Empty Confession and Dry Tears

God’s great leader, Moses, wrote: “And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.”  (Deut.1:45-46).

            We may well assume that there was no more reality in their tears than in their words; their weeping was no more to be trusted than their confession. It is possible to confess and  shed some  tears  without  any true sense  of  sin  in the presence of the Almighty God. This is very solemn. It is really mocking God. Even the apostle Paul addressed such matters. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Gal.6:7). We are taught, and we have come to the knowledge of, that blessed forever be His name, and that a truly contrite heart is His delight. “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be  of  a  contrite  spirit.” (Psa,34:18).  Truly, He makes His abode with such. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psa.51:17).  The tears that flow from a penitent heart are more precious, by far, to God than the cattle on a thousand hills, because they prove that there is room in that humble and obedient heart for Him! He wants to dwell in our hearts by faith, and fill us with the deep unspeakable joy of His most blessed promises!

            However,  Israel’s confession and tears at Kadesh were not real, and hence the LORD  could  not  accept them.  From such we must learn that the feeblest cry of a broken heart ascends directly to the throne of God, and is immediately answered by the soothing, healing balm of His pardoning love!  Nevertheless, when there is within us a self-will and a heart of rebellion, even our tears and confession are not only utterly worthless, but a positive insult to the Divine Majesty.

            How  solemn is all this!  How pointed and forcible the application to us. We understand fully that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might hope”.(Rom.15:4).  “Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in  the  wilderness: wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.” (Heb.3: 7-10).  We must make sure, now and forever, that we do not have an empty confession and dry tears as we approach the Lord God.

. . . .  Fred  House