Psalm 51:1-4
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
INSIGHT
-Confess in Hebrew is written as yadah & it means admit, acknowledge, agree, declare, make known, thanksgiving & praise.
-King David sets the foundation of a good confession to the Lord. In humility he asks for Gods mercy, acknowledges his sins, requests for cleansing from all transgression & gives praise to God. Unlike earlier when the people used to sacrifice clean animals for atonement for their sins, David exposes the requirement of true sacrifice in this Psalm. Sacrifice of a broken spirit & contrite heart which God does not despise. Jesus also expounds on the concept of a broken spirit in the beatitudes when He said; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Mat 5:3. This leads us to His works of salvation when He came to restore what was lost, revive His authority on earth, reconcile us to the Father so that His kingdom may come & will be done on earth as it in heaven. He brought to us what is in the unseen world into the seen world. By seeking first His kingdom & righteousness, we are aligned to His will. Just like in the kingdom of heaven where there is no sickness, depression, poverty, oppression, sadness etc, the effect of freedom is felt in our personal lives. Our minds are therefore renewed to enjoy in His grace despite the adverse conditions that might be felt in the nations.
PRAYER
We call to You Lord our Father with humility in our hearts asking for mercy. We acknowledge our sins & ask for pardon. Wash us by Your precious blood from all transgression & we shall be whiter than snow. You are our fortress & strength, in You we take refuge. Create in us a clean heart & broken spirit that Your righteousness may shield us from all evil & kingdom principles be the light in our hearts, families, neighbourhoods, work places & nation. All glory, honour, power & praise, belong to You, now & forever. Amen
Daniel 9:19-20
O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God.
INSIGHT
-Daniel confessed his sins & the sins of the Israelites. He pleaded with God to hear & act on his prayers & supplications that his intentions may not delay. Repentance of the nation of Israel was prevalent in the Old Testament, especially when the people experienced challenges in the cause of their lives. The same pattern is seen in 1 king 8:35-36, where the people of Israel experienced drought in the land which caused economic downturns & necessitated repentance of the nation. In the realization that we have all sinned & fallen short of the glory of God, it becomes necessary to confess our sins & those of the nation that Gods mercy may be upon us.
PRAYER
Lord our Father, we are sorry for offending You with our own faults, faults of our fore-fathers, faults of our family members, faults of our political leaders, faults of our nation & faults of the whole world. We humbly beseech You to have mercy on us & on the whole world. Help us to find political & economic stability, social goodwill & unending peace, that we may enjoy in Your promises for us. May Your grace impart our minds & hearts that our words & actions may be pure. Hear & accomplish our requests, do not delay because of our weaknesses we humbly implore You. We thank You & give You praise. Amen
Hebrews 4:14-16
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
INSIGHT
-Jesus our High Priest calls us to Him in any state to freely receive His mercy & grace. It is important to note that confession is one of the keys to prosperity as king Solomon tells us, “he who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses & forsakes them will have mercy”, Prov 28:13. Through Gods mercy & grace, we are able to overcome temptations & forsake our sins. As our High Priest, Christ made atonement for our sins by sacrifice of Himself Who was undefiled, that each one may drink freely from the well of life.
PRAYER
Abba Father our great High Priest, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth. We seek You today with a contrite heart seeking Your mercy & grace; that You may cleanse us from our sins, deliver us from all temptations & renew our minds to do Your will. May Your grace impart in us help, strength, support, direction & counsel at the time of need. We thank You & praise You, now & forever. Amen
1 Timothy 6:12-14
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.
INSIGHT
-When we believe in Christ; we have hope in His promises, that we will not perish but have everlasting life. Faith is defined in Heb 11:1 as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Therefore, we should hold fast our faith in God that the lives we live now will always manifest His glory until we attain the crown of victory. Jesus made a good confession before Pontius Pilate that He was the King of Jews, an admission of His Kingship & treason before men who did not know Him (Mat 27:11). By making a good confession in the presence of many witnesses we acknowledge that Christ is our only God & in Him we have eternal life.
PRAYER
Jesus Christ our God & King, we praise You & glorify Your holy name. You are our only God & in You we have our being. Increase Your love in us that we may hold fast our faith in the hope of eternal victory. Our lives belong to You Father, lead us by Your wisdom in all things. Amen
Blessed Thursday
Luke 12:8-9
“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
INSIGHT
-Jesus says if we confess Him before men, He will confess us before angels & the reverse is true. He also mentions this in Rev 3:5, saying that once we overcome, Christ will confess us before angels. Thus, when we believe in Him, we abide in Him & have the promise of eternal life. Caution has given to us concerning antichrist deceivers who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh to deceive the world (2 John 1:7). We are thus reminded to acknowledge Christ as our only true God; Who abides in us by His love.
SUMMARY
-Confess in Hebrew is written as yadah & it means acknowledge, declare, make known, thanksgiving & praise.
-According to the laws of Moses, the people offered sin offerings in form of clean animals for atonement of their sins. Daniel; like many other prophets often confessed both their sins & the sins of the people. He pleaded with God to hear & act on his prayers & supplications; that his intentions may not delay. King David likewise prayed for cleansing of his sins with a contrite heart. He exposed the meaning of true sacrifice, sacrifice of a broken spirit & contrite heart which God does not despise. That is; the sacrifice of righteousness (Ps 51:19). Jesus Christ made a sacrifice of Himself that all mankind may be redeemed through His precious blood. We have therefore been invited with all our weaknesses to boldly approach the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy & find grace to help us in the time of need. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves & the truth is not in us”, (1 Jn 1:8). Thus in the realization that we have all sinned & fallen short of the glory of God, it becomes necessary to confess our sins & those of the world that Gods mercy may be upon us. When confessing, we acknowledge our sins & seek His mercy with a broken heart & contrite heart so that Jesus our great High Priest may freely make us whiter than snow. Jesus also said; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. This relates to prayer in humility that His kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven, a manifestation of the unseen kingdom on earth. The kingdom where there is no sickness, depression, poverty, oppression, sadness etc, which should also manifest into our personal lives. King Solomon expounds more on the kingdom concepts of confession & holiness that leads to prosperity & mercy. Jesus calls us to make a good confession in the presence of many witnesses; just like He did before Pontius Pilate, that He is the King of Jews, an admission of His Kingship. Unlike the antichrist deceivers, when we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, He abides in us & us in Him & have eternal life (1 John 4:15-16).
PRAYER
Jesus Christ our Lord, You are our only one true God. You are highly exalted by all creation on the earth & under the earth. In humility we seek Your mercy, that you may forgive us all our sins, sins of our youth, sins of our fore-fathers, sins of our leaders, sins of our nation & those of the whole world. Purge us with hyssop & we shall be clean. Wash us by Your blood & we shall be whiter than snow. Help us in all our personal needs, needs of those around us, needs of our nation & those of the world. May Your love impart in us grace, wisdom & mercy that we may always heed to your voice. All glory, honour, power, riches, wisdom & praise belong to You always. Amen