The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit (Ps. 34:18).
If we have not experienced that repentance which is not to be repented of, and have not with true humiliation of soul and brokenness of spirit confessed our sins, abhorring our iniquity, we have never truly sought for the forgiveness of sin" (Steps to Christ, p. 38).
The contrite soul is the repentant soul. In the following symbolic poem by Dante, he pictures the three steps of repentance: contrition, confession, satisfaction:
Thither did we draw nigh, and that first stair
Was of white marble, polished so and clean,
It mirrored all my features as they were.
The second, darker than dusk, perverse, was seen,
Of stone all rugged, rough and coarse in grain,
With many a crack, its length and breadth between.
The third, which o'er the others towers amain,
Appeared as if fiery porphyry,
Like blood that gushes crimson from the vein.
Contrition, like the polished marble, reveals people to themselves, opens their eyes to their true condition, tears away their make-believe. The second step--"darker than dusk," and all rugged and coarse and cracked--represents confession, the tearing up of the roots of guilt and the spreading of the black iniquities before God. The third step, made of "fiery porphyry, like blood," is satisfaction, the offering up of self as a sacrifice and the receiving of Christ's atonement, thus cleansing the soul. Only when one takes these three steps can there be true repentance. The Lord is near to those who are brokenhearted because of their sin.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest" (Ps. 51:4).
If we have not experienced that repentance which is not to be repented of, and have not with true humiliation of soul and brokenness of spirit confessed our sins, abhorring our iniquity, we have never truly sought for the forgiveness of sin" (Steps to Christ, p. 38).
The contrite soul is the repentant soul. In the following symbolic poem by Dante, he pictures the three steps of repentance: contrition, confession, satisfaction:
Thither did we draw nigh, and that first stair
Was of white marble, polished so and clean,
It mirrored all my features as they were.
The second, darker than dusk, perverse, was seen,
Of stone all rugged, rough and coarse in grain,
With many a crack, its length and breadth between.
The third, which o'er the others towers amain,
Appeared as if fiery porphyry,
Like blood that gushes crimson from the vein.
Contrition, like the polished marble, reveals people to themselves, opens their eyes to their true condition, tears away their make-believe. The second step--"darker than dusk," and all rugged and coarse and cracked--represents confession, the tearing up of the roots of guilt and the spreading of the black iniquities before God. The third step, made of "fiery porphyry, like blood," is satisfaction, the offering up of self as a sacrifice and the receiving of Christ's atonement, thus cleansing the soul. Only when one takes these three steps can there be true repentance. The Lord is near to those who are brokenhearted because of their sin.
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest" (Ps. 51:4).
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