Then Yahweh will answer you when you pray. When you cry out for help, he will say, ‘I am here.’ “If you banish every form of oppression, the scornful accusations, and vicious slander, 10 and if you offer yourselves in compassion for the hungry and relieve those in misery, then your dawning light will rise in the darkness and your gloom will turn into noonday splendor!   Isaiah 58:9-10

Isaiah continues his exhortation concerning fasting as a means of motivation to identify with the suffering and poor. The promise from God is that he will take care of us as we care for others.

The Christian life is never to be lived in isolation. It is about a spiritual family and a larger community where we are to engage. As much as we like our independence, we are our brother’s keeper.

This message is repeated again for clarity.  As we meet the needs of others, God takes care of us. This us so very different from what society decrees that we take care of ourselves first and let other people run their own lives. This idea is flipped when we are followers of Christ.

It seems from the text here that there is a direct cause and effect between God responding to our needs as we meet the needs of others. If we have an urgent need, we look to see how we can bless somebody else.  This is another example of how God’s Kingdom values are the opposite of this world’s.