12/07/2023
Do you feel grief today before God? Is your heart breaking within you for some sin that convicts you unrelentingly? I am not speaking about a superficial knowledge of having done something wrong, but rather the deep understanding of a sin that emanates from your very soul. Are you seeking repentance for wrongdoing that has brought you to godly grief?
“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.”
2 Corinthians 7:9 ESV
Grieving, and specifically godly grieving has long been considered a gift. It leads us from the point of admission to true repentance, and from there to forgiveness and lasting change. Oswald Chambers wrote of a Puritan prayer that was founded in a longing for this godly grief. In a moment I will ask you if you will pray it with me today?
“The old puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If ever you cease to know the virtue of repentance, you are in darkness. Examine yourself and see if you have forgotten how to be sorry.” - Oswald Chambers
The carcass of our sin is washed to and fro in the foaming surf of our conscience until at last, in one final rush of grief and tears it is left forever on the sands of God’s forgiveness. There it is devoured by the birds and is no more.
Tears are a manifestation of grief, and when they come as the result of godly grief they carry with them a true desire for relief as if it were riding the crest of a great wave. These tears bring our repentant grief to the shore of forgiveness and then dash it there in remorse and absolute contrition... leaving our sin beached upon the sands of God’s grace and forgiveness.
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV
We say “I’m sorry” so often in our lives that it loses its potency. When Chambers asked if we had forgotten how to be sorry, he wasn’t writing of the simple words, but rather the heart breaking desire for forgiveness. How long has it been since we wept before God in heartbroken remorse?
When they were young I watched as two of my children played on the floor with their blocks. One of them built a magnificent tower and in excitement turned to ask me if I saw it. At that instant the other child lashed out in jealousy and knocked it down. The wronged child began to cry and I stepped in to scold the offender. Then, I said “Now say you are sorry.” At this the offending child, in a monotone voice of simple obedience, said “Sorry.” There was no sorrow there, but the word was spoken. Is this how we ask God for forgiveness? Do we go through the motion of repentance without true contrition?
The gift of godly grief brings us to the point of our perfect contrition, and this is the precursor of forgiveness. In the story of my children, there was no contrition, and until I convinced the offending child to feel true remorse, and seal it with a hug and kiss, there was also no forgiveness.
“For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.”
2 Corinthians 7:11 ESV
So today we have an intellectual knowledge of our sin, and we know that saying “I’m sorry” is required, but have we done it so often that we can no longer feel the grief that should accompany it? Has expressing our sorrow become a poor performance that lacks the emotion and the heartfelt contrition required to obtain forgiveness? Are we truly convicted or just solving the equation of forgiveness in rote fashion?
“Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God.” - Oswald Chambers
Today I ask that you join with me in praying as the Puritans prayed, and ask God for the “gift of tears.” I ask that you join me in grasping that rare quality of conviction by asking that our hearts be circumcised so that a godly grief is possible in regards to our sin. Let’s pray together...
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the tears of grief I shed in response to my sin. I thank you for the heartfelt remorse in which I cry out before you. Never let me feel that a simple “Sorry” will suffice as I seek grace for the carcass of sin that I wish to cast upon your forgiveness. If perchance I become hardened in my contrition, and the words from my mouth lose their meaning, I pray Father that you circumcise my heart, and return to me a godly grief for having sinned. Show me true remorse, and bring me to my knees in penitence. Holy Father, never let me rise from my prayers thinking I have done just enough to have received your mercy and forgiveness. Let my tears have soaked my shirt, and my remorse have cleansed my heart, even as they washed your feet. Let my contrition change the man I am, and allow me to rise from my knees a more perfect manifestation of Jesus Christ. Praised be your name for my grief. Praised be your name for my tears. Praised be your name for your grace and forgiveness... Holy, Holy, Holy art thou who loves me so perfectly.
Rich Forbes