What comes to mind when you think about confession? Do you think of sadness? Weeping and guilt? Shame and failure? What about worship?
When was the last time you came before God in true confession? What led to your admission of failure before a holy God?
The Bible is clear that “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). But what does the Bible say about what confession should look like? What does the Bible say should lead us to confession?
Nehemiah 9 gives insight in how to answer that question. God’s people had gathered and were fasting and beginning to confess their sin when the priests chimed in with an appropriate pattern for how that confession ought to progress.
In this text, we discover that true confession of sin will never come before genuine recognition of the holiness of God. God’s people had promised to be faithful, but following their return from exile, the men of Israel intermarried with foreign women. They were unfaithful to God, disobeying His commands. Yet God remained faithful.
The pattern of the priests is to first recognize, exclaim, and celebrate God’s goodness, faithfulness, holiness, and righteousness. Only out of those comes the reason for confession. For it is only when we see the majesty of the holy God that we see the weight of our sin and the punishment due to us as a result. Then, and only then, will we be drawn to the altar of honest confession before God. Yes, conviction must come, but it will only come when there is first an awareness of the greatness of God.
Set aside time to intentionally approach God to confess the sin in your life. Remember this pattern. God wants your eyes fixed firmly on Him, even in moments of reflection and confession. For the moment we lose sight of Him is the moment we negate the gravity of our sin and the necessity of confession.
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