Isaiah 58:14 - Exposition

Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord . Then shall communion with Jehovah become a real pleasure to thee. The acts of worship shall not be done merely from a sense of duty, because commanded, but because they are congenial to the soul of the worshipper. A right use of the sabbath will help to form in men habits of devotion, which will make religion a joy and a delight to them. I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth ; i.e. "I will give thee a prominent position in the earth, and cause thee to occupy its high places, and hear rule over many nations." Something more than a "taking triumphal possession of Palestine" is evidently pointed at (see Deuteronomy 32:13 ). And feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father . The world itself was the "heritage of Jacob," since in him and his seed "all the families of the earth were to be blessed" ( Genesis 28:14 ). Israel, having laid aside its formalism, and turned to God sincerely. keeping fast and sabbath as God would have them kept, not in the letter, but in the spirit, would enter upon the promised heritage, and occupy the position originally assigned to it. Israel's rejection of the gospel made the mixed Christian Church the inheritress of the old promises.