Return and Repent

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,

Your sins have been your downfall!

Take words with you and return to the LORD.

Say to him; “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously,

that we may offer the fruit of our lips.”

Hosea 14:1-2

Unfortunately the lessons of the thornbushes can be many and exceedingly prickly if you wander your own way, as the nation of Israel persisted in doing. Sin became our downfall way back in the garden. There Adam broke the Adamic covenant of life in paradise forever. “Like Adam, they (Israel) have broken the covenant*—they were unfaithful to me” (6:7). And like Adam and Israel, our sins keep us in the weeds.

What does the LORD your God want you to do? He wanted Israel, He wants us to return to Him. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest October 7, tells us that sin “is not wrong doing but wrong being—it is deliberate and determined independence from God.” God has not changed; Israel/we have turned away from Him. “I’m after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings” (6:6, MSG). In Malachi 3:7 He says, “Return to me and I will return to you.”

And when we return He wants us to repent, to actually verbalize our sins—to take words with us. I love how specific He is: ask for forgiveness with genuine regret; ask for grace, not just mercy; voice your gratitude—give Him all the glory.

Ah, words! What better words to glorify God with than His words—sincere, from the heart, in worship. Hosea’s prayer is a place to begin. Words are everywhere in the Psalms. The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is the common bond of all. As Jesus tells us: “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24. ESV).

Who is a God like you,

 who pardons sin and forgives the transgression…of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

You will again have compassion on us;

 you will tread our sins underfoot

 and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

 —Micah 7:18-19

Nancy P

*Abramic covenant: to make Israel a blessing/light to all the nations (Genesis 12:2-3).

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted.