◄ Isaiah 58:13 ►
If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD's holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,
Study Bible
If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath,

Israel was to cease trampling God’s appointed day by ordinary labor and self-directed activity. The Sabbath memorialized God’s rest in creation and Israel’s redemption from Egypt (Exodus 20:8–11; Deuteronomy 5:15). As a covenant sign between the Lord and Israel, it called the nation to acknowledge that its time, strength, and provision came from Him (Exodus 31:16–17).

Jer 17:21-22 This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves;…
Deu 5:12-14 Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,…

from doing as you please on My holy day,

God rejects worship that preserves religious forms while leaving the heart devoted to personal advantage. Isaiah had already exposed fasting that coexisted with oppression, strife, and neglect of the needy (Isaiah 58:3–7). Sabbath observance required a willing pause from self-rule so that God’s holiness and mercy might govern the life of His people.

Isa 56:2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man…
Neh 13:15-18 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses…

if you call the Sabbath a delight,

The Lord desired more than outward restraint. His people were to receive His day as a gift, finding joy in worship, rest, fellowship, and renewed attention to His word. Delight in God’s commands marks a heart that trusts His wisdom rather than treating obedience as a burden.

Psa 92:1-4 A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise…
Psa 118:24 This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice…

and the LORD’s holy day honorable,

The Sabbath belonged to the Lord and was set apart for His purposes. Honoring it reminded Israel that God had delivered them from slavery and had claimed them as His covenant people. Their rest testified that they were not slaves to labor, possessions, or worldly demands.

Lev 23:3 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day…
Exo 31:13-17 Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths,…

if you honor it by not going your own way

God calls His people away from lives ordered solely by personal plans and ambitions. The Sabbath trained Israel to submit its schedule and desires to the Lord. Such surrender reaches beyond one day, teaching believers to seek God’s will in every part of life.

Exo 16:29 Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath;…
Exo 23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day…

or seeking your own pleasure

Rest was not permission for selfish indulgence but an opportunity to rejoice in God and to pursue what served His holy purposes. Jesus showed that works of mercy and necessity accord with the Sabbath’s intent, for the day was made for man’s good and for God’s glory (Mark 2:27; Matthew 12:12).

Amo 8:5-6 “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain?…
Neh 10:31 When the people of the land bring merchandise or grain…

or speaking idle words,

Speech also reveals whether the heart is centered on God or consumed with self. God’s people were to avoid words that promoted empty pursuits, selfish business, or careless irreverence. A day devoted to the Lord called for speech that strengthened faith, encouraged others, and reflected reverence for His presence.

Mat 12:36-37 But I tell you that men will give an account…
Ecc 5:2-3 Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book that bears his name. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah and is known for his messages of both judgment and hope.

2. The Sabbath
A day of rest and worship, instituted by God in the Ten Commandments. It is a sign of the covenant between God and His people, meant to be a day set apart for rest and spiritual reflection.

3. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal existence and faithfulness to His promises.

4. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, to whom Isaiah primarily directed his prophecies. The people of Judah were often called to repentance and renewal of their covenant with God.

5. The Holy Day
Refers to the Sabbath, a day that is to be kept holy and distinct from other days, dedicated to the Lord.
Teaching Points
Understanding the Sabbath's Purpose
The Sabbath is a gift from God, designed for rest and spiritual renewal. It is a time to cease from our labors and focus on our relationship with God.

Delighting in the Sabbath
Viewing the Sabbath as a delight rather than a burden transforms our approach to this holy day. It becomes an opportunity to experience joy in God's presence.

Honoring God's Holy Day
Honoring the Sabbath involves setting aside our own desires and activities to focus on worship and reflection. It is a day to prioritize God's will over our own.

Avoiding Idle Words
The call to refrain from speaking idle words on the Sabbath encourages us to engage in meaningful and edifying conversations that honor God.

Practical Sabbath Observance
In today's context, observing the Sabbath can involve setting aside time for worship, rest, and family, ensuring that our activities align with the spirit of the day.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Isaiah 58:13 challenge your current understanding and practice of the Sabbath?

2. In what ways can you make the Sabbath a delight in your life, as suggested in this verse?

3. How does the concept of Sabbath rest in Hebrews 4:9-11 deepen your understanding of Isaiah 58:13?

4. What practical steps can you take to honor the Sabbath in a way that aligns with the teachings of Isaiah 58:13?

5. How can the principles of Sabbath observance in Isaiah 58:13 influence your daily walk with God, even beyond the Sabbath day?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 20:8-11
This passage provides the original commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, emphasizing rest and remembrance of God's creation.

Nehemiah 13:15-22
Nehemiah's actions to enforce Sabbath observance highlight the importance of honoring the Sabbath as a day set apart for God.

Mark 2:27-28
Jesus teaches that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, indicating its purpose for rest and spiritual renewal.

Hebrews 4:9-11
This passage speaks of a Sabbath rest for the people of God, pointing to a spiritual rest found in Christ.
Sermons
The Sabbath IdealW.M. Statham Isaiah 58:13
The Universal Sabbath-LawR. Tuck Isaiah 58:13
A Healthy ChurchJ. Williams.Isaiah 58:8-14
Break Forth as the DawnProf. J. Skinner,D. D.Isaiah 58:8-14
God the RewarderIsaiah 58:8-14
The Secret of Prosperity to Nations, Churches, and MenR. Paisley.Isaiah 58:8-14
A Sabbath-WeekR. E. Paget, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
Better for the Sunday RestChristian Budget.Isaiah 58:13-14
Early English Law an the SabbathR. F. Horton.Isaiah 58:13-14
Rabbinical ProhibitionsR. W. Dale, LL. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
Sabbath ObservanceT. Best, M. A.Isaiah 58:13-14
Sabbath Observance a Godward DutyProf. S. R. Driver, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
Sabbath-SpeakingJ. A. Alexander.Isaiah 58:13-14
Speech Rest on SundayF. Delitzsch, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Brightest of DaysT. De W, Talmage, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Claims of the SabbathE. Johnson Isaiah 58:13, 14
The Day of Sacred RestW.M. Statham Isaiah 58:13, 14
The Institution of the SabbathJ. Saurin.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Luxury of the SabbathProf. G. A. Smith, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath a DelightC. Neale, M. A.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath a DelightA. Smellie, M. A.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath a DelightF. Delitzsch, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath a Festive TimeA. T. Pierson, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath a Rest Form SelfR. F. Horton.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath Compared to the Best Room of the HouseH. W. Beecher.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath DayJ. Saurin.Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath Made HonourableT. Case, M. A.Isaiah 58:13-14
Thine Own WaysR. W. Dale, LL. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
Turning the Foot from the SabbathF. Delitzsch, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
Useless WordsF. Delitzsch, D. D.Isaiah 58:13-14
People
Isaiah, Jacob
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Breaking, Business, Care, Cried, Delight, Desisting, Finding, Foot, Hast, Holy, Honor, Honorable, Honour, Honourable, Honoured, Idle, Idly, Lord's, Moon, Please, Pleasure, Pursuing, Respect, Sabbath, Saying, Seeking, Seems, Speaking, Talking, Thereof, Turn, Unholy, Wonted
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 58:13

     7429   Sabbath, in OT

Isaiah 58:9-14

     8245   ethics, incentives

Isaiah 58:13-14

     5057   rest, physical
     5704   inheritance, material
     5830   delight
     8287   joy, experience
     8444   honouring God

Library
June 17. "The Glory of the Lord Shall be Thy Reward" (Isa. Lviii. 8).
"The glory of the Lord shall be thy reward" (Isa. lviii. 8). He comes by our side as our helper; nay, more. He comes to dwell within us; to be the life in our blood, the fire in our thought, the faith within us, both in inception and consummation. Thus He becomes not only the recompense of the victor, but the resources of the victory. He is the Captain and the Overcomer in our lives. If we have caught any help that has relieved us of a troubled morning, it has been of Him. He lifts our eyes up unto …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Spiritual Growth
Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring whose waters fail not.' (Isaiah lviii. 11.) 'Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' (2 Peter iii. 18.) The truths of the Bible exist in counterpart, having at least two aspects, each of which must be considered in relation to the other, if their full meaning is to be understood. That is a very necessary statement in regard to the aspect of truth which we emphasize under the general heading of 'Spiritual …
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

Prayer Essential to God
"Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. 14th verse: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."--Isaiah 58:9. It must never be forgotten that Almighty God rules this world. He is not an absentee God. His hand is ever on the throttle of human affairs. He is everywhere present in the concerns …
Edward M. Bounds—The Weapon of Prayer

From his Entrance on the Ministry in 1815, to his Commission to Reside in Germany in 1820
1815.--After the long season of depression through which John Yeardley passed, as described in the last chapter, the new year of 1815 dawned with brightness upon his mind. He now at length saw his spiritual bonds loosed; and the extracts which follow describe his first offerings in the ministry in a simple and affecting manner. 1 mo. 5.--The subject of the prophet's going down to the potter's house opened so clearly on my mind in meeting this morning that I thought I could almost have publicly …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

Attributes of Love.
8. Efficiency is another attribute or characteristic of benevolence. Benevolence consists in choice, intention. Now we know from consciousness that choice or intention constitutes the mind's deepest source or power of action. If I honestly intend a thing, I cannot but make efforts to accomplish that which I intend, provided that I believe the thing possible. If I choose an end, this choice must and will energize to secure its end. When benevolence is the supreme choice, preference, or intention of …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Evidences of Regeneration.
I. Introductory remarks. 1. In ascertaining what are, and what are not, evidences of regeneration, we must constantly keep in mind what is not, and what is regeneration; what is not, and what is implied in it. 2. We must constantly recognize the fact, that saints and sinners have precisely similar constitutions and constitutional susceptibilities, and therefore that many things are common to both. What is common to both cannot, of course, he an evidence of regeneration. 3. That no state of the sensibility …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Epistle xxxiv. To Venantius, Ex-Monk, Patrician of Syracuse .
To Venantius, Ex-Monk, Patrician of Syracuse [1331] . Gregory to Venantius, &c. Many foolish men have supposed that, if I were advanced to the rank of the episcopate, I should decline to address thee, or to keep up communication with thee by letter. But this is not so; since I am compelled by the very necessity of my position not to hold my peace. For it is written, Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet (Isai. lviii. 1). And again it is written, I have given thee for a watchman …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

A Summary of the Christian Life. Of Self-Denial.
1. Consideration of the second general division in regard to the Christian life. Its beginning and sum. A twofold respect. 1. We are not our own. Respect to both the fruit and the use. Unknown to philosophers, who have placed reason on the throne of the Holy Spirit. 2. Since we are not our own, we must seek the glory of God, and obey his will. Self-denial recommended to the disciples of Christ. He who neglects it, deceived either by pride or hypocrisy, rushes on destruction. 3. Three things to be …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Entire Sanctification as Taught by John.
John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of Thunder. He could forbid a man to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, because the man was not of his own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah by calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans who would not extend the rites of hospitality to his Master. He was eager to have the highest possible place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was par excellence the apostle of love. …
Dougan Clark—The Theology of Holiness

What Manner of Man Ought to Come to Rule.
That man, therefore, ought by all means to be drawn with cords to be an example of good living who already lives spiritually, dying to all passions of the flesh; who disregards worldly prosperity; who is afraid of no adversity; who desires only inward wealth; whose intention the body, in good accord with it, thwarts not at all by its frailness, nor the spirit greatly by its disdain: one who is not led to covet the things of others, but gives freely of his own; who through the bowels of compassion …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

At a Public Fast in July, First Sabbath, 1650. (257)
At A Public Fast In July, First Sabbath, 1650.(257) Deut. xxxii. 4-7.--"He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment," &c. There are two things which may comprehend all religion,--the knowledge of God and of ourselves. These are the principles of religion, and are so nearly conjoined together, that the one cannot be truly without the other, much less savingly. It is no wonder that Moses craved attention, and that, to the end he may attain it from an hard hearted deaf people, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away.
There is a time when the spirit of error is going abroad, and truth is questioned, and many are led away with delusions. For Satan can change himself into an angel of light, and make many great and fairlike pretensions to holiness, and under that pretext usher in untruths, and gain the consent of many unto them; so that in such a time of temptation many are stolen off their feet, and made to depart from the right ways of God, and to embrace error and delusions instead of truth. Now the question is, …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Cæsarius of Arles.
He was born in the district of Chalons-sur-Saone, A. D. 470. He seems to have been early awakened, by a pious education, to vital Christianity. When he was between seven and eight years old, it would often happen that he would give a portion of his clothes to the poor whom he met, and would say, when he came home, that he had been, constrained to do so. When yet a youth, he entered the celebrated convent on the island of Lerins, (Lerina,) in Provence, from which a spirit of deep and practical piety …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Epistle v. To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor.
To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor. Gregory to Theoctista, &c. With how great devotion my mind prostrates itself before your Venerableness I cannot fully express in words; nor yet do I labour to give utterance to it, since, even though I were silent, you read in your heart your own sense of my devotion. I wonder, however, that you withdrew your countenance, till of late bestowed on me, from this my recent engagement in the pastoral office; wherein, under colour of episcopacy, I have been brought …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

How to Make Use of Christ for Steadfastness, in a Time when Truth is Oppressed and Borne Down.
When enemies are prevailing, and the way of truth is evil spoken of, many faint, and many turn aside, and do not plead for truth, nor stand up for the interest of Christ, in their hour and power of darkness: many are overcome with base fear, and either side with the workers of iniquity, or are not valiant for the truth, but being faint-hearted, turn back. Now the thoughts of this may put some who desire to stand fast, and to own him and his cause in a day of trial, to enquire how they shall make …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The First Galilean Ministry.
The visit to Nazareth was in many respects decisive. It presented by anticipation an epitome of the history of the Christ. He came to His own, and His own received Him not. The first time He taught in the Synagogue, as the first time He taught in the Temple, they cast Him out. On the one and the other occasion, they questioned His authority, and they asked for a sign.' In both instances, the power which they challenged was, indeed, claimed by Christ, but its display, in the manner which they expected, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Putting God to Work
"For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God beside thee who worketh for him that waiteth for him."--Isaiah 64:4. The assertion voiced in the title given this chapter is but another way of declaring that God has of His own motion placed Himself under the law of prayer, and has obligated Himself to answer the prayers of men. He has ordained prayer as a means whereby He will do things through men as they pray, which He would not otherwise do. Prayer …
Edward M. Bounds—The Weapon of Prayer

Jeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.
"Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord."--Jeremiah i. 8. The Prophets were ever ungratefully treated by the Israelites, they were resisted, their warnings neglected, their good services forgotten. But there was this difference between the earlier and the later Prophets; the earlier lived and died in honour among their people,--in outward honour; though hated and thwarted by the wicked, they were exalted to high places, and ruled in the congregation. …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

In the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles.
(October, a.d. 29.) ^D John VII. 11-52. ^d 11 The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? [It was now eighteen months since Jesus had visited Jerusalem, at which time he had healed the impotent man at Bethesda. His fame and prolonged obscurity made his enemies anxious for him to again expose himself in their midst. John here used the word "Jews" as a designation for the Jerusalemites, who, as enemies of Christ, were to be distinguished from the multitudes who were in doubt …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Regeneration by Faith. Of Repentance.
1. Connection of this chapter with the previous one and the subsequent chapters. Repentance follows faith, and is produced by it. Reason. Error of those who take a contrary view. 2. Their First Objection. Answer. In what sense the origin of Repentance ascribed to Faith. Cause of the erroneous idea that faith is produced by repentance. Refutation of it. The hypocrisy of Monks and Anabaptists in assigning limits to repentance exposed. 3. A second opinion concerning repentance considered. 4. A third …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

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