Isaiah 58:1-2 – God abhors fake piety

Judah’s misery at the hand of the Assyrians and the impending Babylonian's captivity was a result of their own making. Isaiah had prophesied and spoken much about the reason for their misery. From Isaiah 53-57, he talked about the work of the Messiah, His sufferings, and the impact of His work. He also talked about Judah and  Zion’s restoration. Their unfaithfulness to the covenant made it necessary for the Lord to deal with them. In the last eight chapters, Isaiah will be dealing with a more glorious plan installed for the people after the captivity.   

In the last reflection, God talked about the need to remove the obstacles so that the path to Him and reception of the blessings He promised would be unhindered. To experience God’s full blessing, there is the need to remove the hindrances. Here God began by calling Isaiah to reveal the impediments that prevented them from experiencing the promised blessings. He was to proclaim clearly and truthfully the wrongdoings and sins of His people. Before dealing with their specific impediments, God first dealt with something more important - the attitude. While God would welcome the people’s desire to quest for piety, He was sick of fake piety. The desire to draw near to God is always a great desire but it must be a sincere one and not just an empty performance. When we approach God, don’t just go through the motion without genuine desires and intentions. God will not be pleased without sincerity.   

If we are to delight the heart of God, we must not fake our piety. We must worship Him in spirit and in truth. We must be sincere and honest and not project a false image. In Psalm 32, the Psalmist tells us that blessed is the person in whose spirit there is no guile. The Lord’s teaching in the sermon of the Mount tells us not to practice our piety before men, whether in prayer, in giving, or in fasting. Here’s an exhortation from Hebrews 10:22 – Let us approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience….”