Continual Repentance

Last week via facebook, I reconnected with Bill Haynes who was my youth minister when I was a young teen and who preached my ordination service some 22 years ago. The connection led me to his blog and his recent post of the following Puritan prayer (from a collection entitled Valley of Vision). Let the devotion of an ancestor in the faith instruct us in our daily walk.

O God of Grace,
You have imputed my sin to my substitute, Jesus
and You have imputed His righteousness to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe,
decking me with jewels of holiness.
But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so much impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is colored with selfishness.
I need to repent of my repentance;
I need my tears to be washed;
I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;
I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of raiment;
for You do always justify the ungodly.
I am always going into a far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and you are always bringing forth the best robe.
Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day’s work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.
Grant me never to lose sight
of the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace.

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.