Conscience: Guilty

Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.

Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.

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. …

When my heart was grieved and I was pierced within,

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom. …

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus

…and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. …

Now King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead!”

When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

…influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,

…but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.