One of Those Choices is Repentance
We all make mistakes. Some mistakes are more serious than others. The thing to remember is that the mistake doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
King David is remembered as someone after God’s heart even though he made a lot of mistakes. One of the reasons he is remembered this way is because of his willingness to admit his mistakes and repent of them.
This is evident in the Psalms. Many of the Psalms are of David repenting. This week’s Scripture, Psalm 6 is one of these. We don’t know exactly what mistake(s) David is referring to in this chapter. What we do know is that it’s an outpouring of David’s regret. To the point of bringing him to tears.
David’s penance is one of the reasons he was remembered as he was.
Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed. The word penance derives from Old French and Latin paenitentia, both of which derive from the same root meaning repentance.
This is a sincere change of heart and feeling of remorse. Repentance refers to the genuine interior sorrow for one’s hurtful words or actions.
Repentance implies a purpose and the resolve to avoid such hurtful behavior in the future.
The superpower that we all have, but too often neglect to use, is the power of choice.
David made a lot of choices, knowing they were wrong. But he also chose to openly repent, asking for God’s forgiveness.
We are faced with choices every day. It’s up to us to ask God for His input before we make the choices. This will reduce the time of repentance.