Isaiah the prophet reminds me that the God who never grows weary can and does grow weary. A contradiction? No. God never grows physically “weary” (Isaiah 40:28), but He does grow morally “weary” (Isaiah 1:14). Nothing can exhaust the Almighty’s energy, but my lame, empty sacrifice can cause Him to say: “I have had enough” (1:11); “I take no pleasure in [them]” (v. 11); “I cannot endure [them]” (v. 13); “they have become a burden to Me” (v. 14).
Strong language! But no stronger than the feelings God has toward any hypocrisy He finds in me. He cannot abide the difference between a good sacrifice (legally) and a bad heart (spiritually). Neither can He abide the imbalance between a strong, loud profession and a shoddy life. God’s weariness is His annoyance, His outrage at the coldhearted and perfunctory way I present my offerings to Him. He is never weary of receiving contrite sinners, but He tires of my “motional” Christianity without love.
To weary God is a serious matter; it can mean the death of my prayer life. “Though you multiply prayers, I will not listen” (Isaiah 1:15). God will not join the game we are playing. If we trifle with Him and treat Him as an unnecessary appendage, He will break His lines of communication with us and our prayers will become so much wasted air. Thus, by playing it cool and casual, I may unconsciously abort many blessings God had planned to give me. I cannot afford to be without His blessings; therefore, I must not offer Him shoddy love or lame devotion. The kind of offering He yearns for is the “freewill” kind: “With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to Thee; I will praise Thy name, O Lord, for it is good” (Psalm 54:6, Berkeley).
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16–17).
Daily with the King 