This Lent has been a challenge in my heart to not focus as much on my personal piety and fasting as it has been on setting the captive free. Isaiah 58 has been my base text. This is a note from a study Bible I reference from time to time on Isaiah 58:6.
Fasting and following religious rituals will not manipulate God into showing favor. He is more concerned with the motivation of the heart than the outward act. Oppressing the poor and weak of society, and burdening them with slavery, is the opposite of what they should be doing. God’s desire for social justice is a familiar theme in the prophets, especially the book of Amos. (Faithlife Study Bible)