Lift up your voice

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O God, Will You Restore Us?

Bifrost Arts

Today is Friday the 20th of February, in the season of Lent.

Bifrost Arts sing, ‘O God, Will You Restore Us?’

O God, will You restore us

And grant us Your salvation?

O God, will You restore us

And grant us Your salvation?

I will hear what God proclaims

The Lord our God proclaims peace

Kindness and truth shall meet

Justice and peace shall kiss

O God, will You restore us

And grant us Your salvation?

Here is the fast that I choose

To loosen the bonds of the oppressed and break their chains

Let righteousness and justice go out before you

Then You will call out and I will hear

O God, will You restore us

And grant us Your salvation?

Near indeed is His salvation to those who call on Him

He will incline His ear and hear their prayers

Truth shall spring out of the earth

And justice will rain down from heaven

O God, will You restore us

And grant us Your salvation?

The Lord will guide you on a righteous path

His vindication will shine down forth as the dawn

Your people will be called repairers of broken walls

Making straight the path to proclaim His reign

O God, will You restore us

And grant us Your salvation?

O God, will You restore us?

Please grant us Your salvation

2:53

Today’s reading is from the Prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 58:1-9

Shout out, do not hold back!

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,

to the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet day after day they seek me

and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that practised righteousness

and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgements,

they delight to draw near to God.

‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?

Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,

and oppress all your workers.

Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today

will not make your voice heard on high.

Is such the fast that I choose,

a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,

and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,

the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

5:53

Signals and Satellites

This passage puts it in no uncertain terms that faith – spirituality – religion – is not just something private between us and God, but about our relationships with other people, and how we treat them. To some people this comes as an accusation; to others a relief, to some an annoyance or a burden. How does it sit with you? Just notice with curiosity...

What are the ‘bonds of injustice’ you might be being asked to loose? … the ‘thongs of the yoke’ you are called to undo? What injustice and oppression do you see around you?

Listen again, and watch to see if there is some particular word or phrase that strikes you, that sticks in your mind when you hear this passage again.

8:37

Isaiah 58:1-9

Shout out, do not hold back!

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,

to the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet day after day they seek me

and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that practised righteousness

and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgements,

they delight to draw near to God.

‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?

Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,

and oppress all your workers.

Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today

will not make your voice heard on high.

Is such the fast that I choose,

a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,

and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,

the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

11:23

What one thing could you do today, or this week, or during Lent, to respond to these words from God? Can you resolve to do this one thing, and offer this to God right now?

13:08

You have given all to me

To you, Lord, I return it

Everything is Yours, do with it what you will

Give me only Your love and Your grace

That is enough for me.