God is omniscient, which means He knows everything. All the thoughts we have, the things we have done, God already knows. Confession is simply telling God the truth. It is telling the truth about how great God is, confessing to each other the doctrines we believe, as well as confessing our sins to God.
Let's pray.
God, thank you for entering into this space with us today. We know it is hard to tell of your goodness when we are in a hard season or admit the wrong things we have done, or the things we have left undone. Remind us of your faithfulness, that you love us no matter what we do. Help us to enter into this time with honesty and without fear. We love you, and we can because you loved us first. Amen
As humans we are, by nature, sinful creatures. This means either consciously or unconsciously, we sin each and every day, We commit sins against ourselves, each other, and God. Confession is the act of recognizing these shortcomings and bringing them to God as an act of worship. This act of confession ultimately brings us back to reconciliation with God
1 John 1: 5-10 says:
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 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."
Saint Augustine was the bishop of Hippo around 400 AD. He was an educated man who taught rhetoric and was always in a way connected to the Christian faith, though it did not become important until later in his life, at which time he wrote the Confessions. This was his own recollection of his life and his journey coming to Christianity, as well as his personal story of sin and redemption. He struggled to reconcile his identity in regards to God.
Augustine was a sinful person just like you and I. He had immoral thoughts, stole, was not always kind to his friends, and he wrote these all in his Confessions. But he also had times of great joy and worship, praising God for his splendor and majesty. In his writing we can see a two-fold nature of confession: splendor of God and confession of sins From Augustine's Confessions Chapter IV we read
"What art Thou then, my God? what, but the Lord God? For who is Lord but the Lord? or who is God save our God? Most highest, most good, most potent, most omnipotent; most merciful, yet most just; most hidden, yet most present; most beautiful, yet most strong, stable, yet incomprehensible; unchangeable, yet all-changing; never new, never old; all-renewing, and bringing age upon the proud, and they know it not; ever working, ever at rest; still gathering, yet nothing lacking; supporting, fling, and overspreading; creating, nourishing, and maturing; seeking, yet having all things"
And from Chapter V he writes:
Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults, and spare Thy servant from the power of the enemy. I believe, and therefore do I speak. Lord, Thou knowest. Have I not confessed against myself my transgressions unto Thee, and Thou, my God, hast forgiven the iniquity of my heart? I contend not in judgment with Thee, who art the truth; I fear to deceive myself; lest mine iniquity lie unto itself."
The Psalms can be viewed as songs of confession. They are songs of the people confessing the goodness of God, their fears, their trials, praise, and more. Each of the psalms are songs of the people telling God things he already knows.
From Psalms 12:
"Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Evervone lies to their neighbor;
they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts."
And from Psalm 145:
"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts."
Let's pray together a confession based on Psalm 51:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
-Psalm 51:1-4, 6, 9-11, NRSV
Now we will take some time to put what we've talked about to practice. We will take some time to confess our sins and profess the goodness of God.
Take a moment to take a deep breath and enter into a moment with God.
Confess the goodness of our Lord.
Lord, you are the Almighty King. You work out all things for your plan. You know what I am thinking and what I will do tomorrow. There is none like you here with us on Earth or even in the far reaching heavens. You give me a place to sleep at night, food to fIl my belly, and safety when I wake up.
Ask God, "What is an unconfessed sin that I am hiding from you?"
Maybe it is a source of pain you are blaming Him for?
A grudge held against a friend?
Something you are afraid people would judge you for?
Bring this to God.
Say "God, I have been doing this. Forgive me, I know it is wrong, but I continue in my ways. I lay this sin and this burden at your feet."
I know that it is hard to be in a right relationship with you when I am not telling the truth, however big or small. I know you already know what I am going to say and the ways I will sin tomorrow.
Let's close in prayer.
Lord, we know that we will continue to sin, it is in our nature. We sin against you, yet you do not forget about us. Thank you for sending your Son to this earth 2000 years ago, to f x our relationship with you. How good it is to know that regardless of what is on our hearts, we can bring these things to you since you already know them.
Amen