What was sackcloth and ashes

It is a daily feat. At times defeating. I desire to do better in my walk, and as I pursue admitting my wrongs to Him who forgives, I can only encourage others to do so also. I am speaking to myself when I say this. I am encouraged by those in the scriptures who put on the sackcloth and ashes as a sign of repentance, an example we ought to learn from ourselves:.

But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Ahab refused to admit his sin against God, but rather accused Elijah of being his enemy. When envy and hatred blind us, we find it almost impossible to see our sin.

Although Ahab was more wicked than any other king of Israel, he humbled himself deeply and repented in sackcloth and ashes. The same God who was merciful to Ahab wants to be merciful us. No matter how evil we have been, it is never too late to humble ourselves, turn to God, and repent. Nehemiah Fasting, wearing sackcloths made of material like burlap and sprinkling earth dust on the head were public signs of sorrow and repentance.

The Hebrews practiced open confession, admitting their sins to one another. The honest confession comes before worship because we cannot have a right relationship with God if we keep certain sins from him. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

A plague took many lives in the kingdom, and David made the requisite sacrifices to please the Lord and end the plague. I would strongly encourage you to read through both accounts closely, because there are a few lessons about repentance from David in each. First, David repented of his entire sin. David tended to allow his sin to chain-reaction into a huge problem.

Everything kept snowballing until Nathan paid David a visit. David did not deny any of the narrative. The tendency we have when we are caught red-handed is to spin the narrative so that the consequences might be even slightly more favorable. When outcomes matter most, the truth mixed with a little dishonesty and denial could make the fallout more manageable.

When integrity before God matters most, you confess fully. Second, David let his sorrow over his sin pierce his heart. David was repentant enough to not eat for a week while he wore sackcloth. The king, normally adorned in splendor, probably looked awful by the time his son had passed away.

He did not care. It seems as if he felt he deserved it anyway. This is the kind of repentance that leads to long-term changes in heart and behavior. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.

Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.

Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish. In their streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth; On their housetops and in their squares Everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears. Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament, And rush back and forth inside the walls; For Malcam will go into exile Together with his priests and his princes.

Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord.

Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body. Now it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty.

Spurrell came down to see a horse, and we shall be very glad to have the benefit of his opinion by-and-by. New Word List Word List. Save This Word! See synonyms for sackcloth and ashes on Thesaurus. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.