Isaiah 58:9

9 Then thou callest, and Jehovah answereth, Thou criest, and He saith, `Behold Me.' If thou turn aside from thy midst the yoke, The sending forth of the finger, And the speaking of vanity,

Isaiah 58:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 58:9

Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer
A spirit of grace and supplication will be poured out upon the people of God; they will then pray without a form, and call upon the Lord in sincerity and truth, with faith and fervency; and the Lord will hear and answer them, and plentifully bestow his favours on them, so that they will have no reason to complain, as in ( Isaiah 58:3 ) : thou shalt cry, and he shall say, here I am;
he will immediately appear to the help and relief of his people; they shall have his presence with them, to comfort and refresh them, to support and supply them, to protect and defend them: if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke;
of human inventions, doctrines, rites and ceremonies, as in ( Isaiah 58:6 ) : "the putting forth of the finger"; pointing at those that could not comply with them, by way of scorn and derision, as puritans, schismatics and persecuting them for it; and so is the same with smiting with the fist of wickedness, ( Isaiah 58:4 ) ; when this deriding and persecuting spirit is done away, then, and not till then, will the prayers of a people be heard, though under a profession of religion, and under the Protestant name: and speaking vanity; which also must be taken away, or desisted from; even speaking false doctrines, as the Syriac version; or which profits not, as the Vulgate Latin version; profane and vain babblings, ( 2 Timothy 2:14 2 Timothy 2:15 ) , and threatening words, to such who will not receive them.

Isaiah 58:9 In-Context

7 Is it not to deal to the hungry thy bread, And the mourning poor bring home, That thou seest the naked and cover him, And from thine own flesh hide not thyself?
8 Then broken up as the dawn is thy light, And thy health in haste springeth up, Gone before thee hath thy righteousness, The honour of Jehovah doth gather thee.
9 Then thou callest, and Jehovah answereth, Thou criest, and He saith, `Behold Me.' If thou turn aside from thy midst the yoke, The sending forth of the finger, And the speaking of vanity,
10 And dost bring out to the hungry thy soul, And the afflicted soul dost satisfy, Then risen in the darkness hath thy light, And thy thick darkness [is] as noon.
11 And Jehovah doth lead thee continually, And hath satisfied in drought thy soul, And thy bones He armeth, And thou hast been as a watered garden, And as an outlet of waters, whose waters lie not.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.