5.e. “For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.”

Job 9:15  Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.

1 Kings 8:38-39   whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house,  then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind),

1 Corinthians 4:4    For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.

Jeremiah 31:9  With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel,

Daniel 9:3    Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel 9:18   O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

Job examined his life.  He has lost his family, his flocks, and his body is being attacked with boils and sores.  In this calamity, he examines his life and proclaims “I am in the right”.  He is not saying he has done nothing wrong but that he has not done something to deserve all of this happening in his life.  He has lived knowing that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him and live humbly before Him.  Humanly we can understand what he is saying because from the worldly view it does not seem fair or right.  We see what has happened and think what has happened to Job does not seem to be in line with the way he lived.  Justice does not seemed to have been awarded fairly.

Does God ever make a mistake?   Is He ever unjust?  Does He ever do wrong?  Is there anything in all of creation that is not under His control?

In our trials and troubles, God may seem far away but He is ever-present.  In our trials and troubles, God may seem not in control but He is all-powerful.  In our trials and troubles, it may seem God is unaware but He is all-knowing.  In trials and troubles, God does not change and has not changed and will not change.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Though we do not understand we can trust Him.  We can seek His mercy and know that His perfect will is being done, His perfect plans are being carried out, and His purpose will be for the good of those called according to His purpose.  In times of chaos, cling to Him.  In times of trials and troubles, trust Him.  In times of loneliness, know He loves you.  In times of sickness, seek the Great Physician.

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.