Lent is a time of confession and forgiveness. Here you’ll find 5 Scripture passages that will guide your time of confession and remind you of God’s unlimited grace.
Whenever I go out to work in my garden in the summer, I come back feeling grubby, grimy, and grungy. My skin feels sticky with the sunscreen I put on before I ventured out. I’m smelly from the necessary insect spray. Sweat has trickled down my back. I’ve got soil under my fingernails, mud in my socks, and, more than likely, a little dirt on my nose from when I tried to bat away a bug. When I come back into the house, I can hardly wait to get into the shower to wash away all the muck so I can once again feel clean.
When I come into God’s holy presence, I become aware of the mud and grime in my heart. I feel the dirt of an impatient retort to my husband. I sense the stain of neglecting a hurting friend because of my busy schedule. I see the soil of a little white lie I told to get out of a volunteer position I didn’t want. The filth accumulates day after day. How do I get clean?
In one of his most quoted psalms, King David also expressed his awareness of a dirty heart. He cried out to God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 ESV). He knew that only God could wash away the stain of sin. And he took the first step in the cleansing process by confessing his transgressions and admitting his misdeeds.
Just like a warm, soapy shower cleanses my body and leaves me feeling refreshed, going to God for a thorough cleansing of my soul leaves me spotless and renewed, clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
During the season of Lent, we can use this traditional time of reflection and contrition to examine our hearts and come to the One who can make them pure again. One way we can approach confession is to use the prayers, commands, and promises of the Bible to guide our confession time. As we meditate on these Scriptures and ask ourselves some probing questions, we may notice dirt hiding in the corners of our hearts. When we come contritely into God’s presence, the Holy Spirit can wash away every trace of grime because of Jesus’ cleansing blood.
Here are five Scriptures that help us humbly approach God. Set aside time to prayerfully read these passages. Ask the Holy Spirit to point out any obvious grime you might want to overlook. Use the reflection questions to guide your time. Rejoice in the promise that, because of Jesus, God washes the mud from your hearts so you can stand before Him clean and refreshed.
1. Psalm 51
King David wrote this psalm after he made the biggest mistakes of his life. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband to be killed in battle after discovering that Bathsheba was pregnant (2 Samuel 11). At first, David ignored his sins, but God sent the prophet Nathan to point out the transgressions so that David could confess (2 Samuel 12).
You might think that sins like these could never be forgiven, that a heart like that could never be cleansed. Yet David knew God as a God of mercy, so he began his prayer with:
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment. (Psalm 51:1-4 ESV)
David didn’t gloss over his sin or make excuses. He knew he could only come before God for cleansing because of God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy. He knew that God’s miraculous cleansing power could once again make him whiter than snow (v. 7). No matter how dirty our hearts are, God can once again make them clean.
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