I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
Psalms 3:5 NIV
Isn’t that the secret to being able to sleep? Trusting in the Lords sustenance.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Isaiah 58:3-4 NIV
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Isaiah 58:6-7 NIV
The Israelites thought they were doing what they needed to do just by not eating, but its not about the act of not eating it is about the heart. To apply this I think about things like going to church. We go to church every Sunday but if you argue with your spouce or children on the way, or you get angry at other drivers on the road, or you are offended that someone is sitting in your pew or you deny someone in need who asks for what you have, it is the same thing. Therefore we should not expect to be heard.
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 58:11 NIV
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 58:13-14 NIV
If the heart is right and relationship is priority there is a natural response.
Psalm 3
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
❤️❤️❤️🙏
Isaiah 58
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
THEN YOUR LIGHT WILL RISE IN THE DARKNESS.
Psalms 18:28
For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Lord hear my prayer, guide me always in shining the light of your love in all ways.