It is often believed that there is nothing that can wear God out. He is always there, always watching, never in need of sleep or rest – how can he become weary? Yet, consider what God said through Isaiah to Israel in Isaiah 1:10-15: “Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations– I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.”
If man wants to weary God, all that has to be done is what Israel did.
They believed that keeping the sacrifices were all that was necessary (Vs. 11). As long as the “worship services” were accomplished, Israel felt they had everything in order and nothing more was needed. God says that those empty sacrifices accomplished nothing. Unfortunately, Christians can carry the same mentality today – believing that as long as they show up for worship every Sunday, that is all God desires. They come into the assembly but do not sing, pray, participate in heart, or listen with ears; then leave believing that being present where sacrifices were offered is sufficient. God tells Israel that he has had enough of all of the sacrifices that are offered with no meaning before him. Acting in the same measure of emptiness today will make God equally frustrated.
By their lifestyle they turned the solemn meetings (assemblies) into iniquity (Vs. 13). All it takes to destroy the usefulness and acceptability of the assembly in the eyes of God is for people to live for themselves outside of the assembly and then enter carrying the airs of righteousness before him. Doing such turns the assembly into a place of wickedness, not purity. It is unfortunate that some Christians do the same thing by filling their lives with their own desires, pleasures, and entertainment, then enter the worship assembly as though they put God first in their lives. God despises such hypocrisy and there can be no place for it in our lives.
The only way Israel could return to a right relationship with God is if they made the changes God commanded when he said, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:16-17). It is the same for us today. If we do not wish to make God weary and cause him to despise our very presence before him when we assemble, we must ensure that our lives are dedicated to seeking him and serving him always and in all things, not just when it comes to assembling on Sunday.