Most merciful God

Most merciful God,
our Father of grace,
we confess we have sinned,
we have walked our own way.

Our love has been fickle,
our hearts they have strayed.
So, Lord, in your mercy,
forgive us we pray.

Restore us,
change us.
Lord, lead us on.

That we may do justly,
forever love mercy,
together walk humbly
with you.

This is a simple song of repentance based upon one of the Church of England ‘forms of penitence’ liturgies. It might seem like a bit of a funny thing to say but this has always been one of my favourite forms of penitence (we’ve all got one of those right?). The original prayer is so theologically rich – in it we lament our failure to keep the two great commandments, we ask God to forgive our past, change our present and guide our future, and then we finish with that amazing petition taken right out of Micah 6:8: ‘that we may do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with you our God.’  

For that reason, when I first began writing this song I pretty much kept the prayer as it was and just set it to music. But that led to a slightly clunky feel and so with a few gentle nudges from the Resound gang I was encouraged to try and rephrase and rewrite; to find ways of keeping the essence of the text but using some different words. And so we landed with this – the journey of the prayer remains the same but it’s expressed in a fresh way.

This song could be used in place of a said confession near the start of our gatherings or even as a response to a talk or sermon – sometimes, after a talk, repenting of our sin and asking God to reshape us and lead us forward is just what is needed. Either way my hope is that this song will enable us to open ourselves up to God as we confess our need for him, seek his forgiveness, and allow him to continue his transforming work within us.