Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest
not?
&c.] Our fasting; takest no notice of it; expresses no
approbation of it, and pleasure in it: this is put for all
religious services, being what was frequently performed under the
Old Testament, not only at certain times appointed by the Lord,
but on other occasions, and of their own fixing; in which they
put their confidence, and often boasted of, ( Luke 18:12 ) :
"wherefore have we afflicted our soul", by fasting, "and thou
takest no knowledge?" of that, nor of us, and dost not save us
from our enemies, and deliver us from our troubles, and bestow
favours on us: they had a high opinion of their own performances,
and thought that God must have likewise; and were displeased that
he showed no more regard unto them: behold, in the day of
your fast you find pleasure;
this, and what follows in the two next verses, are an answer to
their questions, and give reasons why the Lord took no more
notice of their fasting, or of their services; because they were
not done aright, they found their own pleasure in them; not that
they indulged to bodily recreations and carnal delights, but they
gratified the inward desires of the flesh, malice, envy, and the
like; and they pleased themselves with their own duties, and
fancied they procured the favour of God by them: and exact
all your labours;
of their servants, or their money of their debtors; they grieved
and afflicted their debtors, by demanding their debts of them, as
Jarchi interprets it; and that in a very rigorous manner,
requiring whole and immediate payment; or, as it is usual with
establishments, they require an exact conformity to their manner
of service, worship, and discipline.
Isaiah 58:3
