Tag: repentance

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Repentance

Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, “Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”   (2 Samuel 24:17, NASB)

King David alludes to his sin in the verse above.  What was his sin?  He ordered Joab, his army commander, to conduct a census of all the tribes of Israel to determine how many potential soldiers were available.  What’s wrong with that?  Joab knew this was wrong.  God wanted Israel to rely on Him, not on soldiers, horses, and chariots.  Indeed, when they entered the Promised Land, God performed many miracles against Israel’s enemies.  The Israelites merely had to show up to many battles to watch while God threw their enemies into confusion, literally destroying one another. 

2 Samuel 24:17 image.   Found at Knowing Jesus, http://bibleencyclopedia.com/slides/2_samuel/24-17.htm.

So King David ordered Joab to take the census.  When Joab finished his task, David knew he had sinned.  The Prophet Gad visited David with a message from God:  Pick your punishment!  Gad provided three options, all of which were painful.  David’s response:  “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”  (2 Samuel 24:14)  God’s response was to send a plague among all Israel, which killed 70,000 men.  David’s contrition is seen in the verse above:  “It is I who have done wrong; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

God wants us to be obedient to Him.  When we go against His laws, He expects us to do what King David did:  Show contrition, and repent, or turn away from our sins.  The ultimate expression of repentance is for us to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior.  We all sin, but God expects us to come to Christ for His forgiveness.  Have you decided yet?  Jesus is our only hope! 

Worship:   “Let God Arise,” by Paul Wilbur
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We Must Repent

“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.  (Acts 3:17-21, NASB) 

The text above is a part of Peter’s second recorded sermon, documented by Dr. Luke in his book of Acts.  Peter had just healed a lame beggar near the Temple in Jerusalem, and the crowd among them was amazed.  “But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, ‘Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?'”  (Acts 3:12)  At this, Peter launches into his sermon. 

Peter reminds the onlookers that they had traded Jesus for Barabbas, a murderer, and insisted that Jesus be crucified by Pilate.  He tells them that Jesus has been raised from the dead, and that their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had so glorified this Jesus.  Peter then tells them that it is not he who healed the man,  but “it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.” 

Depiction of Peter’s Pentecost Sermon, found at https://www.churchpop.com/2015/05/23/6-observations-st-peters-sermon-pentecost/

We pick up with the passage above.  Peter tells the crowd that the prophets foretold of the Messiah’s coming, and that Jesus had fulfilled what was prophesied.  Next, he gives advice which is good for us today:  “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you.”  

The word “repent” means to turn from.  In today’s slang, we say, “do a 180.” With respect to sin, it means we must turn from it, and not go back.  Peter says that when we truly do this, that God will send us His Son Jesus, and we will have “times of refreshing” in our lives.  

This is the same Peter, who only weeks before, on the night Jesus was betrayed and led before the Temple authorities, had denied knowing Him.  But now, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter was now speaking the truth with no fear.  That same power is available to us, if we follow Peter’s advice, to repent of our sins, and to accept Jesus Christ as Savior of our lives! 

Worship:  “It’s All About You, Jesus,” Artist Unknown
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How to Pray for our Nation

I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land . . . Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”  (Daniel 9:4-6, 18-19, NASB)

The book of Daniel takes place during the Babylonian exile, and the subsequent conquest by the Persians of that empire.  This is the same Daniel who endured the Lion’s Den.  Daniel received favor, and was appointed to high positions in the courts of the kings of Babylon and the Medo-Persian Empire.  Today’s snippet takes place during the reign of King Darius of Persia.  This Bible passage features a prayer for national repentance for the nation of Judah, and is a great model as we pray for our Nation. 

Daniel had noticed the number of years that the Prophet Jeremiah had said that the exile would last (70 years), had almost run its course.  Daniel therefore fasted and prayed, and chapter 9 contains that prayer.  Notice how he acknowledges Judah’s sins, but also his responsibility in those sins:  “We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.”  It’s important that you and I identify with the transgressions of our Nation, as well as our own sins. 

Daniel continues:  “Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land.”  Who are our modern-day prophets?  Many of our pastors.  We need to pay attention to them!

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Daniel 9:3-5 image.  Found at Chasing the Wind, https://chasingthewind.net/tag/daniel-9/

Last, Daniel prays for a desired end state.  In this case, he prays for the resettlement of the city of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Holy Temple, because he’s aware that the 70 years of exile and Jerusalem’s desolation are almost complete.  Daniel also admits to the Lord that the people don’t deserve what he’s asking for, but it’s by God’s love and mercy that He will abide by His word! 

On a recent walk through the Bible, I made a list of the great national prayers.  In addition to Daniel 9, we see them also in Ezra 9; Nehemiah 1; 1 Kings 8:22-53 & 2 Chronicles 6:12-42; 2 Kings 19 (King Hezekiah’s prayer) & Isaiah 37; Psalm 85; and Jeremiah 14.  It’s interesting that these prayers follow much the same format:  Personal and national repentance, a desired outcome, and acknowledgment that we don’t deserve God’s mercy in the outcome.

I am guilty of sins against God.  I’ve not done all I can to straighten out the transgressions perpetrated in our land.  Please forgive me, Lord!  I pray for liberty and justice for all, and for revival and a Great Awakening in our land, that people would turn back to God.  And like God’s gift of salvation, I and we are not deserving.  Only by His grace can we approach Him, trust in His Son, and be saved!  In Jesus alone is our Hope! 

Worship:  “At Your Feet,” by Casting Crowns
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Desolation

Thus says the LORD, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. Thus says the LORD, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the LORD, “that this house will become a desolation. ’ ”  (Jeremiah 22:1-5, NASB)

Jeremiah was a prophet in the last days of the Kingdom of Judah.  He prophesied in the days of King Josiah and Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim, until the defeat and exile of Judah to Babylon.  (Jeremiah 1:2-3)  The Bible passage above is from one of Jeremiah’s warnings to Jerusalem if they don’t shape up.

The “king of Judah” refers to Jehoiakim, who was evil in the sight of God (Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah, is described as being the most wholehearted king of all time over Israel and Judah).  God tells Jeremiah to warn the king to “do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.”  God’s people had been consistently told to be just and righteous; to be kind to the stranger (because they had been strangers in the land of Egypt); and to provide for orphans and widows.  But Judah had fallen away from justice and righteousness. 

Jeremiah 22:3 image.  Found at World Challenge, https://www.worldchallenge.org/jeremiah-223

God’s warning is clear:  Repent, and Judah’s kings would continue to sit on the throne of David; or continue in their ways, and “this house will become a desolation.”  Unfortunately, Judah did not turn from its ways, and God kept His promise.  Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar, besieged Jerusalem, utterly destroying the city, and carried the people of Judah off into exile. 

Our Nation faces a similar choice today.  We’ve turned our backs on God.  We can turn back to Him, or face the consequences.  God’s people must lead in this effort to “do justice and righteousness,” and be kind to people.  As I’ve said, God wants our hearts.  If we give Him our hearts, everything else will fall into place! 

Worship:  “I Give You My Heart,” by Hillsong Worship 
& Delirious?