So often, “religious” practice is designed to manipulate a deity to receive needed benefits. Man gives the god what he wants, and in return the god answers man’s request. This was the practice of ancient cultures, but it is also the practice of modern man. What we ask for today may be different from what our ancestors asked for, but the intention is the same. Yet the true and living God needs nothing from us. He is completely self-sufficient in Himself; therefore, it is foolish for us to try to barter with God. Instead, God calls us in His word to delight in Him and to seek Him alone. Isaiah reminds us of the danger of false, performative religion. We are always to choose God over our own desires and instead be “Delighting in the Lord” (Isaiah 58:1-14).