October 4

I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgaveest the iniquity of my sin. Psalms 32:5.

All the days of our life God has been faithful and has showered His grace and mercy upon us. Have you been as grateful as you should have been? Have you grown in faith, in love, and in good works? Do you gladly hear His voice when He speaks to you through His called ministers? Have you shown due interest in His Church and its work? Have you been as regular as you should be in your church attendance? Do you follow in the way in which God would have you walk? Does your heart still cling to Him, your God and Savior, who dearly loves you and has sealed His undying love for you with His own heart's blood? Examine your hearts; God proves every heart; you cannot deceive Him. How have you dealt with Him? And how have you dealt with your neighbor? If your confession is in earnest, you will admit that you did not fear, love, and trust in God above all things, and that you did not love your neighbor so uprightly as yourself; rather that self-love, the quest for personal gain and honor, was the motive power of all your actions.

Now, when you notice these and other sins in yourself, you certainly will be terrified in your conscience and experience sorrow and contrition for having offended your loving God so grievously and repaid His mercies with such base ingratitude. You will say with the psalmist: "I acknowledge my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord." If we consider how gracious and merciful our God has been to us, how with patience and long-suffering He has

borne with us for years, and how ill we have repaid Him for His loving-kindness, how time and again we have fallen into sin and added transgression to transgression, should we not feel heartily ashamed of ourselves? Should not our hearts be filled with sorrow and genuine remorse? Let our confession, then, be in earnest. Let us fall down upon our knees in true repentance and confide to our heavenly Father all those things which weigh heavily upon our souls.

Prayer.

O Thou merciful God, how shall I properly praise Thee? I will give Thee a broken and contrite heart, full of sin, red as scarlet, but also full of sorrow and contrition; graciously accept it, I pray Thee, wash it white as snow in the precious blood of Thy dear Son, my Redeemer, and conceal it in His holy, innocent wounds, thus conveying to me the forgiveness of all my sins. O Lord God, turn not against me in Thy wrath and let not Thy mercy with me come to an end. Grant to me Thy grace for the sake of Thy own dear Son, who was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Amen.

I, a sinner, come to Thee And acknowledge my transgression; Tender mercy show to me, Grant me graciously remission; Let these words my soul relieve: Jesus sinners doth receive.