True Worship and Righteous Living

Chapter 56 opens with a message we have heard over and over in Isaiah: “Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed” (verse 1). God’s righteousness is coming — be prepared. Israel often replaced righteousness with ritual, something God will rebuke in chapter 58. And remember the state many would be in while in captivity: it would become increasingly difficult to remain faithful when everything was going against them. So God encourages the remnant to “keep” His word. Blessed is the man who keeps “the sabbath from profaning it” and keeps “his hand from doing any evil” (verse 2).

Then verse 3 reveals something new: foreigners and eunuchs are welcomed. Under the Law, the eunuch and certain foreigners could not enter the assembly of the Lord (Deuteronomy 23:1–3). Now God says, “Neither let the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree” (verse 3).

There are qualifiers. They have “joined themselves to Jehovah”; they serve Him and love His name; they keep the sabbath and hold fast His covenant (verses 4, 6). To them He gives “a name better than of sons and of daughters… an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off” (verse 5), and His house “shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (verse 7). The Lord who gathers the outcasts of Israel will gather others besides (verse 8).

In verses 9–12 Isaiah calls out “his watchmen” — the spiritual leaders of Israel. What had they become? Blind and silent: “His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber” (verse 10). Greedy and self-serving: “the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough… they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain” (verse 11). Without discernment or foresight: “to-morrow shall be as this day” (verse 12). So God calls the beasts of the field and forest to come and devour (verse 9).

The New Testament shows the warning was forgotten. Jesus said of the Pharisees, “Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14).

In this chapter both Israelites and foreigners are called to keep the Sabbath (verses 2, 4, 6). It was the sign of the covenant between God and Israel: “Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations” (Exodus 31:13). It acknowledged God as Creator, who rested on the seventh day and hallowed it (Genesis 2:2–3). It expressed trust in God as Provider, who gave “on the sixth day the bread of two days” (Exodus 16:29–30). And it was His “holy day,” “the holy of Jehovah” (Isaiah 58:13–14). The Sabbath was a visible sign of God’s relationship with His people — an act of worship.

Under the old covenant its requirements were specific: rest from work, keep it holy, no kindling of fire or cooking, stay at home with no travel, assemble for worship. It was the sign of the covenant, and breaking it meant death.

Under the new covenant Christians are not bound to keep the Sabbath. It was tied to the old covenant’s observances: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s” (Colossians 2:16–17). Esteeming one day above another is now a matter of personal conscience (Romans 14:5–6). Paul was alarmed that the Galatians were still consumed with days: “Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain” (Galatians 4:9–11). The Jerusalem council laid on Gentile believers “no greater burden than these necessary things,” and the Sabbath was not among them (Acts 15:28–29). Our Sabbath rest is in faith in Christ (Hebrews 4:9–10) — and we still need to make time for God.

“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He entereth into peace; they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness” (verses 1–2).

This is both a sobering observation and a quiet comfort. The righteous are dying, taken away from the evil that is coming; it is God’s mercy toward His righteous servants. Christians view death very differently than the world — how good it is to die in the Lord. That is not always easy to appreciate, but it should bring us comfort.

But if the righteous are gone, who remains? And what is coming? Those left behind will find that relying on the faith of those around them is not enough to protect them.

The conversation turns from the righteous to the “sons of the sorceress” (verse 3) — rather than children of God. They mock God with their defiance: “Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and put out the tongue?” (verse 4). They turned to idolatry and pagan practices, inflaming themselves “among the oaks, under every green tree,” slaying “the children in the valleys” (verse 5). They made covenants with false gods and other nations (verse 8). Even when wearied by the length of their way they ignored reality and would not say, “It is in vain” (verse 10).

Isaiah uses adultery to describe Israel’s betrayal: “the seed of the adulterer and the harlot” (verse 3), who set her bed on a high mountain, uncovered herself “to another than me,” and made a covenant with them (verses 7–8). The metaphor shows the severity of Israel’s rejection of God. It was not a forced action; they chose to break their covenant. We have already seen God call Himself their husband — “thy Maker is thy husband” (54:5) — showing how intimately He is connected to His people.

“And of whom hast thou been afraid and in fear, that thou liest, and hast not remembered me?” (verse 11). God was no longer at the center of their decisions. “Have not I held my peace even of long time?” — God had been silent, so they assumed He had left or forgotten them. Their false righteousness is called out: “I will declare thy righteousness; and as for thy works, they shall not profit thee” (verse 12). If you want to trust in idols, cry out to them: “let them that thou hast gathered deliver thee” — but the wind will carry them away (verse 13). Place your trust in Him instead, and the land is restored: “he that taketh refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain” (verse 13).

A clear path is made for the humble and repentant: “Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people” (verse 14). Though He is King, He dwells with us: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite” (verse 15).

He punishes sin but offers redemption (verses 16–17): “I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him” (verse 18). Peace is offered to the far and the near (verse 19). Yet it is not offered to the wicked: “the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest… There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (verses 20–21).

Isaiah is told to “cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression” (verse 1). The people had the appearance of devotion but lacked any: “they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways… they delight to draw near unto God” (verse 2). They complained, “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?” But in the day of their fast they found their own pleasure and exacted all their labors, and they fasted “for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness” (verses 3–4).

This echoes other prophets. Amos: “I hate, I despise your feasts… But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:21–24). Micah: God desires justice, mercy and humility, not rituals — “what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:6–8).

Fasting was meant to return His people to Him: “turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting… and rend your heart, and not your garments” (Joel 2:12–13). Yet God asked of Israel’s fasts in captivity, “did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” (Zechariah 7:5–6). And Jesus warned that fasting “that they may be seen of men” has already received its reward (Matthew 6:16–18).

Their worship was a façade: their lifestyle did not match their religious enthusiasm. They continued in sin while thinking their knowledge of God pleased Him. Their worship was not relational; it was ritualistic and self-serving. Paul said the same of his own people: “they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge… they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:2–3). True worship is not proving devotion but submitting to righteousness. We worship to align ourselves with God, not to get something in return.

The true fast is action for justice and freedom: “to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free” (verse 6). Worship is active! It includes generosity and compassion — dealing bread to the hungry, bringing the poor that are cast out into your house, covering the naked (verse 7). Only then “shall thy light break forth as the morning” (verse 8).

God answers those who live this way: “Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am” (verse 9). Their light rises in darkness, Jehovah guides them continually, and they become “like a watered garden” (verses 10–11). True worshipers are builders and restorers: “thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in” (verse 12). What are we to build and repair?

Again comes a call to keep the Sabbath (verse 13). It becomes a delight, not a restriction — a turn from self to God: “not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.” It is the surrender of control and self-direction to focus on the Lord. And God promises joy, enlightenment and inheritance: “then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah… and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father” (verse 14). It echoes Psalm 37:4: “Delight thyself also in Jehovah.” Worship brings forth what we delight in, not simply what we do; it reveals our true selves.