1. Isaiah Chapter 58 The Book of
This chapter brings us to the final division of the prophecy of Isaiah -- "The glory of Jehovah which comes through the suffering Servant.“
The purpose of this chapter is to rebuke Judah for dependence upon performance of outward show in religion, and claiming protection from God because of such rites.

2. Isaiah – Chapter 58:1
1Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 
True worship was more than religious ritual, going to the Temple every day, fasting, and listening to Scripture readings. These people missed the point of a living, vital relationship with God.
More important even than correct worship and doctrine is genuine compassion for the oppressed, the poor, and the helpless.
Cry aloud, spare not … tell My people their transgression: God speaks loudly and directly. His people need to hear their transgression - but will they hear?

3. Isaiah – Chapter 58:2
2Yet 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.
I think there is an element of God's biting satire in this statement. These people were attending the temple worship regularly. They were going through the ordinances punctiliously. They were meticulous in following the forms of worship. They actually enjoyed going to the temple; yet their lives bore no resemblance to those of believers. What was true in that day is also true today.
What was the sin that Isaiah was called to point out? The sin of religious hypocrisy.
They went through the motions of seeking God. They had established a national "morality." They religiously followed the Law. They liked knowing that Israel was "God's nation." They even went through the practice of fasting, denying themselves food for a day.
But it was all outward actions without inward faith.

4. Isaiah – Chapter 58:3
3Wherefore 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. 
They could not understand why God had not blessed them—because they had fasted and humbled themselves (cf. Mal. 3:13-15).
The reason God had not blessed them was that when they fasted, they did not demonstrate the attitudes and activities that fasting represented.
They were practicing religious ritual to try to manipulate God into blessing them. "But repentance is not for the purpose of getting God to do anything; it is an expression of the conviction that my ways are wrong and God's ways are right, whether he does anything for me or not.

5. Isaiah – Chapter 58:4
4Behold, 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. 
God explains why He cannot accept their fasting. They thought it gave them special acceptance with Him.
The purpose of their fasting was to glorify themselves, to make their voice heard on high. God says, "No more. You will not fast as you do this day."
The other possible way to read this is that they were fasting to get God on their side in their ungodly conflicts. They were praying selfishly and wickedly, asking God to bless their treachery and violence.

6. Isaiah – Chapter 58:5
5Is 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? 
God had not commanded their fasting, and their acts of worship were entirely outward and did not reveal the condition of the heart.
This is largely the condition of the contemporary church. I don't say it is the condition of your church -- there are many wonderful churches. But, by and large, the organized church has only a form of godliness.
Is it a fast that I have chosen? The kind of fasting God rebukes here is a hollow, empty, show, without the spiritual substance behind it. This isn't the kind of fast God has chosen.

7. Isaiah – Chapter 58:6
6Is 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? 
This is tremendous -- it gets right down to the nitty-gritty. If you really want to fast, let Me tell you what to do: Instead of fasting and going around with a pious look, stop your sinning. Stop your gossiping. Stop the things that reveal the wickedness and the evil in your hearts. Demonstrate your faith in Me by your conduct. Start being honest in your dealings. Be truthful in what you say. Instead of seeing you in sackcloth and covered with ashes, I'd like to see you clean on the inside."

8. Isaiah – Chapter 58:7
7Is 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? 
helping the poor is more important than helping oneself. Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and clothing the naked are more important to God than living well oneself. What is the point of fasting if we do not give what we would eat to others? Self-denial should be for others, not for oneself (cf. Matt. 25:35; Luke 3:11; 10:31-32; Heb. 13:2).

9. Isaiah – Chapter 58:8
8Then 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. 
God could not manifest His blessing and glory to a people who practiced their religion so badly. This is one of the reasons the world today is not convinced that God is in His holy temple. The world is passing by the church. Why? They don't believe God is there. And I suspect they might be right. God says here, "I can't manifest myself because of your lives."
Then your light shall break forth like the morning: If God's people would couple their fasting with lives of righteousness and love, then they would see their prayers answered. They would have lives full of light, full of healing, full of righteousness, full of the glory of the LORD. When they called out to God, then the LORD will answer.

10. Isaiah – Chapter 58:9
9Then 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; 
If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness: Again, the LORD gives them three things to stop doing. They must stop oppressing others, treating them as animals bound with a yoke. They must stop pointing … the finger at others, and see where they are to blame. They must stop speaking wickedness.
If if. God again defines the conditions of the blessing in a manner consistent with his nature.

11. Isaiah – Chapter 58:10
10And 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: 
If - Then Statements.
God asked them to practice one specific thing that He might bless them. He only picked out one thing. He could have picked out a dozen things, but He chose only one. God promised to bless them if they would show reality in their religion.
Positively, God's people needed to alleviate hunger in others (more than creating it in themselves by fasting), and to pour out their lives for others.

12. Isaiah – Chapter 58:11
11And 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. 
And satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones: Those who serve God with sincere hearts and actions enjoy a health and life of the soul that is impossible for the superficial follower of God to know.
God would also guide and sustain His people in their desert experiences. Strong bones contrast with bones that tremble or waste away because of fear, sorrow, or guilt. Physical health is often a byproduct of spiritual health (cf. James 5:15-16). Truly repentant people will also be a pleasant source of delight, encouragement, and nourishment to others (cf. 1:30). They will refresh others, as well as themselves, because God, the source of life within them (cf. John 4:14; 7:37-39), will manifest Himself through them.

13. Isaiah – Chapter 58:12
12And 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.
The waste lands will be restored to a habitable state, and the blessings that should have been enjoyed for many generations will be yours.
Those who serve God with sincere hearts and actions also accomplish things for God's kingdom. They build, and are called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell in. You can't build anything for God's kingdom on the foundation of a superficial walk with God.
How there needs to be a rebuilding work today! "We live in a broken world. In every direction there are breaches which are wide and deep. There are broken hearts and broken homes, and that which once was sacred is but a waste place. Whereas once there was a carefully guarded fence around the sanctity of family life, sex life, and the right to personal privacy, now there is just a waste place.

14. Isaiah – Chapter 58:13
13If 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: 
The day of rest should be observed and regarded not only because Sabbath-keeping is a commandment but also because it is best for us and it honors God. Keeping the Sabbath shows proper respect to God, our Creator, who also rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:3). It also unifies our family and sets priorities for them. Our day of rest refreshes us spiritually and physically—providing time when we can gather together for worship and reflect on God without the stress of our everyday activities.

15. Isaiah – Chapter 58:14
14Then 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.
In this chapter, God exposed the emptiness of two religious rituals as practiced in Isaiah's day: fasting and Sabbath keeping. Both of these are expressions of not doing things. In fasting, you don't eat. In Sabbath keeping, you don't work. An important aspect to this chapter is showing us that what we don't do isn't enough to make us right before God. Our walk with God shouldn't only be defined by what we don't do. What do we do for the LORD?

16. Isaiah – Chapter 58
End of Chapter 58
I wonder tonight what God would say to each of us about our religious observance. Would He say, "Yes, you're singing songs, but there's no heart of worship"? Would He say, "You're writing tithe checks, but there's no joy in your giving"? Would He say, "You're attending church regularly, but you haven't met with me in a very long time"?