God's Rebuke Against Man's Hypocritical Religiosity Poem by Yehoshua Shim'onai

Do not flatter Me with your words
as if I do not know your heart;
Do not entertain Me with your actions
as if I do not know your motives;
Do not even praise Me with your songs
as if I do not know your pretensions
And do not impress Me with your offerings
as if I do not know what is in your mind.

I do not need such things
as if I am in need of anything
Nor am I thirsty of such things
as I have the fullness of joy in Me;
Behold, I am before all things
and My word caused their existence;
Apart from Me, there would be nothing
and because of Me, all things are sustained.

Behold, all creation look to Me
and they obey My every word;
They all bring glory to Me
and serve My purposes in them;
Beasts look to Me
that I may feed them
And plants wait upon Me
that I may water them.

When I hide My face,
they are dismayed
When I am angered,
they all tremble;
They cannot perish
unless I say so
And they cannot be revived
without My breath.

Do you not see, O son of man
which I formed from the dust,
Do you not see how they worship Me
while you do not in like manner?
Do you not hear the earth praise Me
with its songs
and the stars glorify Me
with their speech -
While you seek Me in vain
and worship Me with defiled offerings?

Therefore, do not worship Me
when your heart is away from Me
And do not offer sacrifices
when your mind is not fixed to Me;
For I despise empty words
and I am disgusted by pretensions;
For the praises from hypocrites
are as offerings defiled by the dead
And the sacrifices of the wicked
as the slaughter of innocent men.

For I desire worship from inward parts
and take delight in repentance;
A broken spirit
is the sacrifice that I accept
And a contrite heart
I shall not reject;

Yet you do not seek Me
and you rebel against My law!
When you sing your praises,
you seek the approval of men;
When you bring your offering,
you desire the clap of people;
You have defiled My altar
and you never wanted Me!

Behold, I, the Holy One, am the Sovereign God
and I do not let My Name be profaned for long;
I cast down the haughty ones
and destroy the works of the evil
And I defend the needy
and rescue the helpless
That I may be praised in My justice
and glorified in My mercy.

Therefore, I await to be glorified
in My grace towards you;
Humble yourself to Me
that you may be lifted up;
Come near to Me in repentance
that I may cleanse your filth
And draw near to Me in tears
that you may rejoice with Me -
for I await to be gracious to you!

(11/18/2015)