Tag: done wrong

4.e. “Separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers”

Nehemiah 9:1   Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

Leviticus 26:39-40    And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.  “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,

Psalms 106:6-7    Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.  Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Daniel 9:3-10     Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.  I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,  we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.  We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.  To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.  To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.  To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him  and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

1 John 1:7-9    But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we come to God’s word with a desire to know Him and gain understanding and wisdom we will become aware of His Holiness and our sinfulness.  We will see self-centered sin.  We will see worldly sin.  We will see how far we have departed from honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ. God’s word will become vital and active in our life.  We will see the need for confession and change.  We will no longer be blind to His handiwork or deaf to His leading.  We will be changed and our lives will be changed because we will know the truth of our sinfulness and the steadfast grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ.  It is in this truth that we confess and rely on forgiveness.  It is in this truth we are being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is in this truth we can come before God in confession and thanksgiving.

Stubborn and rebellious

“Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.”

“Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name’s sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.”

Psalms 106:6  Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.  Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

 Psalms 78:8    and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

 Leviticus 26:40    “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,

 Numbers 32:14    And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! 

  1 Kings 8:47     yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’

 Ezra 9:6-7     saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.

 Nehemiah 9:16     “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.

 Daniel 9:5-8     we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.  We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.  To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame,  

Acts 7:51-52     “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Stiff-necked, open to shame, not obeying, turned heart, walking contrary, resisting, not listening, unfaithful spirit, rebellious, and stubborn, all speak of the conditions of man in relationship to God when neglect and complacency creep into everyday life.  Some how cares of this world, pride, and lust close our heart, mind, and soul to God.  Everyday is a choice to open up to the leading of the Holy Spirit and hear the quiet whispers of God that leads us to humbly serve, honor, glorify, listen to, follow, and obey Him.  His word is gives light in darkness, guides our path, and is full of wisdom, power, truth, encouragement, strength, and hope.  Feeding on His word gives food to our heart and soul.  It keeps us ever learning of His awesome power, might and steadfast love to those who choose to humbly serve and follow Him, and His fierce anger and wrath to those who choose to live each day for their own purpose, their own gain, their own wants, their own pleasure, and their own honor without regard of God.  How do we know of sin, or if we are pleasing God, or if we are leading our children (the next generation) away from God, or if we are doing things contrary to His will, if we are committed fully each day to serving Him and His purposes, not spending daily time in His word, and not listening for and to His whispers of guidance.  How are we to know of our sin and get to a place in our heart and soul where we are ashamed and confess, if His word is not feeding them?  Through His word we find purpose for living each day.  Apart from His word we see only that which leads us astray and on a very slippery slope away from Him.  How can we understand God’s grace, mercy, and love if we have no understanding of sin? How do we know the need for forgiveness if we have no understanding of sin? How can we have an understanding of sin and what is pleasing and unpleasing to God apart from His word? How do we have a hope for eternal life apart from His word.  How do we know our sins are forgiven apart from His word?  Forgiveness is given to those who have had their heart and mind opened by God’s word and see their sinfulness and need of forgiveness and then believe in and trust in and cling to and rely on Jesus Christ.  Their hope of eternal life with Christ is build on nothing else.