Bandaids & Bulletholes: Supplication

Lesson Three: Supplication

A s k i n g   F o r   F o r g i v e n e s s  

Memory Verse: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” —Psalm 51:1-2

If confession and lamentation have led us anywhere, it must be to the cross. If we do not take this raw wound, freshly cleaned and exposed, and then bind it, it will again fester and rot. It is not enough to confess. It is not enough to have sorrow. We must then believe that there is forgiveness! We must apply the eternal salve of Jesus’ salvation to our wounds of sin if we have any chance of recovery. 

There are many places in Scripture where we can find evidence of God’s disposition toward sinners who confess sin, grieve sin and then run to him. But few are as powerful as the image of the Father running to his wayward son in Luke 15. 

¹¹There was a man who had two sons. ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

—Luke 15:11-24

What prompted the younger son to seek his father’s forgiveness?

How did the son ask for forgiveness? What was the disposition of his heart?

What kind of response was the younger son expecting from his father? What response did he receive?

Describe the father’s reaction to his son’s return. Is this what you would expect to receive? How would you have responded?

This passage of Scripture is profound enough to sit in for days, weeks, months, years. Do you believe that this is the kind of reception you receive from our Heavenly Father when you run to him, humbly and eagerly asking for forgiveness? Do you believe that he runs to you? Close your eyes for a moment. Picture the Father coming toward you, running. Feel the grass under your feet as you run to him. Feel your breath quicken as you pick up speed. Feel the desperation to reach him. Feel the relief of knowing that he is the one who has come toward you first. Now, feel his embrace. Stay there for a moment. Stay there until you believe it’s true.  

As a child of God, did you know that when the Father looks at you, he sees the righteousness of Jesus and not your sin? (Col. 3:3-4) Forgiveness for the Christian is as simple as turning to the cross and believing that it’s true. It is when we turn away from the majesty of Jesus and the forgiveness he’s purchased for us on the cross that we forget this forgiveness... and turn to sin instead.

As we’ll detail in the next lesson, forgiveness enables us to turn away from our sin and to the Father who loves us—and keep doing it again and again.

To close this lesson, engage in this action step:

• Find a quiet place, away from people, where you can be alone. Get down on your knees, close your eyes—yes, literally—and ask God for forgiveness from your sins. Open your hands—again, literally—and picture that you are receiving it. Believe that you have received it. After the experience, record your thoughts in a journal.

Bandaids and Bulletholes: Lamentation

Lesson Two: Lamentation

M o u r n i n g   Y o u r   S i n 

Memory Verse: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” —Psalm 51:3

Confessing sin, laying it all out on the table for what it is, is a huge step in the process of cleaning out the wound. However, it can be so easy to play the same game that we’ve played since we were 5 years old: saying “sooooorry” through gritted teeth without really meaning it. How do we avoid pretense in our confession? Usually it involves doing something we rarely want to do—feeling the weight, grief and emotion over our sin. 

The prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament was given a pretty tough break. At an early age, God commissioned him to speak to the people of Israel—the people through whom God had chosen to display his character to the world before the time of Jesus—about their sin. Ultimately, Israel did not heed God’s warnings through Jeremiah and he did what he said he would: he disciplined them for their rebellion.

Some reflections from this time of discipline come to us from Jeremiah through the book of Lamentations in the Old Testament. Let’s take a moment and consider the grief of the people of Israel over their sin.

¹⁸“The Lord is in the right, 

for I have rebelled against his word; 

but hear, all you peoples, 

and see my suffering; 

my young women and my young men 

have gone into captivity. 

¹⁹“I called to my lovers, 

but they deceived me; 

my priests and elders 

perished in the city, 

while they sought food 

to revive their strength. 

²⁰“Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; 

my stomach churns; 

my heart is wrung within me, 

because I have been very rebellious. 

In the street the sword bereaves; 

in the house it is like death. 

²¹“They heard my groaning, 

yet there is no one to comfort me. 

All my enemies have heard of my trouble; 

they are glad that you have done it. 

You have brought the day you announced; 

now let them be as I am. 

²²“Let all their evildoing come before you, 

and deal with them 

as you have dealt with me 

because of all my transgressions; 

for my groans are many, 

and my heart is faint.”

—Lamentations 1:18-23

In what ways did God allow Israel to feel the weight of sin?

What response did the weight of sin produce in Jeremiah? In Israel?

It’s not easy to catch even a twinge of the sorrow or consequence of our sin. But read the next set of verses and see what this sorrow produces:

¹⁹Remember my affliction and my wanderings, 

the wormwood and the gall! 

²⁰My soul continually remembers it 

and is bowed down within me. 

²¹But this I call to mind, 

and therefore I have hope: 

²²The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 

his mercies never come to an end; 

²³they are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness. 

²⁴“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, 

“therefore I will hope in him.” 

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for him, 

to the soul who seeks him. 

²⁶It is good that one should wait quietly 

for the salvation of the Lord. 

²⁷It is good for a man that he bear 

the yoke in his youth. 

²⁸Let him sit alone in silence 

when it is laid on him; 

²⁹let him put his mouth in the dust— 

there may yet be hope; 

³⁰let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, 

and let him be filled with insults. 

³¹For the Lord will not 

cast off forever, 

³²but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion 

according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 

³³for he does not willingly afflict 

or grieve the children of men. 

—Lamentations 3:19-33

What differences do you see in this passage versus the previous passage?

Consider verses 31-32. Do you believe that—even when God causes grief—he is still being compassionate? Why or why not?

There are a lot of things to consider in this passage. First, God is the only one who can cause us to have true grief over our sin. Left to our own devices, we would probably choose to remain unaware. Also, it is important to note that “godly sorrow” (which we will go into later) doesn’t mean that we beat ourselves up, punish ourselves or feel guilty about our sin until we’ve paid the price. That is not what Jeremiah is doing, nor is it the goal for us. Jesus has already taken this beating. Jesus has borne the punishment. Jesus has already removed our guilt by his work on the cross. The grief we feel moves us toward one thing: knowing the steadfast love of God and believing that we can put our hope in him for rescue. That is where the grief of Jeremiah led him and that is where we are being led, as well.

For the next action step, read the text of the following hymn, Hiding In Thee, by William O. Cushing. Reflect on how the author responds to the sorrow of his sin and consider the same truth in light of your own.

O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,

My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;

So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine, would I be;

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I'm hiding in Thee.

In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow's lone hour,

In times when temptation casts o'er me its power;

In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I'm hiding in Thee.

How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,

I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe;

How often, when trials like sea billows roll,

Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.