God’s Word for You
1 Chronicles 21:8 Confession
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, February 26, 2024
8 And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this thing. But now, please take away the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
We don’t know just what brought David to repentance. Whether it was the length of the scrolls used to tally the soldiers, or a look in Joab’s eye, or the tone of Joab’s voice, or a word spoken by a wife or someone in the king’s home, the Holy Spirit worked repentance in David’s heart.
David confesses his sin and shows that confession or repentance has two parts. First, he admits his sin, pleading guilty of what he has done. Second, he asks God for mercy, to take away his guilt. He does not ask to do something, which some call “penance.” David does not ask to repeat a certain prayer twenty or a hundred times. He does not ask to be sent on a pilgrimage to a shrine from Israel’s history, such as the grave of Moses on Mount Nebo, or the peak of Mount Sinai where the Ten Commandments were given. Instead, he simply throws himself at God’s mercy.
The first part of repentance, which is contrition, sorrow for sin, and terror before the burden of punishment, is shown all through the Scriptures. Adam and Eve ran and hid from God on account of their fear (Genesis 3:8). After the hideous wickedness of King Manasseh, he humbled himself before God (2 Chronicles 33:12). The jailer of Philippi, a pagan in the moment of conversion to faith, fell trembling before Paul and Silas (Acts 16:28). The Israelites who had sinned in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah trembled at the judgment of God because of the sinfulness of the exiles (Ezra 9:4). It is the preaching of the law that brings contrition or sorrow into human hearts.
The Scriptures command confession and absolution, but there is no passage that specifically commands private confession before a minister of the gospel. For this reason, and because of abuses regarding so-called penance, private confession has fallen out of use in most Lutheran and Protestant churches. But our hymnals have a brief service or rite for “Individual Confession and Absolution” (page 154, old Red hymnal, page 282, new Blue hymnal). And we should remember that there are different kinds of confession:
1, Confession in which we condemn our whole life of sin before God. This is included in our public confession in weekly worship, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Daniel sets this good example before us: “You are the Great God who is to be feared. We have sinned. We have been guilty. We have acted wickedly. We have rebelled and turned aside from your commands…We are filled with shame, we the people who have sinned against you” (Daniel 9:4-6,8). The minister is compelled by Christ’s command to bless and forgive the congregation after this confession (John 20:23).
2, Confession to a neighbor we have offended or sinned against, when we have been shown that we sinned or have discovered it through the reading of the law and the examination of our hearts. The Christian brother is then commanded to forgive, as Jesus says: “Go and tell him his fault, just between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother” (Matthew 18:15). And James says: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). And don’t we promise in the Lord’s Prayer, “As we forgive those who sin against us”?
3, Thirdly, private confession to a minister of the church. In an emergency, such as when a person is dying and stricken with guilt over a sin, any Christian can give comfort and is commanded to do so by Christ, who said, “If he sins and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:4). However, it is not necessary for the Christian to number every single one of his sins, because it is impossible to remember them all. The Psalm says: “Who can discern his errors?” (Psalm 19:12). And Jeremiah says, “The heart is more deceitful than anything. It is beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore we confess the sins we remember and that trouble us, and before or after that we also confess all those sins we do not remember but which we recognize also make us guilty before Almighty God.
David saw his sin and asked for forgiveness. He even calls his sin a very foolish act. “A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil… a quick-tempered man does foolish things” (Proverbs 14:16-17). In our Catechism, tucked between Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, is a short reminder about all of these things. It is called “The Ministry of the Keys and Confession.” The last two parts of Confession are brief and wonderfully helpful:
Third: How can we recognize these sins? Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments. Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, employer, or employee? Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you hurt anyone by word or deed? Have you been dishonest, careless, wasteful, or done other wrong?
Fourth: How will the pastor assure a penitent sinner of forgiveness? He will say, “By the authority of Christ, I forgive you your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.