Isaías 58:2

2 Sin embargo, ¡se hacen los piadosos!
Vienen al templo todos los días
y parecen estar encantados de aprender todo sobre mí.
Actúan como una nación justa
que nunca abandonaría las leyes de su Dios.
Me piden que actúe a su favor,
fingiendo que quieren estar cerca de mí.

Isaías 58:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 58:2

Yet they seek me daily
Which may be considered as an acknowledgment of their external piety; or as a caution to the prophet not to be imposed upon by outward appearances; or as a reason why they should be rebuked sharply: they sought the Lord, either by prayer, or in the ministry of the word; they sought doctrine, as the Targum; they sought him, and that every day, or, however, every Lord's day; and yet they did not seek him with that diligence and intenseness of spirit, with their whole hearts, cordially and sincerely, as they ought to have done; they sought themselves, and the honour of men, rather than the Lord and his glory: and delight to know my ways;
not only his ways of creation and providence, but of grace; and also the ways which he prescribes and directs his people to walk in; not that they had a real delight in them, or in the knowledge of them, or such a delight as truly gracious souls have when they have the presence of God in them; are assisted by his Spirit; have their hearts enlarged with his love; find food for their souls, and have fellowship with the saints; but this delight was only seeming, and at most only in the knowledge and theory of these ways, but not in the practice of them; see ( Ezekiel 33:31 Ezekiel 33:32 ) : as a nation that did righteousness:
in general appeared to be outwardly righteous; had a form of godliness, and name to live, and yet dead, and so destitute of any works of true righteousness, at best only going about to establish a righteousness of their own: and forsook not the ordinance of their God;
the ordinance of assembling together in general; any of the ordinances of God in particular; hearing, reading, singing, praying, especially the ordinance of the supper, constantly attended to by them; see ( Luke 13:26 ) : they ask of me the ordinances of justice;
not of justice between man and man, but of righteousness and religion with respect to God; they ask what are the ordinances of the Gospel, and the rules of worship and discipline, and whether there are any they are ignorant of; suggesting they were desirous of being instructed in them, and of complying with them: they take delight in approaching to God;
there is no right approaching God but through Christ, and gracious souls take a real delight in this way; but the approaching here is only in an external manner, by the performance of outward duties; and the delight is not in God, and communion with him; but in the service, performed as a work of their own, in which they trust, and in what they expect as the reward of it.

Isaías 58:2 In-Context

1 Verdadera y falsa adoración
»Grita con la voz de un toque de trompeta.
¡Grita fuerte! No seas tímido.
¡Háblale a mi pueblo Israel
de sus pecados!

2 Sin embargo, ¡se hacen los piadosos!
Vienen al templo todos los días
y parecen estar encantados de aprender todo sobre mí.
Actúan como una nación justa
que nunca abandonaría las leyes de su Dios.
Me piden que actúe a su favor,
fingiendo que quieren estar cerca de mí.

3 “¡Hemos ayunado delante de ti! —dicen ellos—.
¿Por qué no te impresionamos?
Hemos sido muy severos con nosotros mismos,
y ni siquiera te das cuenta”.
»¡Les diré por qué! —les contesto—.
Es porque ayunan para complacerse a sí mismos.
Aun mientras ayunan,
oprimen a sus trabajadores.

4 ¿De qué les sirve ayunar,
si siguen con sus peleas y riñas?
Con esta clase de ayuno,
nunca lograrán nada conmigo.

5 Ustedes se humillan
al hacer penitencia por pura fórmula:
inclinan la cabeza
como cañas en el viento,
se visten de tela áspera
y se cubren de cenizas.
¿A eso le llaman ayunar?
¿Realmente creen que eso agrada al Señor
?