In this post I would like to amplify one small section of this very popular portion of Scripture. That section is "turn from their wicked ways." The ones being addressed in these two verses are God's people. In our day that is the Church. I have stumbled around and over this verse for many years. I would think, God is asking us, His Church, to identify with the lost and ungodly world to repent in some way of identification. As we take on the responsibility for the world's sin in some substitutionary way then God will hear and heal the land. I could never pray a strong prayer of faith here because God wasn't asking us to repent for the world, He was asking us to repent for our sins. What sins would those be? Sins of abortion and racism that we are hearing so much about today? Certainly, but it is bigger than that. We can embrace the current highlighted sin of the larger Nation and still not satisfy the sins God is calling for here. God is calling on individual Christians to search their hearts or simply be aware of their hearts and repent and walk in personal purity and obedience before God. All of us in the Church must not think of ourselves as being outside the sin problem. We are forgiven but we are not finished with repentance when we are converted. Just because we haven't been directly involved in some sin like abortion or injustice we feel apart from the sin problem affecting our Nation. We don't relate to God's command to "turn from their wicked ways." That's the world out there that is hindering the healing of our Nation. But God is a personal relationship God. He deals with people before He deals with Nations. We must be willing to walk in personal repentance for everything God puts his finger on and we will see healing. All of our individual sins against God are hindrances to healing and revival in America. When I resist the Lord convicting me about the lack of forgiveness or when I feel badly about a habit but do nothing. When He touches an area of my life and I callously take my mind to a different, happier place, I have added to the problem. Each time I do this I delay revival and the healing of our land. We must stop reading these two verses in regard to it applying to the world or mostly major issues and begin allowing the Holy Spirit to convince and cleanse each of us right where we are. Then the corporate repentance can arise from our individual honesty, repentance and cleansing and set us in motion for revival and healing.
Psalm 51:10. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."
