If a man does not repent

If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts. (Psalm 7:12-13)

Continuing my theme of the fear of the Lord, here’s a vivid picture for you. The Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, pictured as a warrior, sharpening his sword, notching an arrow, and a flaming arrow at that! It’s a picture meant to instill fear.

Yet to be free of his wrath is such a simple thing. Repent!

There is no mention here of restitution, or repayment. No making up for what we’ve done. Simply a turning away from our sin toward God. A simple thing, and yet how difficult it is!

First, to admit error. No one likes admitting they were wrong. And this is more than merely being wrong about something. This is being, and doing, wrong in ourselves. Just to acknowledge this is a real act of humility. It is the truth, but we’d rather live a fantasy than face the truth of our own sinfulness and wrongdoing. It strikes at our pride, and we are such prideful creatures.

Second, repentance means not only turning from our pleasant fantasy in which we are ok, and admitting our wrongdoing, but also turning toward a God who at first glance appears terrible to our eyes. He is powerful and full of anger. He sits in judgment and pursues us in wrath. He sharpens his sword and make ready his bow. He is set on our destruction.

But this is his countenance only when we have our back to him and are looking back over our shoulder. When we turn to face him in repentance, his visage changes from terrible judge to strong tower of refuge! He becomes for us delight instead of terror, rest instead of fleeing, and glory rather than dread.

When we receive his righteousness as our own, it becomes sweetness rather than a bitter reminder of our own falling short.

But if a man does not repent…