Psalm 51:16-17 (NIV)
“16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
You, God, will not despise.”
Our purpose for fasting whether it is for ourselves, or for others should be done with a contrite heart. A prayer can be done without fasting, but a true fasting cannot be done without a prayer of weeping and mourning.
In the Old Testament, King David, the man after GOD’s own heart, fasted for his own sins in a very mournful manner after he admitted his sins against the LORD. (2 Sam 11-12). But he also did it the same way as he fasted for others too. He prayed hard to the Lord for the deliverance of his people.
Psalm 35:13-14 says,
“13 But as for me, when they were sick,
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,
14 as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I went about as one who laments for a mother,
bowed down and in mourning.
On the other hand, Moses fasted forty days on two occasions when the LORD gave him the two sets of the two Stone Tablets of the Ten Commandments (Deut. 9:9 &18). Moses’ fasting is not for himself but for Israel. He pleaded the LORD to listen to him not to destroy Israel, His own people, who (including Aaron) sinned against the LORD and had made Him angry. With Moses’ prayer and fasting for a total of eighty days, the LORD listened to him and agreed not to destroy them on two occasions (Deut. 10:10).
As our Redeemer, Jesus also had done fasting in the wilderness (Matt. 4:2). He fasted for forty days and forty nights bearing our inequities after submitting himself to the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of our sins, as He absorbed the very sins of all people including Gentles to be His own sins. Nonetheless, Jesus disobeyed the fasting on Sabbath as He is pointing out that fasting is not in the tradition, but in the heart.
However, up to this time, people observed fasting with hypocrisy. It is the same hypocrisy of people in the Old Testament that GOD mentioned in Isaiah’s time. This is how HE reprimand His people and corrected their concepts on fasting in Isaiah 58:5-10:
5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want?
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves,
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
6 No, this is the kind of fast I want.
I want you to remove the sinful chains,
to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,
to set free the oppressed,
and to break every burdensome yoke.
7 I want you to share your food with the hungry
and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people.
When you see someone naked, clothe him!
Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood!
8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise;
your restoration will quickly arrive;
your godly behavior will go before you,
and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;
you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’
You must remove the burdensome yoke from among you
and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.
10 You must actively help the hungry
and feed the oppressed.
Then your light will dispel the darkness,
and your darkness will be transformed into noonday.
Jesus asserted this passage of GOD to change the way we look on fasting. He called our attention to Proper Fasting. In Matthew 6:16-18. Jesus said, “When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting... When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret.”
According to Jesus, we should fast in private, to show to our Lord (not to people), and no one should notice it. We should not only do it at Lent but do it as soon as our conscience tells us that we have offended GOD and we should be so sorry that we will not do it again. Sirach 34:31 says, “So if one fasts for his sins, and goes again and does the same things, who will listen to his prayer? And what has he gained by humbling himself?”
Like Jesus, let us offer fasting for not only for ourselves but for other people especially those who are sick and those who need help for their conversion. We need to tear our hearts for ourselves and for others, as Psalm 51:17 says, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” AMEN
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