reading, prayers, or devotions, if holiness is compromised.
   2. Do not praise the preacher or sermon, unless you crave the righteousness of both.
   3. Do not allow or flatter America and its self-proclaimed claim of a Christian nation.
   4. Take no assurance or comfort in keeping up the traditions of worshipping God.
   5. Our nation hypocritically opens federal and state sessions with prayer for justice.
   6. Many are excited to gather Sundays to worship God and fellowship with the saints.
   7. Do not dress, smile, or sing in Sunday worship without craving and doing holiness.

 

Israel’s Ritual Ordinances Did Not Please God  –  Verses 3-5

 

3  Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

1. These hypocrites blamed God for not responding, and He explained why He would not.
   1. The issue here – why does God not answer me – is in the next chapter (Is 59:1-2).
   2. Most Christians think God is their beck-and-call gumball machine needing a nickel.
2. Fasting is a rather serious religious exercise, and in doing of it they afflicted their souls.
   1. Most American Christians today would not fast unless for some bodily, carnal goal.
   2. Jesus declared that fasting indeed enhances prayer for very hard cases (Matt 17:21).
   3. Though these Israelites were keeping such an intense ordinance, God did not hear.
   4. They appealed to outward keeping of ordinances – particularly fasting and praying.
   5. The afflicting of their soul here is bodily deprivation, not a broken and contrite heart.
   6. Bible Doctrine of Fasting (2003 outline) … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2005/fasting/.
3. God admitted that they knew they were not getting the appropriate response from Him.
   1. His answer was clear: their outward rituals were contradicted by their actual practice.
   2. While denying themselves food and a few calories, their lives were full speed ahead.
   3. Fasting that God accepts includes a great deal of true spirit affliction (James 4:6-10).
   4. It is a broken and contrite heart and spirit that counts with God (Isaiah 57:15; 66:2).
4. Heretics of various kinds have abused fasting in their hypocritical religion like Israel.
   1. The Roman Catholics require fasting the wrong at the wrong times (I Tim 4:1-3).
   2. The Seventh Day Adventists go way too far in their false will worship (Co 2:20-23).

 

 

4  Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

1. The LORD condemned their fasting and rejected their prayers due to carnal ambitions.
   1. They continued in their bitter greed toward others – striving, debating, and fighting.
   2. When you pray to consume things on your own lusts, you will not be heard (Jas 4:3).
   3. These Jews kept up their ungodly spirits and actions while glossing them by fasting.
   4. The high and lofty One would not hear them voice their prayers while still sinning.
2. The greatest measure of godliness and key to opening God’s ear is charity (I Cor 13:13).
   1. The second commandment after loving God is to love all others as you do yourself.
   2. They were personally guilty of strife, contention, debate, vengeance against others.
   3. Learning to love others and ending all such violent crimes pleases God (I Cor 12:31).
   4. Love Is the Greatest … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2017/love-is-the-greatest-2017/.
3. It is a cheap fault of man’s depraved heart to presume God must respond to a little effort.
   1. Most Christians think God is their beck-and-call gumball machine needing a nickel.
   2. Jesus warned about long prayers and many words to access God (Matt 6:7-8; 23:14).
4. It is a vile fault of man’s depraved heart to presume God must respond even to sinners.
   1. Many Christians find verses about God hearing prayers but overlook the conditions.
   2. The arrogance of the human race, even before Almighty God, is hard to comprehend.

 

 

5  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

1. They had fasting down pat from an external form of afflicting themselves ritualistically.
   1. God mocked their fasting for its bodily affliction, bowed head, sackcloth, and ashes.
   2. His four questions confront these worshippers about the real nature of their fasting.
   3. They sure looked the part, if you will visualize what is described here of their fasting.
   4. God does care about details in His worship, but He cares more for the heart attitude.
2. But the holy God did not care for good form, as He did the spirit and actions of holiness.
   1. Though they fasted to please God, He had never ordained merely an external ritual.
   2. Their form was far more reverent than worship in America, but it was vain to God.
   3. Both extremes are wrong – the details without true love, and love without the details.
3. What makes worship acceptable to God? Reverence and godly fear (Heb 12:28-29).

 

 

  God Required Godly Living for True Religion  –  Verses 6-7 

 

 

6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

1. God spiritually defined a fast as personal and practical righteousness in just dealings.
   1. The key element of what has gone before is charity – the greatest of these is charity.
   2. Never forget that a people prepared for God have great relationships (Luke 1:17).
   3. Both extremes are wrong – the details without true love, and love without the details.
2. Jehovah contrasted their ritualistic fasting to His specific demand for personal holiness.
   1. The four phrases are issues of unjust and severe business dealings with other Jews.
   2. Israel, by covetous greed, would persecute each other (Neh 5:10-12; Jer 34:8-11).
   3. If you want to please God and obtain His presence and blessing – lighten contracts.
3. God ordered mercy in dealings, for you should compromise where you can for others.
   1. Fasting is usually for God’s mercy, so show it (Ps 18:25; Matt 18:21-35; Jas 2:13).
   2. Bearing one another’s burdens fulfills the law of Christ and gains His favor (Ga 6:2).
   3. Godly men also look to loose men of bands and burdens of false religion (Matt 23:4).
4. Remember an important rule of interpretation and preaching, which the simple miss.
   1. They can only see black or white, on or off, this or that, and not balance them both.
   2. God by what He declared here did not in any way condemn actual fasting from food.
   3. If He were to commend them, He would foolishly dilute the point of their hypocrisy.
   4. Consider how Jesus carefully worded His rebuke of similar Pharisees (Matt 23:23).

 

 

7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

1. God spiritually defined a fast as charitable and merciful treatment of those in trouble.
   1. Here is the only wise God defining and detailing the importance of godly charity.
   2. Pure religion and undefiled before God includes both charity and virtue (Jas 1:27).
   3. The greed and selfishness of men retain funds to their hurt in the sight of Jehovah.
   4. Those that scatter assets and income gain in prayer and providence (Prov 11:24-26).
2. The LORD contrasted their ritualistic fasting to His specific order for personal holiness.
   1. The four phrases describe personal charity toward those in need of real assistance.
   2. Israel, by hardhearted insensitivity, could deprive each other (Nehemiah 5:10-12).
   3. If you want to please the Lord and obtain His presence and blessing – help the poor.
   4. The great measure on Judgment Day will be charity (Matt 25:31-46; I Tim 6:17-19).
   5. Consider one of the greatest ministerial meetings and its conclusion (Gal 2:6-10).
   6. Hide not thyself from thine own flesh, is a family warning (Matt 15:4-6; I Tim 5:8).
   7. A church full of the Holy Ghost shared all their possessions (Acts 2:42-47; 4:34-37).
3. There are definite rules that govern charity for God’s approval, but not the issue here.
   1. Notice the limitation in God’s words to food and nakedness of a hierarchical order.
   2. But it is a miserly wretch, and likely a reprobate, that always stresses the limitations.
   3. It was a vile lawyer justifying himself that asked, Who is my neighbor (Luke 10:29)?
   4. y Christian Charity (Haiti in 2010) … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2010/christian-charity/.

 

 

God Would Mightily Bless True Worshippers  –  Verses 8-12 

 

8  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

1. Now good matter starts – promises of God’s blessings and favor for practical godliness.
   1. The terms of religion to please God have been clearly stated above as the conditions.
   2. The terms are surely the most valuable part of the chapter, but the blessings are great.
   3. God promised great and precious blessings for those that will fast in righteousness.
   4. The breadth and depth of blessing are extreme, beyond parental honor (Eph 6:2-3).
2. Light breaking forth is a metaphor of gladness, life, prosperity, and truth, as in a sunrise (Job 11:17; 33:30; Psalm 36:9; 37:6; 56:13; 97:11; 112:4; Prov 4:18; Hos 6:3; Mal 4:2).
3. Health of body, soul, and spirit are general results of pursuing personal righteousness.
   1. Godly conduct does good like a medicine for joy (Pr 17:22; 15:13; 18:14; Ec 9:7-9).
   2. On the other hand, disobedience makes weak, sickly, dead (I Cor 11:30-32; Ec 7:17).
4. Thy righteousness shall go before thee, is God’s acceptance and blessing of your plans and actions for your good (Ps 112:1-10; Ac 10:4,31,34-35; II Cor 9:8-11; Jas 4:13-15).
5. Jehovah will cover your back – rearward for rereward – in safety (Ex 14:19; Is 52:12).
   1. Hallelujah! The great LORD Jehovah in glorious power will have your back. Amen!
   2. Every man must rightly fear being surprised from behind, but the godly need not.
6. What more could God have offered in the way of blessings for godliness? He has more!

 

 

9  Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

1. What more could God have offered in blessings than the previous verse? He has more!
2. Personal righteousness beyond hypocritical ritualism brings God’s personal presence.
   1. What a blessing! To have Jehovah at your call! To have Him ready by your prayers!
   2. GOD Jehovah is near and ready to help those who obey Him (Psalm 46:1; 145:18).
   3. God hears and answers prayers of the righteous, but not of the wicked (Ps 34:11-22).
3. On what basis are these promises? Personal commitment to righteousness (Ps 101:2)!
   1. Every wise child of God craves His presence more than anything. Choose His fast.
   2. Never forget the if-then nature of God’s practical promises. Identify the conditions.
   3. Many think they can claim Psalm 91, but the promises are conditional three ways.
   4. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are long chapters with conditions for blessings.
4. The second half of the verse starts the next condition for more blessings (Is 58:9b-12).
   1. Why do you force another to bear his own burden, when you could remove the yoke?
   2. If you can make another’s life easier, then you should do so to love your neighbor.
   3. The putting forth of the middle finger is offensive and fits context and history, for the Greeks in 423 B.C. wrote about it, and the Romans called it the indecent finger.
5. Speaking vanity is profitless and worthless, but in this place also violent and oppressive.
   1. One example is promising help and then not performing (Proverbs 3:28; Lev 19:13).
   2. The Bible also condemns sporting, jesting, and foolish talking (Pr 26:19; Ep 5:3-5).
6. What more could God have offered in the way of blessings for godliness? He has more!

 

 

10  And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

1. What more could God have offered in blessings than the previous verse? He has more!
2. The Lord added further acts of righteousness to obtain further blessings for true religion.
3. If a person does not see the great emphasis on charity in the Bible, they are very blind.
   1. Drawing out your soul is choosing bowels of compassion for those suffering in need (Deut 15:7-10; Ps 41:1; Pr 14:31; 28:27; Acts 2:44-45; I Tim 6:17-19; I John 3:17).
   2. When a person does not have this eagerness to give to brethren, he is likely not saved.
   3. Paul said bowels and size of the heart for compassion is a choice (II Cor 6:11-13).
   4. Satisfying the afflicted soul is providing needs for comfort and pleasure of the poor.
   5. It is more blessed to give than to receive, which includes the joy of the recipient.
   6. Job was a giver; he did not save more than needed; he made widows sing (Job 29:13).
4. The light out of obscurity and darkness are metaphors describing blessing, favor, gladness, truth, and prosperity, similar to what went before in context (Is 58:8; Ps 36:9).
   1. Compare how we describe difficult times: dark, dismal, stormy, death, night, cloudy.
   2. Compare how we describe good times: light, bright, shining, glowing, brilliant, etc.
5. What more could God have offered in the way of blessings for godliness? He has more!

 

 

11  And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

1. What more could God have offered in blessings than the previous verse? He has more!
   1. This verse, and the others with it, describe a wonderful life of fellowship with God.
   2. This is true living here – this is the abundant life – as God planned for His children.
2. God shall guide thee continually. Can you think of a greater blessing? There is none.
   1. The meek, those who submit to God’s word, will He lead (Psalm 25:9; 48:14; 73:24).
   2. We sing, He Leadeth Me. But this song, like the Bible promises, is very conditional.
3. The soul can be in drought two ways – literal and figurative (Ps 42:1-2; 63:1-8; 143:6).
   1. When Israel obeyed, or Moses for them, God provided water in the dry wilderness.
   2. Jesus offered water of life for thirsty souls (John 4:10-15; 7:37-39; Rev 21:6; 22:17).
4. Deny the FDA and AMA; fat is good, surely in spirit (Ps 36:8; 63:5-6; Is 25:6; 55:1-3).
5. Prosperity of the godly is like a spring-fed garden (Ps 1:1-3; 23:2; Is 27:2-3; Jer 31:12).
6. What more could God have offered in the way of blessings for godliness? He has more!

 

 

12  And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

1. What more could God have offered in blessings than the previous verse? He has more!
2. The blessings of the Lord for personal righteousness are extended to their descendants.
   1. Isaiah prophesied Israel’s and Judah’s desolation by Assyria, Babylon, and Rome.
   2. But in it He would preserve an elect remnant about a tenth for a seed (Isaiah 6:9-12).
   3. However, God would spare a remnant for David and the anointing (Is 10:27; 55:3).
   4. The spiritual house of David was desolate and rebuilt by Gentiles (Acts 15:13-18).
3. They that shall be of thee are descendants of those dedicated to personal righteousness.
4. The waste places and foundations of many generations are lost things of God (Is 61:4).
5. The generation that chooses God’s righteousness is honored with two wonderful titles.
   1. Moses stood in the breach for Israel, like four (Ps 106:23; Jer 15:1; Ezekiel 14:14).
   2. Zerubbabel to Nehemiah can easily be seen as fulfilling this promised blessing here.
   3. The Jews that obeyed Cyrus and returned to Judah did rebuild the temple and city.
6. We are in a great war for the apostolic faith of those before (Jude 1:3). Who will stand?
   1. We are in perilous times (II Tim 3:1 – 4:5). Who will restore old paths (Je 6:16-17)?
   2. Where are men who will end the fall of Christianity to repair the breach (Ps 78:1-8)?
   3. We have by God’s blessing restored angles of truth and published them worldwide.
   4. Will your children and grandchildren be contenders for the faith in the bleak future?

 

 

Example of Godly Worship for Great Blessings  –  Verses 13-14 

 

13  If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

1. God gave a symbolic example of practicing righteousness on His sabbath for blessings.
   1. This verse in some ways is a recapitulation of what has gone before in this chapter.
   2. In another way, it is pointing out that ceremonial worship is good after godliness.
   3. The Jews had corrupted God’s ordinances by living selfish, greedy, and violent lives.
   4. After laying down the charitable duties of true godliness, worship could be practiced.
   5. The sabbath was a distinguishing and focal point of the Jews’ religion for Jehovah.
   6. The sabbath, like elsewhere, is synecdoche for external worship of God (Is 56:2,6).
2. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath was to stop personal activities or seeking your own pleasure on that day to emphasize instead the service and worship of God.
   1. The synecdoche of foot can be found in other places in Scripture (Ecclesiastes 5:1).
   2. The choice out of proper fear of God was to stop personal pleasure on this holy day.
3. The sabbath was holy – a day consecrated and set apart to God – denying their pleasure.
   1. This holy day cost a man his life for picking up sticks on this day (Num 15:30-41).
   2. Christians and churches today are unholy, one trait of perilous times (II Tim 3:2).
   3. Blue Ribbon Holiness (2007) … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2007/holiness-fringe/.
4. There is a great difference between showing up on Sunday and calling it your delight.
   1. God would not accept Israel’s bare compliance with sabbath rules. He wanted more.
   2. God’s ordinances are all holy and honorable, and we should delight in Him over us.
   3. Worship in reverence and godly fear, which is demanded, is the key (Heb 12:28-29).
5. True dedication to God and His worship rejects our own ways, preferences, and words.
   1. To love God as He expects is with all your heart, mind, soul, body, and strength.
   2. Do you prepare for services? When do you arrive and leave? What do you talk of?
6. Do you willingly, cheerfully sacrifice your ways, thoughts, and words for His worship?
7. Christian or Sabbatarian … https://letgodbetrue.com/sermons/index/year-2009/christian-or-sabbatarian/.

 

 

14  Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

1. God promised great blessing for lifting worship from ritualism to spiritual affection.
   1. If you did what the previous verse described, then you would truly delight in God.
   2. If you did what the previous verse described, then God would greatly bless you.
2. The “if … then” form opening this verse indicates that delighting in God is the result.
   1. Delighting in God is one of the great privileges and pleasures of knowing our God.
   2. You cannot truly delight in God without delighting in that God’s commandments.
   3. Delighting in His things is delighting in Him, like obeying is love (Jn 14:15,21-24).
   4. There is no greater joy or pleasure in life than communion and pleasure with God.
3. By exalting His things, as the Sabbath (Is 58:13), with joy and zeal, we approach Him.
   1. God Jehovah will reveal Himself to such a man for his personal delight in the LORD.
   2. The reward is in kind: the more you delight in His things, the more delight He gives.
4. Riding on the high places of the earth is prosperity, safety, and victory (Deut 32:13-14).
   1. The good life, abundant life, is for those choosing to practice personal righteousness.
   2. Being fed with the heritage of Jacob is having his great blessings (Is 1:19; Ge 32:10).
   3. God’s covenant with Jacob was exclusively his, for Ishmael and Esau were rejected.
5. The mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it – you may count on these conditions and promises.