Repentance: Exemplified

Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.

After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”

And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”

For our fathers were unfaithful and did evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.

Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat there in horror until the evening offering.

…and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.

And now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commandments

After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this),

…shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor?

…let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.

We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that You gave Your servant Moses.

But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments. …

If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?

Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.

How many are my iniquities and sins? Reveal to me my transgression and sin.

“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.

My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You.

Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin.

For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear.

Yes, I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.

For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.

I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You.”

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. …

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. …

You know my folly, O God, and my guilt is not hidden from You.

I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach.

When my heart was grieved and I was pierced within,

I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.

We have sinned like our fathers; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.

I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.

A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! …

Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this. I will walk slowly all my years because of the anguish of my soul.

Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are indeed with us, and we know our iniquities: …

You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? …

A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.

“Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.

Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”

Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.

We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.

I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.

After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.

Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

…we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances. …

“Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.

Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.

Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me.

When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.

Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.

Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food, but here I am, starving to death! …

For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

…yet now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. …

For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.