What problem is God exposing in the people’s fasting and worship?

God is exposing that their worship is only on the surface. They fast, bow their heads, and spread sackcloth and ashes, but on the same day they chase their own pleasure, treat workers harshly, and stir up strife. They even complain that God has not noticed their fasting. God shows that they want him to reward their rituals while they keep their sin. The problem is not that they fast, but that their hearts and daily actions do not match their religious words.

What does “the fast that I have chosen” mean in this passage?

When God speaks of “the fast that I have chosen,” he is talking about the kind of worship that pleases him. It is not mainly going without food or looking sad. It is loosening the bands of wickedness, undoing heavy burdens, letting the oppressed go free, and breaking every yoke. It means sharing bread with the hungry, bringing the poor into your house, clothing the naked, and not hiding from your own flesh and blood. True fasting is joined with justice, mercy, and kindness.

Why does God refuse to hear their prayers in this passage?

God says they “shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.” Their prayers are blocked because their lives are full of oppression, finger‑pointing, and empty talk. They use fasting for argument and even to strike with the fist of wickedness. God will not accept worship that leaves injustice untouched. He promises to answer and say, “Here I am,” when they remove the yoke, stop harmful speech, and pour themselves out to the hungry and afflicted.

What blessings are promised to those who practice true fasting and justice?

God gives many promises to those who turn from oppression and show mercy. He says their light will break forth like the morning and their healing will come quickly. Their righteousness will go before them and his glory will guard them from behind. When they call, he will answer. Their light will rise in darkness, and he will guide them always, satisfy them in drought, and make them like a watered garden. Their community will rebuild ruins and be known as repairers and restorers.

What does it mean not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Not hiding yourself from your own flesh means not turning away from those who are your own people, especially those in need. When you see someone hungry, homeless, or without clothing, you are to see them as your own flesh, like looking in a mirror. Instead of ignoring them or walking away, God calls you to open your hand, share your bread, bring them into your house, and cover them. True worship treats the needy as family, not as strangers to be avoided.

How does this passage connect fasting with caring for the poor?

This passage ties fasting directly to how we treat the needy. God asks if the fast he chooses is not to deal your bread to the hungry, bring the poor into your house, and cover the naked. Without these acts of mercy, going without food is empty. The passage shows that real devotion to God must spill over into practical care. If someone claims to seek God but ignores those who are suffering, their fasting misses the very heart of what God wants.

What does it mean to turn your foot from the sabbath and call it a delight?

Turning your foot from the sabbath means pulling back from using God’s holy day for your own business and pleasure. Instead of treating it like any other day, God calls his people to see it as “the holy of the Lord, honourable.” To call the sabbath a delight is to enjoy it as a gift, set apart for him, not doing your own ways, seeking your own pleasure, or speaking your own words. When they honor him in this way, he promises they will delight themselves in him and share the heritage given to Jacob.

What does this passage teach about God’s character and priorities?

This passage shows that God cares deeply about both worship and justice. He is not pleased with empty shows of religion while people are crushed by unfair treatment. He listens to those who repent of oppression and care for the weak. God loves mercy, truth, and humility. He wants his people to find joy in him, honor his holy day, and live in a way that reflects his kindness. His promises of light, guidance, and restoration show that he gladly blesses a people who walk in his ways.

How can a believer apply the teaching on true fasting today?

A believer can apply this by checking whether their spiritual practices match their daily life. Fasting, prayer, and worship should go together with fair treatment of others, kind speech, and generosity. This may mean changing how you treat workers, refusing to join in cruel talk, sharing time and resources with the poor, or welcoming those who are left out. It also means setting aside regular time to delight in God rather than chasing your own pleasure. In short, let worship shape how you treat people.

Isa.58.1

Isaiah 58:1

KJV GOD

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

True Fasts and Sabbaths

Observances of Fasts

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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.

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;

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:

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.

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.

Keeping the Sabbath

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:

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.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.