Repentance

Psalm 51 cont'd:

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

This is the beauty of repentance.  When we stumble and fall, and we experience the forgiveness of God, we want to help others and keep them from stumbling into the same pit from which we were rescued.  We know the darkness and the separation that comes from sin.

Another response to being forgiven is the desire to sing of His righteousness.  When our souls are set free from the bondage that shame brings, we cannot help but burst forth into song.

In fact, I’d say these two things are marks of a truly repentant heart:

Wanting to help others who are in sin

Wanting to sing about Him

If we sin and we only want to be forgiven because we got caught and we want to get on with our lives, and we only want to get back on solid ground so that we can move forward, we’ve missed the meaning of true repentance.

True repentance glorifies God by responding to him in word and deed for the rest of our lives.