Isaiah 58

2. Yet they seek Me daily, etc. They showed much zeal for the ceremonies of religion, and even took a certain pleasure in the punctual observance of them; while they had no delight in spiritual religion, or even practical morality. Their worship is but self-seeking.

3 [Wherefore] have we afflicted our soul? That is, by fasting. Where professed austerities are a cloak for selfishness, they are most displeasing to God: see 1 Kings xxi. 9-13.

ye find pleasure, etc. You carry on business, and make your servants perform their full tale of work. A double mark of hypocrisy.

4. To make your voice to be heard on high. Even during a fast, men’s passions may remain unsubdued and display themselves in violent language and conduct.

6. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? The fast which God accepts includes the self-denial shown in the exercise of justice, kindness, and charity: comp. 1 Cor. xiii. 3.

the heavy burdens. Lit., “the bands of the yoke” (R.V.).

7 from thine own flesh. That is, “from thine own kindred.” Thou shouldst not be ashamed of them because they are poor, nor withhold from them needful help.

8. The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.

Alluding to the manner in which the Israelites came up out of Egypt: see Exod. xiii. 21; xiv. 19; and note on lii. 11. By obeying the Divine laws they would now be as effectually secured and protected as they then were by the pillar of cloud and fire.

9 the putting forth of the finger. Pointing with the finger: the sign of contempt.

vanity. Or, “wickedness.”

11 and make fat thy bones. See Prov. xv. 20, and note.

12 shall build the old waste places. The children of the exiles will begin, as soon as they return home, to build up again the ruins of olden times; receiving in consequence these honourable titles.

13. If thou turn away thy foot. “If thou dost not tread its holy ground with the foot of weekday work."—“The Sabbath, above all other institutions appointed by the law, was the true means of uniting and sustaining Israel as a religious community, more especially in exile, where a great part of the worship necessarily fell into abeyance on account of its intimate connexion with Jerusalem and the Holy Land."—Delitzsch. “Six days of the week I am your man: on the seventh I am God’s man only,” was the answer of Cairns, afterwards Lord Chancellor of England, to a friend who offered him, when a young and struggling barrister, a brief which would have required the giving up of the day of rest to master it.

14 to ride upon the high places of the earth. See Deut. xxxii. 13.