What does God See?

Sandy De Jesus
24 hours ago
4 min read

A Reflection for Saturday, February 21 by Sandy De Jesus

Lectionary reading for 02/21/2026: Psalm 51; Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 18:1-7

Selected passage for reflection: Isaiah 58:1-12

Read

Isaiah 58:1-12, Christian Standard Bible

1 “Cry out loudly, don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins.

2 They seek me day after day and delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. They ask me for righteous judgements; they delight in the nearness of God.”

3 ‘Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!’

“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers.

4 You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high.

5 Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly.Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.

9 At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,

10 and if you offer yourselves to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

11 The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry.

12 Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.”

Helen Siegl. Isaiah 58:7. Block print. — *Helen Siegl.* ***Isaiah 58:7.*** *Block print.*

Reflect

In this passage, the people of Judah were frustrated because it seemed that God was not answering their prayers. They had followed the religious requirements, they had fasted and prayed, but it felt like God didn’t see them.

Isaiah’s message to them was that God ‘had’ seen them, and they had fallen short.

In verse 2, God says that they had the ‘appearance of a nation that does what is right.’ Israel had a reputation as an obedient people, but God could see past the image they projected. Their outward actions and practices were insufficient when God could see their true motives. They could fast, beat their chests, and cry out, but it was an empty ritual because their hearts were unchanged.

Even in their fasting, they continued to quarrel and fight with each other. They oppressed their workers and did as they pleased. They could set their own times for worship and sacrifice, but it did not change their disdain for outsiders or their unfair treatment of the poor.

God could see.

Before they could claim any moral authority, they needed to repent of their own evil. They needed to be truly righteous, which inherently meant acting with justice toward everyone, not just the privileged or the ‘insiders.’

In verse 6, Isaiah states that true righteousness – doing right – begins by addressing how they treat others. Certainly, it means to work toward right relationships with those close to them – family, friends, and those under their care.

But it doesn’t stop there. The command is not just to stop behaving wickedly toward others. The call is to actively and intentionally work for the flourishing of others. To seek justice for people beyond their inner circle to the oppressed, the poor, the homeless. (v. 7)

During his earthly ministry, Jesus had the same rebuke for the religious leaders. He called them out for loading down the people with religious rules but said they “neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faithfulness.” (Matt. 23:23) He compared them to whitewashed tombs, “which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity.” (v. 27)

Lent is a time of prayer and sacrifice as we reflect on the life and death of Jesus. I think the message of Isaiah is the same for us: When God sees my acts of worship, what does that look like? Am I a person who follows the tradition of religious expression, with no change in my heart? Is my practice of righteousness a matter of following the rules, or of working actively toward the flourishing of others? As I practice my theology, where am I in relation to the outcast, the poor, the brokenhearted?

What does my ‘sacrifice’ to God actually cost me?

Respond

This season of Lent, may we be a people who follow Jesus to the margins, whatever the cost. Let that be our expression of worship and our legacy of faith.