So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

12 For our offenses are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
    uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back,
    and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

At this point Isaiah does what a number of other Biblical leaders also do. He stands in solidarity with his nation and confesses its sins as if his own. This is not merely a device. It is not pretence. When we confess the sins of our nation, we recognise that in our natural selves we are a part of the problem. We are sinful by nature, and we do sin. We are sinners. We may not have committed every sin we see in our particular country, but we have contributed to the overall problem. We have added to the pile of sins heaped up in our land. We cannot stand aloof from it all as if passive bystanders, and say ‘it’s them and not us.’

There is a story told that a number of years ago, a national newspaper put this question to certain famous authors: ‘What is wrong with the world?’ It received a number of answers, but I think the most succinct came from G.K. Chesterton. He wrote to the editor:

‘Dear Sir,

I am.

Yours sincerely,

G.K. Chesterton.