Truthful repentance changes lives because it receives God’s mercy; it does not cause it. The penitent knows that God forgives only because of Christ, not because of the sincerity of my sorrow for sin, the depth of my faith, the humility of my begging, or the faithfulness of my promise to do better. Repentance and faith receives the gift of grace and forgiveness of Sin, the enemy that always brings egregious consequences.
This penitential Psalm is a model of the kind of repentant heart that the Lord must grant by His mercy, because the human self refuses to acknowledge the truth and depth of sin, and human flesh cannot manufacture sincere repentance. A broken and contrite heart is required, but it is the Spirit of God that must do the breaking and “contriting.” He breaks the soul into nothing so that God will create something.
When the Spirit creates daily repentance and faith He also restores Joy and full Life; He creates a new and right spirit within. This new Spirit abhors sin and delights in God’s will; it wants to get on the narrow path; it makes choices that bless; it enjoys life. Daily repentance is an amazing gift for which one can be eternally thankful.