Michael E. Wood
August 1, 2011
1st John 1:8-10 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. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.
How often as men do we try to dictate what true confession and repentance from sin looks like. A mere change in outward actions can be learned and implemented by the ungodly for self-centered, self-satisfying reasons without a thought toward the glory of God. It is God who makes the heart new, and it is God who breaks the heart and causes it to cry out to Him alone for mercy in the midst of wretchedness and depravity. It is God Who sees! It is God Who hears! It is God alone Who comforts and wipes away the tears.
The first stanza of this poem was written upon hearing a message by Reddit Andrews September 12, 2010 and then after reading a message aloud to my beloved Dianna by C.H. Spurgeon nearly a year later, entitled “Honest Dealing With God”, the following came to mind after she had fallen asleep.
Oh help me be not ambiguous when I confess my sin
But show me more particular that I be clean within
For all my heart belongs to You and pure it is to be
That all my ways may magnify the glory all in Thee!
This coldness that I feel within of which I do detest
And hinders me from seeking only Christ who gives true rest,
And even worse with pride expecting accolades outpoured,
Oh show me my deceptive heart which cannot be ignored.
For only in confession of the truth can I be free
And cast my every care upon the One who died for me.
Deliver me from every grain of false humility
As a son You’ve purchased by the blood of Calvary!
Oh help me see more clearly my true wretchedness as poor
And yet delight in mercy by Christ Jesus as the Door
By which I find acceptance then to rise on eagles wings
And give You all the glory with the heart You made that sings,
Eternal praises even now unto Your Name and more,
When on that day through Christ alone, I stand on heaven’s shore!
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