In this passage the writer petitions for restoration and guidance from God. It is a cry to God for understanding, compassion, tolerance, and supervision. The writer seeks liberation from shame and fear.

Praying for God’s forgiveness and guidance involves being open and honest with God and ourselves in a way that leads to our emancipation. Being totally exposed and unafraid of the intimacy that characterizes our relationship with an all-knowing and all-loving Creator God is the attitude that pervades Isaiah’s soul and spirit.

Admitting our faults and the places we have erred requires humility and vulnerability. We can “seek the Lord while he may be found.” Yet as the writer says, it is only when we are willing to be mindful of God’s mercy, justice, and steadfast love that we can we be emboldened to seek God again and again. This type of praxis is what a new and vibrant relationship with God is all about.

This Lenten season reminds us that by refocusing on prayer and fasting we can reexamine the things within us that bind us and prevent us from seeking God. As we acknowledge those forces in our lives that block God out, we will experience a revitalization of our lives. This is the new relationship of higher thoughts and higher ways.

Let us be animated by God’s Holy Spirit. Let us vulnerably seek God as we are then liberated from the expectations of our “enemies” and ourselves.