Thought, Word, and Deed

 

Isa 3:8 For Jerusalem stumbled, And Judah is fallen, Because their tongue and their doings Are against the LORD, To provoke the eyes of His glory.

 

Jerusalem stumbled and Judah fell, therefore the preceding judgments mentioned in the first seven verses of this chapter would come upon the people. How did they stumble and fall? In word and deed.

One of the most sobering portions of the traditional Lutheran worship service is the time when the congregation confesses their sins. Together we plead to God, “Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.”

 

We are sinners! And we need to be reminded of that fact often, lest our pride makes us think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

 

Our lustful thoughts are the equivalent of adultery as Jesus reminded us in Mt 5:28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

 

Our hateful words are equated to the sin of murder: Mt 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' 22 "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.”

Our sinful deeds and lack of good deeds speak for themselves as it says in Jas 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

 

These things set the glorious eyes of the Lord ablaze because He hates sin! Hab 1:13 says this about God, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness.”

So we confess our sins, and believe the gospel promise of the pardon offered through faith in Jesus Christ. 1Jo 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 God gets our attention through judgment in the land and we get His through heartfelt confession and repentance.