God Helps Us Repent
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved! …
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Psalm 80:6 and 19
Across the wide swath of Scripture, God repeatedly urges people to repent. We see example after example of this from the earliest books of the Old Testament through the New Testament. For example, at the end of Moses’ farewell speech presented as Deuteronomy, after describing God’s blessings, and the curse of His wrath upon those who hear His holy word yet reject Him, and foretelling Israel’s tendency to stray from God, Moses urges His people, even then, to return to God saying,
“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. Deuteronomy 30:1-3
Returning to God is repentance. After going off in the wrong direction, after straying from God, we turn back to Him and resume walking toward Him.
The prophets described ways God’s people strayed and refused to follow God, and through the prophets, God urged His people to return to Him, to repent. Isaiah begins the book bearing his name describing Israel as a nation that departed from God, forgot God, forsook God. He describes Israel as sinful and evil. As a result, God hates their religious assemblies and refuses to hear their prayers, yet He urges them to return to Him:
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 1:16-20
Through Isaiah, God urges His people to change, to return to Him, to begin acting like His holy people again, as if the burden is entirely on the people. Ezekiel says similar things. After discussing Israel’s wicked ways, he writes,
“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” Ezekiel 18:25-32
Again, the words sound as if the burden to return to God is entirely on the people. The prophet Joel says similar things:
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God? Joel 2:12-14
God urges His people to return to Him. Over and over and over again, God speaks through the prophets of the Old Testament urging His people to return to Him, to repent. Flipping to the New Testament, we see a similar message. While preparing the path for the coming Messiah, John the Baptist preached a message of repentance. Matthew writes,
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:1
Jesus preached a message of repentance. Describing the start of His ministry, Matthew writes,
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17
And Jesus instructs others to preach a message of repentance. Mark describes Jesus sending the disciples to preach, teach and heal in surrounding communities. After describing Jesus’ instructions to them, Mark writes,
So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. Mark 6:12-13
And Jesus denounced people who had unique access to Him and His ministry yet refused to believe and repent. Jesus spent a lot of time in and around Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee (Bethsaida was within a mile or two), so people in that region had unique access to Him, His message and His miracles. Matthew records the following:
Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” Matthew 11:20-24
Jesus preached a message of repentance. Similarly, the apostles preached a message of repentance. Shortly after the Holy Spirit reveals Himself on that Pentecost day after Jesus ascended to heaven, Peter preached his first sermon. Luke records the response to Peter’s message of the gospel writing,
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Acts 2:37-39
Luke continues recording Peter and the apostles preaching and healing in and around the temple. During one of his messages, Peter says,
“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Acts 3:17-21
During His heavenly revelation, Jesus tells John of churches who refused to repent saying,
“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. Revelation 2:18-23
The message of repentance runs throughout Scripture. God calls everyone to repent, to turn to Him. When Moses spoke to God’s chosen people, he presumed they would stray after entering the Promised Land, and he urged them to return to God after they strayed. Through the other Old Testament prophets, God urged His people to return to Him. John the Baptist paved the way for the coming Messiah preaching a message of repentance. Jesus preached a message of repentance and denounced people who had unique access to Him and His message and His miracles yet refused to believe and repent. Peter preached a message of repentance, and during His heavenly visitation, John heard Jesus pronounce judgment on the church in Thyatira because they allowed an unrepentant prophetess to lead the congregation astray. The message of repentance runs throughout Scripture, from the books of Moses through Revelation, and the message we have seen so far appears as if God is directing people to repent using their own power and resources. Speaking to people, God says over and over repent, turn to me.
God’s holy word contains other passages suggesting we need His help to repent, that we are unable to repent without His holy influence. His holy influence gives us eyes to see where we are departing from God, where we are going astray and veering away from Him; His holy influence allows us to realize that we need to repent; and His holy influence gives us the desire to repent. But repentance is still up to us. We must choose to respond to His nudging.
Let’s quickly consider a couple passages suggesting that God is involved in the process. In Psalm 80 we see the psalmist begging God to “restore us” (Psalm 80:3, 7 and 19), and in Lamentations we see the writer beg God saying, “Restore us to yourself, Oh Lord, that we might be restored” (Lamentations 5:21). Through these verses we see God’s people praying that God will cause restoration, that He will cause them to return to Him, that He would initiate and carry out their repentance. Here are the portions of the passages.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
and come to save us!
Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved! …
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved! Psalm 80:1-6 and 19
Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old – unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us. Lamentations 5:21-22
If they could do it on their own, why would they beg God to effectuate the change? This suggests that we need His help to repent and that He does indeed help us. His holy influence helps us realize that we need to repent, gives us the desire to repent, and positions us to repent. But repentance is still up to us. We must choose to respond to His nudging. God helps us, but ultimately repentance is up to us, so over and over and over again God calls us to repent, to turn to Him, to return to Him.
Pray, asking God to restore you to Him fully, to help you see areas of your life separating you from Him, and to give you the courage, desire and strength to give up those parts of your life so you might truly, fully turn, and return to Him. May you exist fully to the praise of His glory. Amen.