The wisdom of repentance II
Precious children of God, I bless you today and pray that God’s mercy and His grace follow you and that you may abide in the Lord’s house all the days of your life.
Today we will continue to talk about the wisdom of repentance and advantages of the willingness to confess one’s sins. This will be our final word on this subject.
Let’s turn to the Word of God.
«I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, „I will confess my transgression to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him» (Psalm 32:5-6).
David talks about the obvious advantages that are available to a person after he has confessed his sins.
- Supernatural freedom from guilt and condemnation.
« I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, „I will confess my transgression to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin» (Psalm 32:5).
Right after we confess our sins, God takes away from us the burden of guilt. When our own hearts condemn us, when we experience the guilt caused by our sins, it is extremely hard to boldly go before God in prayer. Feelings of guilt destroy our confidence. So, in order for us to get rid of the guilt, we need to repent of our sins.
“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1st John, 3:21-22).
This passage of Scripture clearly tells us that we will have confidence before God only if our hearts do not condemn us. But if our hearts do condemn us then we simply cannot possess any confidence towards God. You can see for yourselves how very important it is for us to confess our sins to God and to forsake them. When we do that, God takes away from us the burden of guilt.
2.Supernatural power to overcome difficulties in life.
David said:
«For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him» (Psalm 32:6).
When we come to a realization that the guilt has been taken away and we have restored our relationship with God, then we obtain a new confidence in prayer and «surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him». «A flood of great waters» – it is a time of testing and trials. If our position before God is right and there are no unconfessed sins between us, then God will help us to deal with all the difficulties and hardships in this life, and then these waters of testing shall not come near us.
- Supernatural protection from the Lord. Repentance brings God’s supernatural protection into a person’s life. God will defend that person from any type of grief and will surround him with the joy of salvation. God will fill his mouth with the songs of deliverance.
«You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance» (Psalm 32:7).
- Supernatural leading and guiding in this life. God will always instruct, teach, and lead the person who has a right position before God – the position of total repentance. God will guide such a person and will let him enjoy His guidance and leading.
«I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you» (Psalm 32: 8-9).
God cannot lead and guide us when we are stubborn and resist His Word.
- Supernatural favour from the Lord. God will surround us in mercy and grace if we will be repentant.
«Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him» (Psalm 32:10).
My prayer, dear friends, and my desire for every one of you that is reading this word is that you would not let unrepentant sins stay between you and God, because the price is too high, and I would not advise anybody to live such a life. It is so much easier and wiser to repent of all the sins that the Holy Spirit is pointing out and that God is convicting us of.
May God bless you!
Pastor Rufus Ajiboy
