How to Confess Your Sins

When it comes to confession, your heart is more important than your words, of course. But I was touched by this prayer, written in private devotions over 400 years ago.

By Thy sweat bloody and clotted! Thy soul in agony,

Thy head crowned with thorns, bruised with staves,

Thine eyes a fountain of tears,

Thine ears full of insults,

Thy mouth moistened with vinegar and gall,

Thy face stained with spitting,

Thy neck bowed down with the burden of the Cross,

Thy back ploughed with the wheals and wounds of the scourge,

Thy pierced hands and feet,

Thy strong cry, Eli, Eli,

Thy heart pierced with the spear,

The water and blood thence flowing,

Thy body broken, Thy blood poured out —

Lord forgive the iniquity of Thy servant

And cover all his sin.

The author, the English Bishop Lancelot Andrewes (yes, that’s how you spell it), has a tender heart toward the extraordinary suffering of our Savior. God’s love and justice come together in the cross of Christ. It's always good, when we confess our sins, to remember the price Jesus paid to atone for them.

By the way, Bishop Andrewes oversaw the Bible translation we now call the King James Bible.