Humble Repentance (Ezra 9:3–6)

As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.”
– Ezra 9:3–6

What a picture of humble confession and repentance of sin among God’s people. Starting with the leader here, with Ezra. Hearing this, hearing about the faithlessness of God’s people, even beyond just his own life. And yet he falls on his face. He’s fasting and weeping before God. His hands spread out to God, saying, “God, I’m ashamed and blushed to lift my face to you because of our iniquities”.

Ezra 9:3–6 pictures a posture of brokenness that honors God.

See how he identifies himself with the sin of God’s people and says, “We have sinned against you. Our iniquities have risen higher than our heads. Our guilt is mounted up to the heavens”. And he just pours out this prayer of confession and repentance, and the process leads God’s people to do the same. And I read this, and I just think about our gatherings today as God’s people. Obviously, the context is very different than Ezra. But how often are we, starting with leaders and then God’s people, how often are we falling on our knees, spreading out our hands, the Lord our God, and confessing our sin to him?

I think you and I realize that we can go through worship gathering after worship gathering, Sunday after Sunday, in our churches, and for years never do this right here. How often are we as God’s people trembling before him, confessing our sin and receiving his grace and mercy?

Certainly, we have just as much sin to confess in our day and all the more grace to celebrate through what Jesus has done on the cross for us. And so we pray, oh God, in light of Ezra 9, for this posture of humble confession and repentance to be a reality in our lives individually and in us as your church today. God, we pray for brokenness over sin in our lives and in our churches, in our worship gatherings.

Ezra 9:3–6 explains the right response to the weight of our guilt.

Lord, we pray for a trembling awe before you and all of your holiness and for honest, humble confession and repentance of sin. God, we pray that you would guard us. Keep us from playing games in your presence, from going through motions, whether in our individual time with you or when we gather with others before you, for not realizing whose holy presence we are in and not taking time to examine our hearts and our minds and to confess our sin.

And we praise you, oh God, we praise you for your grace and your mercy. You promise we’ll cover over our sins, that you’ve made possible for us in the sacrifice of your Son for our sins. God, we pray that you’d help us to honor and glorify your grace through humble confession and repentance. And then to rise and to lead others, to repent and believe, to share the gospel, to call others to the seriousness of sin and judgment coming in their lives. And God, to call them to return and trust in you.

Jesus, we pray for salvation to spread from sin as we’re honest about sin in our lives and our churches, and around the world.

Prayer for the Bedawi Bedouin People

God, we pray specifically today for the Bedawi Bedouin people of the Middle East, spread out through various countries. Lord, we pray that seriousness of sin before you and the glory of your salvation by your grace in Jesus would spread among the Bedawi Bedouin people and all the peoples of the world, that all the peoples of the world might experience your grace in Jesus through humble confession and repentance of sin. God, we pray all this according to your Word in Ezra 9:3–6. According to this picture, may it be a reality in our lives and our churches. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.