Repentance - 18th October
“The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him”. Proverbs 15:8
In some ways this is a rather strange verse. Sacrifices were there for sinners to bring to God seeking forgiveness. So who are the wicked whose sacrifices are so unacceptable to God?
And in the New Testament Jesus severely criticizes and rejects the prayer of the Pharisee and endorsed the prayer of the sinner. (Luke 18) So who are the upright whose prayers are acceptable?
In the old testament, the wicked are those people who brought their sacrifices to God, probably in an attempt to escape judgement and punishment and perhaps to appease their own consciences but really had no intention whatever of changing their behaviour or seeking God’s activity in their lives. Of course we’re not like that, are we?
Well, perhaps sometimes we are! Recently I had a bad attitude towards someone. I “struggled” with it with God, often saying sorry but after a while God made me face the truth that actually I quite enjoyed looking out for reasons why I didn’t want this person around and that I felt it was my right to do so. When God puts his finger on something like that, it’s a bit uncomfortable and repentance is the only satisfactory response.
So if you’re often saying sorry for something, or simply praying to God when you know there is sin in your life that you are not prepared to change then this verse says that God isn’t that chuffed with your prayer.
In contrast, the upright isn’t the goody-goody self-righteous person, but rather one who has repented, received forgiveness and is walking in a way that is pleasing to God and allowing God to change and correct him as he goes. None of us is upright in ourselves but in Christ as forgiven people of God, we are totally upright. As we come to God openly seeking his forgiveness and his activity in our lives to change us then our prayers bring him pleasure.
Will your prayers bring God pleasure today? | 