WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:06.120 Lord, we ask that you will bless the reading and the proclamation of your word this evening. 00:00:06.520 --> 00:00:09.040 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:18.519 In a time when truth, personal expression, and visions of the good life are completely subjective, 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:21.940 why and how does guilt still exist? 00:00:23.580 --> 00:00:24.500 Have you ever thought about that? 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:30.219 Why is guilt still a thing that everybody seems to grapple with? 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:39.759 How can anyone feel guilty who curates their lifestyles and where choice reigns supreme? 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:46.400 I might have mentioned this a while back, but there's a professor, Wilfred M. Maclay. 00:00:46.859 --> 00:00:52.400 He wrote a very good, interesting essay called The Strange Persistence of Guilt. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:54.799 This is his opening paragraph. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:03.280 Those of us living in the developed countries of the West find ourselves in the tightening grip of a paradox. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:10.959 One whose shape and character have so far largely eluded our understanding. 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:16.439 It is the strange persistence of guilt as a psychological force in modern life. 00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:20.879 If anything, the word persistence understates the matter. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:23.679 Guilt has not merely lingered. 00:01:24.119 --> 00:01:32.719 It has grown, even metastasized into an ever more powerful and pervasive element in the life of the contemporary West. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:39.179 Even as the rich language formerly used to define it has withered and faded from discourse, 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:44.799 and the means of containing its effects, let alone obtaining relief from it, 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:46.879 have become ever more elusive. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:54.640 The strange persistence of guilt in our culture. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.519 First, a few questions before we get into Psalm 51. 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:06.679 How do you deal with persistent guilt in your life? 00:02:08.359 --> 00:02:14.800 Sin that seems to creep up, things that you do that you know you shouldn't do, you're embarrassed about. 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:16.439 How do you deal with it? 00:02:16.519 --> 00:02:17.900 How do you wrestle with it? 00:02:17.979 --> 00:02:23.800 How do you either bury it away or calm your nerves? 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:27.980 When the strong feelings come, do you push them deep down? 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:28.880 Do you ignore them? 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:31.760 Do you live in a constant state of anxiety? 00:02:31.920 --> 00:02:36.480 How do you deal with the strange persistence of guilt? 00:02:38.540 --> 00:02:45.260 We'll jump into Psalm 51, and we'll see a proper way to deal with guilt. 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:53.479 This is quite possibly, if not 100%, the most famous penitential writing in the entire Bible. 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:58.719 It's King David, and just a bit of a background before we jump into it. 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:03.019 If you remember David, he is doing things right. 00:03:03.299 --> 00:03:04.500 His kingdom is growing. 00:03:05.099 --> 00:03:08.519 He should be off doing kingly things, namely going to war. 00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:10.120 He stays home. 00:03:10.219 --> 00:03:12.219 He sees a beautiful woman that's not his wife. 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:14.139 He has to have her. 00:03:14.139 --> 00:03:15.579 In fact, he does have her. 00:03:16.019 --> 00:03:20.059 It seems like it might have been, almost certainly, against her own will. 00:03:20.519 --> 00:03:22.079 It's his good friends. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:24.179 It's one of his mighty men's. 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:25.000 It's his wife. 00:03:25.459 --> 00:03:31.319 He has the man killed because he finds out that the affair he had has produced a child. 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:34.579 And he is confronted by the prophet Nathan. 00:03:35.299 --> 00:03:39.879 And Nathan gives this incredible story, parable, so to speak, 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:46.859 of this poor man who has a lamb, but a rich man comes and takes the lamb and kills it. 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:49.740 And David burns with anger. 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:53.460 And he says, whoever that rich man is, he deserves to die. 00:03:54.139 --> 00:03:57.039 And the prophet Nathan looks at David. 00:03:57.219 --> 00:03:59.859 And, I mean, we read it, but you can feel it. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:00.979 He says, you are that man. 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:08.419 Psalm 51 is the aftermath of Nathan saying to King David, you are that man. 00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:14.479 In the psalm, we'll see three brief, brief points. 00:04:15.939 --> 00:04:20.219 In the psalm, we'll see that freedom from guilt expresses a humble, 00:04:20.699 --> 00:04:22.259 if we're going to have freedom from guilt, 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:27.860 that we're going to have to express a humble and honest confession coming from a heart that is truly contrite. 00:04:27.860 --> 00:04:32.480 The second is that if we are to see freedom from guilt, 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:39.520 we ultimately will enjoy deep and complete forgiveness and cleansing, 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:42.160 not from ourselves, not a mind over matter thing, 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:46.220 but from something or someone outside of us. 00:04:47.100 --> 00:04:51.180 And finally, when we experience freedom from guilt, 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:54.500 we will have a restoration and healing of spirit. 00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:58.740 So look with me at verses 1 to 6 if you have a Bible. 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:00.680 There's some Bibles in the back if you want to grab one. 00:05:01.100 --> 00:05:03.500 If not, just hear these words. 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:05.199 Verses 1 to 6 of Psalm 51. 00:05:06.500 --> 00:05:09.720 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:12.360 according to your abundant mercy, 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:13.939 blot out my transgressions. 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:16.420 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity 00:05:16.420 --> 00:05:18.220 and cleanse me from my sin. 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:22.199 For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:26.639 Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:30.680 so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 00:05:31.699 --> 00:05:33.639 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:36.019 and in sin did my mother conceive me. 00:05:36.459 --> 00:05:39.759 Behold, you delight in truth, in the inward being, 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:42.419 and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:48.900 Notice David, this grief-stricken, guilt-stricken man, 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:52.340 expresses his great need for mercy right from the beginning. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:54.180 He is sinful. 00:05:54.400 --> 00:05:55.120 He is broken. 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.560 He is a murderer, a liar, adulterer, a coveter. 00:06:00.020 --> 00:06:03.700 And he has elevated his own desires above that of others. 00:06:03.900 --> 00:06:08.200 And yet, and yet, who does he say he has sinned against? 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:10.000 It is God and God alone. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:15.399 He is ultimately saying that it is you, God, your law, your ways, 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:19.240 your vision for goodness that I have broken. 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:24.819 Of course, he would say that he is not guiltless with Bathsheba and Uriah 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:27.259 and really the whole nation of Israel. 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:30.519 But he is noticing where the guilt ultimately lies. 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:35.600 And interestingly, he doesn't give any kind of excuse. 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:37.339 He doesn't try to justify what he has done. 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:38.480 He doesn't find nuance. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:41.040 He doesn't cite past victories. 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:43.360 And he's had past victories. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:46.180 Good deeds that he has done for God. 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:50.560 God, I've done this thing, but I have done well by you. 00:06:50.819 --> 00:06:51.560 Overlook it. 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:54.080 It's David here. 00:06:54.620 --> 00:06:55.439 You know who I am. 00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:56.360 You know what I've done. 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:58.759 No blame shifting. 00:06:58.759 --> 00:06:58.860 No blame shifting. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:00.420 No excuses. 00:07:01.319 --> 00:07:04.180 David is real and raw about his sin. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:05.680 He is guilty. 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:08.400 No ifs, ands, or buts. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:10.540 There is no excuse. 00:07:12.139 --> 00:07:13.620 And he appeals for mercy. 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:20.160 And like I mentioned, he doesn't appeal on the basis of what he has done. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:23.120 But instead, he looks to the very character of God. 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:29.040 He ultimately is saying, because you are merciful and steadfast in your love. 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:36.600 The steadfast love, it's like a technical term in the Bible that refers to this promise-keeping, 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:38.740 covenant-making God. 00:07:38.740 --> 00:07:44.079 Because of your steadfast love, because of the promises that you have made to me, 00:07:44.699 --> 00:07:47.720 because you are a God that keeps promises, please have mercy on me. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:54.280 David is a broken man. 00:07:54.379 --> 00:08:01.319 And interestingly, he is not simply saying, forgive me for the sins that I have recently done. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:04.240 But he is saying, listen, Lord, I am a sinner. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:05.300 Look at verse 5. 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:10.259 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:17.960 Verse 5 has been a verse long understood to support the doctrine of original sin. 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:22.379 That it's not just we are morally neutral people or really good people, 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:24.040 and sometimes we mess up. 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:26.819 It is our default, rather, that we sin. 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:28.720 We are selfish. 00:08:29.580 --> 00:08:34.200 And our sin might not result in murder or adultery, 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:40.259 but it certainly results in a selfishness that always puts ourselves first, 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:45.540 God and others second, third, fourth, tenth, twentieth, one hundredth. 00:08:48.280 --> 00:08:51.440 David is recognizing the reality of what God has said. 00:08:51.800 --> 00:08:54.860 It is like he is getting centered back into God's word 00:08:54.860 --> 00:08:59.300 after deviating, getting off the track. 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:07.459 David here is not somehow having some kind of mind over matter practice 00:09:07.459 --> 00:09:09.639 to take away his guilt. 00:09:10.459 --> 00:09:18.399 It runs deep all the way from his very first moments on this earth in his mother's womb. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:27.659 It is a good lesson for us to remember that we cannot get clean if we are utterly dirty. 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:35.679 It is as if we are trying to clean ourselves up without a towel or a rag or with soap or water. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:39.039 You're full of mud. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:39.699 You go like this. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:40.419 It's still there. 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:41.259 It's on your hand. 00:09:41.259 --> 00:09:42.439 How do you clean it off? 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:46.419 David here is recognizing that he can't clean it off. 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:50.580 He needs help from the only one who can make him clean. 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:51.259 This is God. 00:09:51.899 --> 00:09:53.819 And that is why he is appealing to his mercy. 00:09:55.559 --> 00:10:01.519 This is what an honest, humble, and contrite heart looks like. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:06.220 It is a non-excuse-making heart. 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:09.960 And it is one that God readily accepts. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:15.480 David appeals to God because only God has the power to truly forgive. 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:17.160 And what's the result? 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:20.300 He experiences this deep-down forgiveness and cleansing. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:22.720 And it is external to himself. 00:10:22.860 --> 00:10:24.960 Look with me, verses 7 to 9. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:29.160 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:31.779 Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 00:10:31.860 --> 00:10:33.480 Let me hear joy and gladness. 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:36.720 Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:41.340 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 00:10:41.500 --> 00:10:45.360 It seems like David is ordering God around, but in the original Hebrew, 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:55.600 this is a humble confessing of sins, in a sense, while also affirming who God is. 00:10:57.060 --> 00:10:59.539 Understanding that only God can do the cleansing. 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:01.420 Only God can restore joy. 00:11:01.419 --> 00:11:04.379 Only God can truly blot out iniquities. 00:11:05.579 --> 00:11:07.099 David wants to be made right. 00:11:07.939 --> 00:11:09.079 He wants to be clean. 00:11:09.719 --> 00:11:14.139 Not just to get the guilt away, but so he can enjoy God once more. 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:23.620 When you have wronged somebody, and you've appealed to their mercy and sought their forgiveness, 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:30.139 have you not waited, in a sense, with anticipation to hear the sweet words, 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:31.059 I forgive you? 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:38.519 And in a sense, until you hear those words, can joy truly come back? 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:46.799 Now, I know sometimes when you truly seek out forgiveness from somebody and they don't grant it to you, 00:11:47.359 --> 00:11:48.659 in a sense, that's not on you. 00:11:48.739 --> 00:11:50.079 You've truly sought out forgiveness. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:56.840 But when that person says, yes, I forgive you, what is the feeling that comes about in your heart? 00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:00.520 What is the weight lifted off of your shoulders? 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:06.439 I began the practice not too long ago, a few years ago. 00:12:07.980 --> 00:12:10.439 In the Christian calendar, there's two penitential seasons. 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:13.899 We're in it, Lent, and then the other one is Advent, interestingly. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:16.480 It's a preparatory season. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:22.079 Not as intense as Lent, but still understood as penitential. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:28.600 And the practice is to confess sins to God, but in the presence of another minister. 00:12:28.780 --> 00:12:29.540 So I've done that. 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:30.759 I've used the Ten Commandments. 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:42.320 And going into it, I feel weighted down because I take time and I sit down and I take the Ten Commandments 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:48.759 and I write out all of the things that I can remember that I've done according to the Ten Commandments. 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:50.160 So, I mean, have I murdered somebody? 00:12:50.280 --> 00:12:50.560 No. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:52.799 Have I hated somebody? 00:12:53.719 --> 00:12:55.239 Have I held people in contempt? 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:55.839 Yes. 00:12:57.119 --> 00:13:00.299 Have I committed adultery with my wife? 00:13:00.439 --> 00:13:00.739 No. 00:13:01.839 --> 00:13:05.099 But have I been pure with my eyes and with my motives? 00:13:06.339 --> 00:13:06.899 Yes. 00:13:07.439 --> 00:13:09.079 And you kind of go through the Ten Commandments. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:14.299 You feel the weight of sin and then you confess it. 00:13:14.419 --> 00:13:19.539 There's a bit of a liturgy, but really it ends with an absolution. 00:13:19.539 --> 00:13:25.579 That if you have truly repented of your sins, God has forgiven you. 00:13:25.579 --> 00:13:27.139 And to hear the words of pardon. 00:13:28.079 --> 00:13:30.159 I tell you, you can talk to Christine about it. 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:32.179 It's like I skip a little. 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:33.240 I don't actually skip. 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:35.039 I feel light. 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:37.100 My heart is light. 00:13:37.100 --> 00:13:38.720 The burden is removed. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:44.019 And it's important to confess our sins daily, weekly, monthly. 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:48.540 You don't necessarily need seasons, but sometimes seasons work. 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:52.139 And Lent, this is a wonderful opportunity for that. 00:13:52.139 --> 00:14:01.819 But case in point, when you are guilty and you are relieved of that guilt, do you not feel joy to some extent? 00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:07.080 Reconciled with another person that you have been at odds with. 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:12.759 And when that reconciliation doesn't happen, you feel the loss. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:14.740 The joy doesn't seem to be there. 00:14:18.040 --> 00:14:20.100 David expresses a humble confession. 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:25.460 He experiences a deep down forgiveness and cleansing resulting in true joy. 00:14:26.180 --> 00:14:28.960 And you think that's where this ends, but it doesn't. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:37.600 For we see in verses 10 to 17 that more than forgiveness here is offered, but an experience of healing and restoration. 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:38.759 Look with me, verses 10. 00:14:39.060 --> 00:14:40.560 We'll actually read all the way to 19. 00:14:43.280 --> 00:14:46.980 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:51.300 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:56.500 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 00:14:56.500 --> 00:15:00.820 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:07.700 Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation. 00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:10.480 My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:14.639 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 00:15:15.259 --> 00:15:17.440 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I give it. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.340 You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 00:15:19.980 --> 00:15:26.399 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:29.659 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure. 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:31.279 Build up the walls of Jerusalem. 00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:38.679 Then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:41.980 Then bulls will be offered on your altar. 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:45.759 You know, only something broken can be made new. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:55.100 David's prayer is for God to not just forgive him, not just to restore joy, but to create and to clean and to renew. 00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:59.939 To start repairing what has been broken from sin. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.519 Because the reality is, sin will always take away. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:05.919 It will always damage. 00:16:06.059 --> 00:16:07.059 It will always hurt. 00:16:07.179 --> 00:16:08.720 It will always prick. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:22.120 Being honest about our sin is a very vulnerable thing, but it is a beautiful thing. 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:22.600 Why? 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:25.240 It will lead to healing. 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:32.500 That's why self-justifying pride, having a spirit that is constantly self-justifying, 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:39.500 it might push away the feelings of embarrassment, but it is drinking poison upon you. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:46.060 It is making your soul dark and broken because you cannot receive the healing that comes 00:16:46.060 --> 00:16:50.080 with a humble and open and honest confession. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:56.720 The big difference between King David and King Saul, his predecessor, was just that. 00:16:57.580 --> 00:16:59.139 A self-justifying spirit. 00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:03.740 For King Saul, he was blaming it on everybody except himself. 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:05.000 And what does King David do? 00:17:05.860 --> 00:17:07.200 I have sinned against you, God. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:08.740 And what happens? 00:17:08.840 --> 00:17:12.220 He has healing and joy restored to him. 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:19.279 To know God, to be in a right relationship with him in Jesus Christ, 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:23.539 means to participate, in a sense, in the very Godhead. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:28.899 To know that the love that the Father has for the Son and the Son has for the Father, 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:33.440 and how that, in a sense, is expressed in and through and by the Holy Spirit, 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:37.539 is something that we get to participate in because we are connected to Christ. 00:17:39.059 --> 00:17:42.859 This is the ultimate form of restoration and deep healing, 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:48.319 that we are united to Christ and get to enjoy his presence forever. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:52.480 Forgiveness results in this. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:18:00.740 And the opposite is to run away from true freedom and light and spirit and joy. 00:18:00.740 --> 00:18:11.400 And this is why it is so important that as we, as Christians who are entering into this Lenten season, 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:16.160 we have to remember that first and foremost, we enter into this Lenten season, 00:18:16.940 --> 00:18:19.779 on one hand, understanding that it's penitential, 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.539 but more importantly, that it is a response. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:25.039 It's a responsive season. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:29.240 That responds to the beautiful and costly gift of Christ on the cross. 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:36.220 Because even though God extends his forgiveness to those that humbly confess their sins to him, 00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:38.680 his justice has to be satisfied. 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:44.200 And on the cross, his justice was Christ took our sin, 00:18:44.579 --> 00:18:47.379 and our brokenness, and our shame, and our guilt, 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:49.039 and he paid the penalty for it. 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:56.720 So how can we, in a sense, enter this Lenten season doing things that somehow would curry his favor? 00:18:56.819 --> 00:18:57.500 We have it. 00:18:57.859 --> 00:18:59.119 And we have it in abundance. 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:04.659 So then Lent becomes, in a sense, an expression of thankfulness 00:19:04.659 --> 00:19:07.500 to what God has already done in Christ Jesus. 00:19:07.500 --> 00:19:13.420 And as we seek amendment of life, and we express contrition, 00:19:13.900 --> 00:19:20.480 that we, in a sense, grow ever closer to the God who has come ever closer to us. 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:22.059 Let's pray. 00:19:22.059 --> 00:19:22.119 Amen. 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:22.180 Amen.