" A Prayer of Repentance"

**PRAY**

Read Psalm 41: 1-13

King James Version (Psalm 41)

Blessed is he that considereth the poor:

The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

2  The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive;

And he shall be blessed upon the earth:

And thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

3  The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing:

Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

4  I said, LORD, be merciful unto me:

Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

5  Mine enemies speak evil of me,

When shall he die, and his name perish?

6  And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity:

His heart gathereth iniquity to itself;

When he goeth abroad, he telleth it.

7  All that hate me whisper together against me:

Against me do they devise my hurt.

8  An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him:

And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

9  Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,

Which did eat of my bread,

Hath lifted up his heel against me.

10  But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me,

And raise me up, that I may requite them.

11  By this I know that thou favourest me,

Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

12  And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity,

And settest me before thy face for ever.

13  Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

***The Grass Withers and the Flower Fades, but the Word of God Shall Stand Forever***

The subject of this sermon will be lifted from vs. 4 ( I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.)

INTRO:

As we read the Psalms, we are entering into the sanctuary, the place where God meets men and women in a special way. We will see that the conversation between God and his people is direct, intense, intimate and, above all, honest.

In the same way that the sanctuaries of the Old Testament, primarily the tabernacle and the temple, were considered to be at the physical center of the people of God, so too is the book of Psalms in the middle of the Bible.

In this 41st number of Psalms....… here we find our psalmist David; The one that’s biblically known as a Man who was after God’s Heart. This is not the ‘Young Shepherd Boy” who was anointed King by Samuel at the age of 33.

If we are going to be victorious in every situation, we must hold on to God’s promise that he will comfort, guide, and uphold us.

David begins this section with a personal and vulnerable prayer: “O Lord, I prayed, ‘have mercy on me. Heal me, for I have sinned against You.’” In this verse David recognizes his physical need for healing and his spiritual need for forgiveness. He acknowledges that his suffering isn’t just external—it’s tied to his own sin and brokenness.

The FIRST POINT

CLEMENCY.......… here it is in the first part of verse 4. Lord, be merciful unto me.

We all know when it comes to clemency, man gives us charity, or can pardon a person like our governor did last week when she pardon a man from death row to life in prison. But how many of you know that God has the real power to grant full clemency, because clemency" is important in the Christian life. , Clemency focus heavily on God's abundant forgiveness, grace, and God's boundless mercy that lets us know that even the most grievous sins can be forgiven through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, highlighting he will abundantly pardon us as Jesus taught on forgiveness in the Sermon on the Mount, where he instructs believers to be merciful as God is merciful; encouraging listeners to extend the same grace to others, demonstrating the transformative power of forgiveness in their own lives.

I heard a story about a young man who had distanced himself from his family after making poor choices. Just like the Parable of the Prodigal Son. When he finally returned home, he didn’t come with excuses—he simply asked for forgiveness. His parents welcomed him with open arms; they were overjoyed that he had returned. In a similar way, when we come to God with a repentant heart, He is ready to offer mercy and healing. David’s prayer should remind us that God’s mercy is always available. Whether we’re seeking physical healing, spiritual renewal, or emotional restoration, we can come to God, knowing that He is compassionate and ready to heal.

We should reflect on personal need for forgiveness, we need to examine our own lives and recognize the areas where we need God's forgiveness. We got to work on forgiveness towards others: I want to Challenge you to actively extend grace and mercy to those who have wronged you, Remember forgiveness not only benefits the other person but it brings healing and peace to the you.

Second Point

CURE

The cross is the cure for sin, and Jesus’s death on the cross made healing possible. It’s necessary to pray daily. We should pray with boldness, ask God to “heal our soul.” We know God is the healer of souls, and we know our soul can become hurt and bruised as we open it to served God’s people and a needy world. I say this because a wounded soul can wound others. Let God bring healing to your soul today.

We can carry so much hurt, that it can began shaping your feelings, thinking, and choices you don’t know what to do with the pain of past events - trauma, verbal abuse, fearful things.

One of my students at school wanted to have a conversation with me. He shared some things that was going on in his personal life, which drove him to not wanted to pray anymore from being in a state of depression.

Hoping that somehow things would change.But the heavy layers of memories and emotions were weighing him down. He felt like his life would always be this way.

But God! Led him , letting him know it’s time to unpack, so he could begin to understand God's plan to completely heal all he had ever experienced.

Then the process felt like Jesus kept walking up and removing all those layers of pain - like He was taking the weight of it all and carrying it away. Through understanding truths in the Bible, he was set free from the past... with a bright hope in his heart for a different future!

What about you? What about your 'soul' ,your mind, will, and emotions. Your memories. Your deepest and most expressive self.

The problem occurs when, you don't know what to do with what went wrong, or how to get those things healed and working properly.

We're not here to just struggle to keep our heads above water.

We're not here to hopefully 'get saved' by Jesus to only stay the way we are.

We're not here to wait for other people to change so that our lives become better, easier. Nope.

We are here to discover the healing power of God's love. His cure for healing,

We learn to receive this love by getting to know Him and speaking over our lives what He has said in the Bible - and by personally learning to hear Him speak to us in our spirits.

Isaiah 62:6, which instructs us to "put the Lord in remembrance of His promises," or Joshua 23:14, which states that "not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed,".

The Scriptures say: Bread alone will not satisfy, but true life is found in every word that constantly goes forth from God’s mouth.” Because we are more than just physical beings, we need to understand that we need spiritual nourishment from God. We're not created to only physically live on physical food. We're created to also be fed spiritually by the Word of God.

Jesus said, "My words are spirit and they are life" When we learn to feed our souls from the richness of God's Word, we experience things like... Inner healing

· Hopeful expectation

· Renewed strength & confidence

· Desires shaped by God

· Alignment to God's will & blessings

If you make scripture part of your daily life, you will experience the healing and realignment of God's power.

One of my favorite verses about the power of God's Word is found in Hebrews 4:12. The phrase living and powerful actually means medicinal in its effect.

God's Word is like medicine for our souls.

Do you want your life to be different? Do you want to be healed from the pain of the past and the burdens in your soul? Then go to the Word of God. It is powerful enough to not only heal you but to shift you into experiencing the abundant, transformed life Jesus came to give you.

To stop the cycle of worry and pain, begin with Bible verses. Speak them aloud over yourself every day. You'll begin experiencing an inner renewal that begins bringing good things into every part of your life! One verse come to mind in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Even though I may not see or feel it yet, my healing is promised.

Find and personalize other scriptures that promise what you need in your life, that speak God's truth for what you are going through right now. Press in to know God and His Word and you will find your life is changed, your soul healed.

God never intended for us to limp through life and “just get by.” This verse tells us that God’s Word brings life, health, and healing to every single area of our lives. He wants to heal us physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, socially, and in every other way.

I like to say it this way: Jesus wants to heal you everywhere you hurt! He wants to make you whole, and there’s not one area beyond His reach.

Whatever’s area hurting you in your life, you can find the answer in God’s word. Use God’s Word as a weapon to overcome your challenges and your worries.

You see, God’s Word is medicine for our soul—it’s what we “take” to get better. And we don’t do it out of obligation, but we do it because the Lord will use it to heal every area of our lives.

What if you were sick and went to the doctor, and he said, “Here, take these pills and you’ll get better”? Would you go home and put the pills on a shelf and never take them? Of course not! And it’s the same with the Bible.

Just like we would take an aspirin for a headache or put a band-aid on a scraped knee, we should apply God’s Word to the “wounded” places in our lives. God’s Word is literally medicine for our spirit, soul and body.

Now, I don’t know what kind of healing you may need, but God knows. And He is the ultimate healer of souls and He is present with us today.

THIRD POINT - Confession

If a person’s heart is far from God, confession will become empty mockery. God didn’t want the Israelites rituals; He wanted their hearts. Israel had broken the covenant God had made with them at Mt. Sinai The sad thing is that the people broke their agreement and continued in their unfaithfulness to God.

1 John 1:8–9 “If we say that 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.”

It is so easy for Christians to sing “I Surrender All” on Sunday morning, knowing that they will dedicate the rest of the week to fulfilling their own self-centered interests.

If you make a confession to God you need to back it up with your actions.

Confession leads to Consecration, and ultimately to Celebration.

Confession can be very painful, it makes us vulnerable, it subjects us to another’s mercy, it takes away our sense of being in control as we submit ourselves to whomever is listening. Confession forces us to look in the mirror and take responsibility for the choices we’ve made or the actions we’ve taken.

When David uses the word sin, he draws a picture of missing the mark, falling short of the target. Paul uses this same type of imagery. In Romans 3:23, he writes, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. No exceptions, no excuses. Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death.

(MIGHT INCLUDE )

Some parenting experts say that you should never give your kids an allowance. Why? Because an allowance by definition is a promise made with no strings attached. If the kids do their chores, they get their money. If the kids don’t do their chores, they get their money. Instead, these experts say we should offer our children wages because wages are something a person earns. If the kids want to receive their money, they’ve got to do their chores. It helps prepare them for the working world as they become adults. It also helps us see that sin earns us death. When we sin, we hurt ourselves.

START BACK

Rejoice! That may sound odd in the midst of discussing confession, but think about it. If you’ve been carrying a guilty burden you know the pain and anguish of the load you’re carrying. What a relief when that burden is gone.

Even when there are consequences that remain, you have cause to rejoice.

What is it that’s been weighing you down? What burden have you been holding on to that you need to release? What sin in your life are you trying to hide from the people in your life and from God? Here’s the thing- He already knows and many times they do to. Confession- it is good for the soul because it releases us from the burden we’ve imposed upon ourselves.

David understood the blessing that comes from confession that could only happen when we place our trust IN God.

Yes, “A Prayer of Repentance”

First It’s CLEMANCY,- CURE- CONFESSION. All of that was made available........”THROUGH THE CROSS!!!!!!

DOXOLOGY

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.