Day 345: Isaiah 58- God's Restoration- Holistic Health

“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.


5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?


8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.


11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
 
13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 14 then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
 
Meditation
Healing is a hope embedded in the heart of humanity. We long for restoration from physical ailments, fractured relationships, societal problems, dysfunctional systems, and injustices. Holistic healing is God’s restoration experienced when we turn our hearts back to the Lord.
 
Empty religion profits nothing. Ancient Israel sought to manipulate God with religious rituals of fasting (1-5). Covenant renewal leads to a changed heart and life where we delight in the Lord (14) through true worship.
 
Genuine repentance is associated with turning from religious ritual and relational quarreling to showing steadfast love: care for the poor and oppressed (6) with generosity and hospitality to all humanity (7).
 
The promises of light, healing, righteousness, glory (8), and a restored presence of the Lord (9) are part of the restoration of God’s covenant blessings. Trusting God alone leads to satisfaction and saturation with living water (11), restoration of God’s design and renewal of society (12). We stop pointing fingers and open our hands (9), receiving God’s covenant love personally and sharing God’s love with others (12).
 
Pharisees focus on religious conformity that cleans the outside of the cup and ignores the heart of God and the heart of faith: justice, mercy, faithfulness, and steadfast love (Matthew 23). Holistic healing, God’s restoration, is found in covenant renewal whereby we put our hearts into His hands, delighting in the Lord and seeking to live in His love in all of life.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Do you struggle with religious ritual above and beyond covenant relationship through Jesus Christ? Do you subtly try to manipulate God with your goodness?
 
-Where do you long for light, healing, righteousness, glory, and God’s restored presence? Turn to Christ the Lord, putting your heart in His hands. Delight in Him and ask Him for holistic healing.
 
-Where can you show God’s love today in ways this passage recommends? Ending relational quarreling, caring for the poor and oppressed with genuine generosity and hospitality to all humanity?
 
Key Verse
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.