A Summative Statement on Performatiive Piety

After Isaiah catalogues the performative actions of piety and the Lord's rejection of them, he instructs the children of Israel in the thing the Lord desires. 

Isaiah 1:16-20

16 ¶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

It is customary to see "judgement (or the application of Judgment) as a bad thing, always employed to punish the wicked. In verse 17 above, Advice is given to "seek judgement" and to "judge the fatherless", without the implication that someone is in trouble for wrongdoing. In this case, it is a good thinking to seek the judgement from a righteous judge, such as the Lord. This judge will see the rightful need and dispense what is needed to make things right. The righteous seek the judging Lord for just recompense of the circumstances of life, rather than avoiding judgement as with the wicked.

A proper judge sees through pretense and show to look into the heart of those seeking judgement. Those seeking to deceive hate such a judge and those who are good an in need seek out such a judge who understands circumstances and can make things right. It depends on the sort of person seeking judgement to either embrace or eschew the Lord, our righteous judge.