This is day 26 of our 40 day journey through the season of Lent. Thank you for being here.
Day 26
The theme for the sermon in my church today was the Great Commission - the Lord's command for His disciples to take the Good News of His salvation into all the world. And hearing all of the statistics about how many nations and people groups still have not heard the Gospel broke my heart - according to the Joshua Project, approximately 3.2 billion people around the world still have not had the Good News of Jesus preached to them!
I had two responses to the ache in my heart: firstly, a passion was ignited in me to do something - to be more open about sharing my faith in every possible situation, no matter how much this goes against the grain of my introverted nature;
And secondly, I felt a deep sorrow that the Lord even had to drive me to this point! How had I been sitting on this indescribable gift of redemption for so long, and not sharing it with those in my community who don't yet know Jesus??!!
And it's in this context of sorrow and confession that I'm writing today's devotional.
In today's Bible reading, we're looking at Psalm 6. In this Psalm, David expresses deep sorrow for his sin, and asks God for help and forgiveness, much the way I felt after church this morning. Let's read it ...
Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger; do not discipline me in Your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking; 3 my whole being is shaken with terror. And You, Lord—how long? 4 Turn, Lord! Rescue me; save me because of Your faithful love. 5 For there is no remembrance of You in death; who can thank You in Sheol? 6 I am weary from my groaning; with my tears I dampen my pillow and drench my bed every night. 7 My eyes are swollen from grief; they grow old because of all my enemies. 8 Depart from me, all evildoers, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my plea for help; the Lord accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies will be ashamed and shake with terror; they will turn back and suddenly be disgraced.
In this passage, David lists the symptoms of his distress. Both his body and his soul feel overwhelmed with sorrow, as he realises that he is experiencing the consequence of his own sin. He cries out in physical and spiritual pain, knowing that God’s discipline is justified for the ways he has disobeyed God. But we see too that David’s confession before God is anchored in his confidence that God will forgive!
Although he is fully aware that the despair he is experiencing is entirely due to his own behaviour, he still calls out for God’s deliverance, convinced that God will hear and answer, because of His steadfast love.
In spite of the situation in which David finds himself, he knows that he will not be permanently in distress because of God’s unfailing love. This is why he can confidently declare in vv 8 - 9: “Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. "
In this season of Lent, I encourage you to undertake the possibly messy and uncomfortable task of searching your heart for any activities or thought patterns that may not be glorifying the Father, and lay them down before the Lord.
As David did, we can say, “I’m sorry” before God. And as David discovered, when we confess our sins before our merciful Lord, we are assured of His forgiveness, because of His steadfast love.
What a wonderful God we serve!
Prayer: Holy One, we confess before you our sinfulness, our brokenness, and our need to experience your abundant mercy. Help us, each day, to come before you and say, “I’m sorry.” In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen. Leigh Boelkins Van Kempen