Our experience of worship is often measured in how it makes us feel, whether songs we enjoy are sung, or the preacher’s message gives us a sense of being heard, understood, and maybe even validated. Few, if any people, enter worship in hopes of being challenged, convicted, or even called to confess. Yet, we know in the history of the Church and in the New Testament model for the church, confession is a vital part of worship as an opportunity to be made right in relationship with God, others, and even ourselves.
In Psalm 51:17, King David is crying out to the Lord amid the struggles created through his disobedience. We read, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” David has been found in his sin of adultery and murder, and he is crying out for God to “create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (51:10). He knows what he wants—forgiveness and renewal—while being reminded that the sacrifice the Lord desires is not the burnt offering—something exterior—but a broken and contrite heart.
Our tendency is to do everything in our power to keep from experiencing brokenness in our lives. We want to focus on the places in our lives where we have done well and feel successful. Yet, we need to recognize those places where we have done wrong, where we have gone against the will of God for our lives, and where we have sinned. We need to come before God with a heart that recognizes the egregiousness of our sin and desires to be renewed. It is when we allow our heart to be broken in our sin that we begin to discover the growth we truly desire in our adventure with Jesus. When we walk through the valley of brokenness with a contrite heart, we experience freedom from the wages of our sin and find the fullness of life.
In Joel 2:12-13, we read, “’Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” We discover amid our brokenness and recognition of our sin, God is gracious, compassionate, and abounds in love. As we become more aware of our need for confession and come with a broken and contrite heart, we know the God we approach is not seeking to harm us, but to give us the fullness of life.
How does confession play a role in your regular experience of worship? Are there places in your life where you need to come to the Lord with a broken and contrite heart to experience the renewal and new life only God can give? Do you understand that God is gracious, compassionate, and abounds in love for you?
Prayer: Lord, I confess I do not follow your will in my life at each step of the way. I have fallen short of your desire for my life and recognize my sin. Forgive me and free me for joy, obedience, and new life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.