BIG IDEA: If you and I want reformation, we must learn how to lament over our sin (2 Kings 22:11).
2 Kings 22:11 “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.”

What does lamenting over sin look like? Six examples:

I) Job the great sufferer despised himself and repented in dust and ashes (after he had questioned the LORD because the LORD responded by challenging him to His face and revealing His glory)—this is true lament for sin!

Job 42:5-6 “5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

II) King David wrote Psalm 51, pouring himself out in confession in response to his sin against Uriah, Bathsheba, and ultimately against the LORD—this is true grief for sin!

Psalm 51:3-4, 17 “3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. . . . 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

III) Isaiah the prophet pronounced a curse upon himself and confessed his lostness when He beheld the glory of the Lord—this is true grief for sin!

Isaiah 6:5 “[Isaiah] said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

IV) Peter the apostle wept bitterly after he denied Christ—this is true mourning for sin!

Matthew 26:75 “And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.’”

V) The Tax Collector in Jesus’ parable beat his chest and would not even look up to heaven—this is true sorrow for sin!

Luke 18:9-13 “9 [Christ] told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

VI) The unnamed sinful women at the Pharisees house wept and kissed Jesus’ feet, even anointing Him with expensive perfume—this is true weeping for sin!

Luke 7:37-38 “37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.”

But why exactly should you and I want to learn to lament, mourn, have sorrow over, grieve, or weep for our sin?

I) You and I must learn to mourn over our sin because
SIN IS FIGHTING AGAINST GOD (selected)

(I) Sin is FIGHTING God!

In Acts 5:39 Paul’s former instructor says the religious leaders should be careful because if they persecute the preachers of the Gospel they “Might even be found [fighting God]!”

(II) Sin is HOSTILE to God

Romans 8:7 “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God”

(III) Sin is CONTRARY to God

Leviticus 26:21 “If you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.”

(IV) Sin is RESISTING God

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.”

(V) Sin is STRIVING (QUARRELLING) with God

Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?”

(VI) Sin is RISING UP AGAINST God

Micah 2:8 “But lately my people have risen up as an enemy; you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly with no thought of war.”

II) You and I must learn to have sorrow over our sin because
SIN NOT ONLY BREAKS GOD’S LAW; SIN BREAKS GOD’S HEART (Genesis 6:6)

Genesis 6:6 “The LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.”

III) You and I must learn to grieve over our sin because
SIN MAKES A SEPARATION BETWEEN US AND OUR GOD (Isaiah 59:2-3)

Isaiah 59:2-3 “2 Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.”

IV) You and I must learn to weep over our sin because
IT WAS FOR YOUR SINS AND MINE THAT CHRIST WAS CRUSHED ON THE CROSS (Zechariah 12:10)

Zechariah 12:10 “When they look. . .on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn.”