September 10, 2025 • 43 mins
When we hear the word “repentance,” many of us think of shame, guilt, or fear. But as we explored King David’s story in Psalm 51, we discovered something much different—repentance as an invitation into God’s love. David’s raw prayer after his failure with Bathsheba isn’t self-loathing, but a cry for God’s mercy and renewal. When he asks God to “create a clean heart,” he’s asking for something brand new, the same creative power we see in Genesis. That shows us repentance isn’t about behavior modification—it’s about God making us new.
We also looked at the word metánoia, which means a change of mind, and how Romans 2:4 reminds us that it’s God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. This truth frees us from fear and draws us into joy, intimacy, and restoration. Whether it’s struggles with food, relationships, or shame, repentance is not a detour but the way back to life. We invite you to walk this journey with us, practicing breath prayer, reflection, and learning to see repentance as God’s loving call home.
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi and welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On
the Go.
I'm Heidi Bilesma-Epperson, oneof your hosts and the owner and
lead coach of theRevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we are sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin on the show.
Hey we are so glad you're here.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
We are glad you're here and we've got quite an
episode planned today.
You know we've really beentaking to heart.
Where does God want us to gowith these podcasts, with our
community themes?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
and so on.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
And gosh, you know, he's really showing us and he's
blessing the choice to go intorepentance a little bit more in
our community, and we releasedone previously, an episode on
repentance, and we're going togo there again because, gosh, I
don't know, christina, what doyou think I'm actually?
(01:15):
I can't believe I'm saying thisafter all the many years of
going.
I'm enjoying this focus onrepentance, on biblical
repentance.
Yeah, me too, and it's reallybeing a.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
It's a delight to my heart these days, yay, it is for
me too, and I think so many ofus, including me, have had
misconceptions for so long aboutwhat repentance is, kind of
from our culture, from the world, from all these other sources.
But what does God say about it?
And what he says in his word isabsolutely beautiful and
(01:55):
refreshing and life-giving andit's really drawing me in.
I am loving it loving it.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Me too, for sure.
It has been and continues to belife-giving for me, and that's
kind of a surprise.
Well, yeah, it's a surprise Inmy brain I knew that repentance,
since it's from God, it's agift from God, is what the word
says.
I knew it had to be life-giving, but I guess I was more
impacted by my history than Irealized.
(02:26):
So, yeah, good, good.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So today's episode is one we've been praying into.
It's a sacred invitation.
Isn't that beautiful Just tothink about?
Think about when you get aninvitation in your mailbox and
it's just beautiful, theenvelope.
You're excited and then youopen it up and you have been
invited.
This is like that times athousand a million, because it's
(02:54):
a sacred invitation into theheart of repentance.
Not shame, not guilt-drivenstriving, but the kind of deep,
holy turning that draws us backinto the arms of God.
I love that yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Today we're going to kind of dive in to some
scripture, and so you might wantto have your Bible out if
you're in a place where you cando that.
And we're going to look atDavid's story and the example of
his repentance in the word ofGod and see what we can pull
from that.
So I'm just going to pray forour time together real quick.
(03:33):
Great Lord, god, would youcreate in each one of us clean
hearts?
We want to see with your eyeswhat repentance is where it's
needed, even in our own lives.
As we look into David's story,may we hear kind of a gentle
echo of our own story and theinvitation you issued to David.
(03:56):
May we sense that invitation toour own hearts, our own minds,
our own souls.
May we not resist you one bitbut run toward you because of
your great mercy.
Thank you, lord, and it's inyour name, jesus, I pray.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Amen.
Okay.
So before we get into David'sprayer in Psalm 51, we are going
to go to Psalm 51.
And if you have your Bible, youcan put a little bookmark there
or your finger there.
But we need a little bit ofcontext.
So we're going to start withthe backstory in 2 Samuel,
(04:35):
chapters 11 and 12.
Okay so David was king,powerful, beloved.
At the height of his reign hestayed back from war, which is a
detail that matters goingforward.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, I think this one is important.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I mean and we'll go ahead and read that verse Second
, Samuel 11, one in the springof the year, the time when kings
go out to battle.
David remained at Jerusalem.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So I mean that right, there is an indication that he
I mean, this is when kings wouldall go out to battle.
What's he doing staying home?
It just makes you wonder wherewas his heart then?
You know, it's kind ofinteresting.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
We're going to find out right now where his heart
was.
He wasn't even supposed to behome.
Right exactly exactly oneevening, he saw a beautiful
woman, bathsheba, bathing, andhe summoned her and he slept
(05:42):
with her and she became pregnant.
Wow, so there was well.
There's actually severalproblems with all of this, but
one of the biggest problems wasthat Bathsheba was actually
married.
She was married to Uriah, oneof David's most loyal soldiers.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, you got to check out the story, maybe
refresh your understanding of itby looking at 2 Samuel, 11 and
12.
I mean, uriah was quite thesoldier, quite the man.
He was so loyal.
And here's the thing Davidtried to cover up his sin.
He had grabbed somebody else'swife, had done what he had done
(06:31):
with her and she'd gottenpregnant.
And so he had this plotunfolding in his head, which he
executed.
He had Uriah brought home fromthe battlefield and kind of
hoped that Uriah would do whatany red-blooded man would do
who'd been away from his wifesleep with her, and stuff, of
(06:54):
course.
But Uriah, oh my word, herefused.
Talk about a man of integrity.
Uriah refused to sleep with hiswife out of loyalty to his
fellow soldiers who were stillat war, who didn't get to come
home and enjoy their wives.
So David's plan was foiled atthe very beginning, and so, when
(07:17):
that didn't work, to have youknow Uriah sleep with Bathsheba,
and then, supposedly, the babyin her womb would be attributed
to Uriah fathering the baby,anyway.
So, david, it's hard for me towrap my brain around this.
It's quite a story, isn't it?
I know, talk about drama.
I mean all those stories on TVand whatever.
(07:40):
I don't even know what they arebecause I don't watch them, but
I mean this takes the cake.
Really it does.
Yeah, david arranged for Uriahto be placed on the front lines
of battle and for other troopsto pull back and leave Uriah
fighting alone.
(08:00):
It really was a death sentence,but I mean it was a scheming,
conniving, deceptive deathsentence.
I mean he was killing aninnocent, loyal man and Uriah
was killed.
Yep, it happened.
And then, of course, david lala la, he took Bathsheba as
another wife.
(08:20):
I was like what?
Another wife, not just one, butanother, yeah, yeah, so he had a
bazillion wives and concubinesand it's like hello.
What is that about?
And, of course, for a whilelife went on.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Okay, so now God sends Nathan.
So we're now in 2 Samuel 12,verses 1 through 13.
Enter Nathan, the prophet sentby God.
Okay, so, nathan is sent by God.
He told David a parable.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I love this.
This was so I mean, I gosh.
You know, when somebody isdifficult to communicate with in
direct word, you can trydrawing a visual image in their
mind, and it's like Nathan knewDavid had been acting clueless
about what he had done, and so Ilove that he used a parable.
(09:17):
Go for it.
Read it to us.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
So from 2 Samuel 12, 1 through 4, and this is
paraphrased.
There were two men in a certaintown, one rich, one poor.
The rich man had very manyflocks and herds, but the poor
man had nothing but one littleewe lamb.
And the rich man took the poorman's lamb to feed a traveler.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
David was outraged with this story.
Could you just imagine it?
I mean, he's hearing this storyfrom Nathan.
He's going as the Lord lives,the man who did this deserves to
die.
That's what he said over alittle ewe lamb that didn't
belong with somebody, it's like.
And Nathan said oh, this hassuch wisdom.
(10:04):
You, david, are the man.
And that's 2 Samuel 12, 7.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Wow, whoa.
Talk about conviction.
Oh my gosh.
And this again.
This man was sent from God.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
God had clearly been working on David's heart at some
level because of his response,because you know he could have
cut off Nathan's head.
He could have had Nathan killedon the spot.
He certainly had no scruplesabout killing innocent people.
We know that at this point.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Right, exactly, yeah, okay.
So basically, david was cut tothe heart and the veil was
lifted.
And the veil was lifted, he sawthe horror of what he had done
his adultery, his coverup, hismurder, all of it.
(10:59):
He didn't deflect and he didn'tcome up with excuses.
He said this is second Samuel12, 13.
He said I have sinned againstthe Lord.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Wow.
Now, chances are those of youwho are listening to this have
not, you know, had somebodykilled and done all of those
things that David did in thisexample.
But I mean, and that's just ina way, that's the point Look at
how God related to David sendingsomebody to confront him about
(11:30):
his sin and somehow he hadgotten to David's heart because
he was repentant.
I mean, he had the right words,that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, he did.
Okay.
So now we can go to Psalm 51,because this is what David wrote
in response.
So it helps so much to havethat background, because we can
see how extreme the situationwas.
We're not just talking about alittle of this or a little of
(12:00):
that, we're talking about reallyextreme stuff.
That gives a different meaningto this Psalm.
As you read it, you can thinkabout oh my gosh, this is the
response to all that happened.
And then God sending Nathan andthe conviction and all of that.
So here comes Psalm 51.
It begins with have mercy on me, oh God, according to your
(12:25):
unfailing love.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I love his approach to the Lord in this here he had,
he doesn't beat himself up, nothis first initial approach to
the Lord.
He's like Lord, I need yourmercy, I need your unfailing
love, and basically it's alittle mini praise fest.
God, you are merciful God, youare unfailing in your love for
(12:50):
me, and I need both of thoseright now.
So David doesn't plead with Godbased on what he thinks he
deserves, because what I mean hemight go into the whole.
I'm your king, your anointedone, and you've got to no, no,
no.
He doesn't do that.
He appeals to God's chesed andthat's the Hebrew word is
(13:11):
covenant, loyal love.
That Hebrew word, chesed, isused over 240 times in the Old
Testament to describe God'smercy and it means steadfast,
never failing love.
Oh, what a beautiful picture.
In verse two, david knowingfull well there's a big job to
(13:33):
do here, he says wash away allmy iniquity and cleanse me from
my sin.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, wow, you would think that he would first go to
God and say well, let me tellyou what happened.
You know like let me start fromthe beginning and maybe throw
in some blame in there.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, what was she doing out there on the?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
roof.
Yeah, I mean having a baththere, you know.
I mean I couldn't not look ather, you know?
Things like that.
There could have been such adifferent response.
Oh yeah, but his response justcut right to the chase.
What do I need?
I need cleansing.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I need help.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I need your unfailing love.
Okay, so wash away.
He says wash away all myiniquity.
Wash here is kabak.
Is the word kabak a vigorousscrubbing used to clean garments
?
David knows that his soul needsmore than just a rinse.
I love that.
(14:34):
I mean it's true.
He knew that it needed to be avigorous scrubbing that would
lead to being really washedclean.
And then verse three, for Iknow my transgressions, so he's
owning it.
He's totally owning this.
I know my transgressions and mysin is always before me Wow,
(15:00):
wow.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
He's not hiding, he's full on.
Owning it Always before memeans I can't escape it.
It haunts me it's following meeverywhere I go.
And verse four says against you.
He's saying this to the Lord,of course, against you.
You only have I sin.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Okay, but wait, didn't he sin against Bathsheba
Uriah?
And how about the nation?
Yeah, yes, yes, he did, butultimately, all sin is rebellion
against God and he recognizedthat, he owned it and he knows.
In order for this to be maderight, he needs to totally own
(15:46):
it and own the fact that all sinis rebellion against God.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
You know what this makes me think of situations
over the years when I have knownthat I didn't behave the way I
wish I had and didn't want toown it, had and didn't want to
(16:12):
own it.
You know, it's like I didn'twant to embrace the gravity of
my choices.
It was, it was so hard, but Godgives us the ability to look at
it square in the face andacknowledge that, yeah, I
wronged so-and-so and so-and-so,but ultimately I wronged you,
lord, and he wants us to be ableto approach him with that.
You know, I think of differentaspects of my life that might
(16:36):
need to come under the scrutinyright now, today.
Right now, today, this minute,and I want to own it in the face
of the Lord.
His has said his never ending,everlasting love is there for me
.
Wow, I appreciate this statementbecause he is not doing what
(17:10):
many of us fall into, thatself-loathing and
self-deprecation.
No, no, no.
This is humility, and it's notlike he's saying, well, you
chose me, you knew I was goingto be home and you knew, yeah,
no, he didn't do that, and so hedoesn't do the self-loathing
thing, he doesn't do the denialthing.
(17:31):
Instead, this is humility, it'strue humility.
David is not saying boy, I'mjust worthless, I have a real
lust problem.
Yeah right, you know.
What are you going to do aboutit, god?
He's saying Lord, I have alwaysneeded you and I need you now
(17:53):
too.
That's beautiful, verse six.
David goes on to say yet you,lord, desired faithfulness even
in the womb.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Oh yeah, so he's going back to a place where he
couldn't make choices.
He was a babe, you know, so hecould.
He's going all the way back tothe beginning here.
Truth in the inward being.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
God isn't.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
after behavior modification, what is God after?
He wants our hearts, he wantsus to be real with him.
He is looking for, he wants thebottom line.
You know he's not messingaround.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
You know I just want to interject here that over the
course of the years that I'vebeen involved before Revelation
Within was Revelation Within, itwas Thin Within, and I was
first involved in 2001.
So that goes back a long timeit does.
And I know a lot of people wouldcome to the program Thin Within
(18:59):
and even now Revelation Within,and their thought is give me a
program, give me a fix, andthey're looking at their
behavior and they're looking atthe results of their behavior,
which many of us have worn onour bodies over the years as
extra weight and some of us arevery burdened by that.
But we have focused people onokay, let's go deeper than just
(19:25):
modifying our behavior,modifying our eating and
changing the way we look.
Let's go deep and I reallythink that this is a great
example of true repentance Isn'tgoing to just be a shift in how
much I eat or how much I movemy body in that realm.
It's going to involve changingthe way I think, because I've
(19:48):
got to think God's thoughtsabout all those things that have
caused me to eat more food thanI need.
I've got to think God'sthoughts about my emotions.
I've got to think his thoughtsabout even what foods can best
nourish me.
I need to think God's thoughtsand so I want to be able to be
in a place of truth in theinward being.
(20:10):
God wants me to be real and hewants to show me how.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
He does and what we have found, as we have focused
on this in our community andwith the coaching that we do, is
that things come up and arehealed, that need to be healed,
and then we can get to some ofthe logistical things about.
Well, maybe this would be bestfor me today and, oh, I think
(20:36):
I'm going to wait for hunger,all those things.
Those things come later.
First, we have to begin withthe heart, and this is such a
beautiful example.
David was confronted with hissin and he began with his heart.
That's what he's doing here,and the words that he's saying
are echoing God's heart.
(20:58):
And that is exactly where weneed to go with any stronghold
that is tearing us down, thathas torn us down for any amount
of time.
We need to go to the heart andbe real with God and own it,
like David did, and move fromthere, asking him for his
provision and his help and hiswisdom.
(21:20):
Amen Again, it's an invitation.
Think about that beautifulinvitation coming in the mail.
Imagine in your mind the mostbeautiful envelope that you go
oh, what is this?
What is this?
Imagine opening it.
And it's God's invitation foryou to come close and be real
(21:41):
with him and be, you know, lovedby him with an everlasting love
.
Yeah, okay.
So verses seven through nine weread cleanse me with hyssop.
Let me hear joy and gladness.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
I love this imagery.
Hyssop was used, of course, intemple rituals to kind of
spatter and sprinkle blood forpurification, and so David is
really essentially praying fromhis perspective.
This is kind of what it meansRestore my intimacy with you,
god, let my joy return.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Ah, I love that, and then he goes on in verse 10 to
say create in me God a pureheart.
Yes, yes, okay, so create.
The word create is bara thesame verb used in Genesis 1.1.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, this is not self-improvement, not even close
.
This is divine recreation.
Yeah, really, going back to thebeginning here, yeah, yeah.
And then verse 11,.
Do not cast me from yourpresence.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So I've always kind of stumbled a little bit over
this verse because I don'tbelieve that God does that when
we're in Christ and in the OldTestament anybody who was as
faithful as David was and lovedGod the way he did wouldn't be
cast from his presence.
And so this particularphraseology do not cast me from
your presence can kind of comehome a little more truer when
(23:22):
you think of Saul.
King Saul, god removed his HolySpirit from Saul, completely
removed his spirit.
So David's cry is one of oh,don't let that happen to me.
He is deeply dependent on Godand he knows that.
He wants to preserve that.
He wants that intimacy backagain and he doesn't want God to
(23:43):
do anything that would keep himfrom experiencing that intimacy
with God, that would keep himfrom experiencing that intimacy
with God.
So in verse 12, he goes on andsays restore to me the joy of
your salvation.
Ah, what a precious prayer thatis.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
It is.
That is a precious prayer.
It's not the joy of hisperformance.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Right right.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Salvation of God's rescue.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
That's where joy flows from Salvation, of God's
rescue.
That's where joy flows fromRight.
It's not like he's just saying,oh, let me get back to being a
champion at whatever it is.
Right, right.
He is totally aware that God'ssalvation and God saves us again
and again and again.
Now, obviously, one and done istrue as far as salvation from
(24:28):
hell and the punishment of beingestranged from God for eternity
, but every day we need God tosave us from our own choices,
maybe from things that we aren'teven aware of, and so asking
God to restore to us the joy ofour salvation is a precious
prayer.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I love it too.
And then in verse 13, then Iwill teach transgressors your
ways.
So he's ready to pass it on?
Yeah, I love that.
He's ready to share.
He's ready to share this, whichis kind of amazing in itself.
You know that that he would beready for something like that
instead of don't tell anybody,right.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Like don't tell anybody I messed up, let's just
keep this under your hat.
Yeah, don't tell anybody.
To me it also shows that it wasgenuine repentance.
I don't think it's genuinerepentance when we sit and beat
ourselves up and and just staythere down on the ground,
beating ourselves up, saying Ihave been a rotten person or
(25:32):
whatever Well, and isolating too.
Right, right, no, repentanceisn't going to end in shame.
It's not going to start inshame.
It's not going to be fueled byshame.
It's not going to end in shame.
It's going to spill intotestimony.
It's not going to end in shame.
It's going to spill intotestimony.
And I love this that brokenpeople become teachers of mercy.
(25:55):
We become sounding what is theword I'm thinking of Almost like
megaphones for God's mercy.
When we've been broken andwe've been restored by God, we
then want to speak of it toothers.
And we've been restored by God,we then want to speak of it to
others.
So verses 16 and 17 of Psalm 51have these phrases in them you
(26:17):
do not delight in sacrifice, andof course he's speaking of the
blood of bulls and goats and soon.
But the sacrifices of God are abroken spirit and a contrite
heart.
I love that.
That's so awesome.
Look where we've gone from,where you know I, I am a mess.
(26:38):
I am coming to you, I need yourrestoration.
And now he's like oh, I get it.
You want my heart to be brokenfor you.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
David knew God wanted more than rituals.
He knew that he knew what Godwas after.
He knew that God was aftersurrender, brokenness, not
performance.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Exactly.
So.
We're going to dive in a littlebit into repentance and what it
is, and some of this might beby way of review.
We're going to bring in the NewTestament here into Romans 2.4.
And etanoia is the word that istranslated repentance.
So in Romans 2.4, paul writesdo you not realize that, god's
(27:28):
kindness?
Is meant to lead you torepentance.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
One of my favorite verses.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I love this connected with Psalm 51, because God's
kindness caused Nathan toconfront David in a way David
could receive, and God'skindness had moved in David's
heart so that he wouldn't chopNathan's head off because he
chose to confront the king.
(27:55):
His kindness led David torepentance and it does for us
too.
I just think that's it's huge.
It's huge.
It's not shame that leads me torepentance.
It's not fear of punishment,it's not fear of letting God
down that leads me to repentance.
No, so the Greek word forrepentance is metanoia, and it's
(28:19):
several words put together Meta, which means change, and noia,
which means mind.
It basically means a fullturning, a new way of thinking.
Gosh, that's so perfect for ourministry.
We want to put God's thoughtsafter him.
It's not just stopping abehavior Right, but it's
(28:40):
thinking differently andstarting something completely
new.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Wow, that's amazing, and all of that is in that
invitation.
Wow, that's amazing, and all ofthat is in that invitation.
Repentance is not spiritualself punishment.
Who out there needs to hear it?
I mean, certainly we all needto hear that, because I think
there is a message out therethat this is what it is and it's
(29:06):
not what the word of God says Igrew up in a generation that
had BC comics.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I don't even know if they still exist, I have no idea
.
I've not opened a newspaper ina decade at least, and that's
just true confession.
But back when I was a kid and ayoung adult, certainly you
could see every now and then inthe BC comics that there was
this like profit type guy drawnin of course in the comic strip
(29:34):
who had a robe and a beard and asign that said repent, and that
is kind of the image that wehave of it.
I don't know if others do, butdid you see the BC comics when
you absolutely Yep For years,for years.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
My dad loved the comics.
He never missed the comics inthe paper.
My dad too.
Yeah, we would share them often.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah, and so I think what has happened over the years
and years and years is thisword repentance has brought with
it this sign of fire andbrimstone, and you're going to
be punished and you're an awfulperson and God's really mad at
you.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yeah, in contrast to the beautiful invitation that
we've been talking about, right,right.
So I mean, what really isrepentance according to God's
point of view, his words, whatwe read, what he has chosen for
us to read in the Bible, it'srealignment, it's relational,
it's realignment with the onewho knows you, who loves you and
(30:39):
restores you.
Like you said, the end of theprocess of repentance is
something new.
That's beautiful something new.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
That's beautiful, beautiful, and I just have to
insert here that we, atRevelation Within, and prior to
that, thin Within, use a toolcalled Look and Learn.
And really it's confession andrepentance Learning from my
mistakes by going to God andsaying what could I do
differently in the future, sothat, if all things are equal in
a similar situation, I make achoice that honors and glorifies
(31:20):
you and is life-giving for me.
That is what repentance is.
So look and learn.
When we talk about the look andlearn mind renewal tool, that's
really what we're talking about.
It's taking God's thoughts andthinking them, about my failure,
about my sin, about my slips,stumbles, falls, all of it, and
then asking him what can I learnfrom this, what can I do
(31:42):
differently?
And boy, when God is given achance to author, here's what
you want to do differently,here's what you should think
differently.
It's going to be good.
It's going to be good.
It's not going to beself-deprecating, it's not going
to be.
No, god doesn't want us to feelcondemned, he doesn't, no matter
what teacher tells youotherwise or has told you
(32:06):
otherwise.
And really, when it comes tothe issue that has brought a lot
of people to our ministry foodand eating and body size and all
of that.
It's like do I really thinkthat my body size or shape or
the way I eat is more importantto God than my heart?
He wants relationship with me,and it doesn't mean that I won't
(32:30):
be transformed or changedphysically, but what it means is
the motivation is different.
Rather than fear of punishment,perfect love casts out fear,
and that perfect love causes meto oh Lord, here's my heart,
here are my passions, here aremy desires, and I want to make
choices that align with you,lord, not with my own little
(32:54):
petty way of numbing out orwhatever it might be.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Right?
Well, because when we feel thatway, when we're going deep with
him, we don't want thecounterfeit comforts, we don't
even want them, we don't evendesire them, we know they will
fall short.
It's when we're in that otherplace where we're not talking
with him, we're not being realwith him, we're not feeling our
feelings, we're not asking himfor his thoughts, renewing our
(33:20):
mind.
That's when we want to go forthe counterfeits right, you know
, because we're feeling such avoid and it's like I need to
feel better, and so I'm justgoing to go for the quick fix.
Right and then it doesn't lastbut more than a few seconds and
then we feel bad again and we'rein that cycle of shame and
guilt.
That's not what this is Not atall Right.
(33:41):
Think of David's example.
He did this so well.
I mean, he messed up really alot, like it was.
It was a big mess up.
It was like a whole series ofgigantic mistakes, right.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I mean, that's me, that's you, that's everybody.
You know we are being invitedinto God's presence to be
restored.
Every time we look and learn,and that's beautiful.
I mean, heidi, I know that youand me, the two of us we use
look and learn pretty much everysingle day.
(34:18):
And it's a life giving rhythmand it becomes a part of your
relationship with the Lord.
That is beautiful.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
You don't want to miss it.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Because it's so good, yeah, it's so good.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Right.
So over the years, as we'vementioned so far, we've heard
people say I think I've let Goddown.
My eating is off the rails andI just I'm sure I've
disappointed him.
Well, here we are in scripturethat shows us David did
unthinkable things.
He didn't just overeat theTwinkies, or whatever it might
(34:52):
be.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Do they still make Twinkies?
I was just going to say, dothey still exist?
Well, they exist on people'sshelves because of their long
shelf life, right.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Anyway, we know David did unthinkable things and yet
God restored him, and it wasn'tjust because he was King David.
I mean, we don't want to say,well, that doesn't count for me
because I'm not a king orsomething.
God doesn't see that.
He sees that you are his and heloves you and he loves me.
(35:25):
So, even though David didunthinkable things, unspeakable
things, really, god restored him, not because David earned it,
but because he returned to theLord, he confessed, and
repentance is really and trulythe door to joy.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
It really is it's not scary, it's not scary.
Is it's not scary?
It's not scary, it's holy, itreally is Okay.
So we've got a beautiful breathprayer for you that might
really help you to enter intothis, to say yes to this
invitation.
We're going to inhale and saycreated me.
(36:04):
And we're going to exhale andsay a clean heart, oh God.
So those are the words from thestory, just absolutely
beautiful.
So take a take.
Let's just take a deep breathright now and kind of get into
that place of calming our bodiesand let's go ahead and inhale
(36:28):
and say create in me, inhale,create in me, exhale a clean
heart, oh God.
Beautiful, let's do that again.
Inhale.
Beautiful, let's do that again.
(37:01):
Inhale.
Create in me, exhale A cleanheart.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Oh God, beautiful, Beautiful, yay.
Well, we've got some reflectionquestions for you, too, that
you can ponder or journal aboutwhen you have a minute.
Is there an area in your lifewhere you might be resisting
repentance?
Okay, and what we're talkingabout is not feeling bad.
(37:24):
We're talking aboutacknowledging that you've
stepped outside of God's best,of where you might have embraced
something that is lifedepleting, instead of his will,
his way, which is life giving.
So is there an area in yourlife where you've been resisting
repentance, been resistingrepentance?
(37:52):
Excellent question, yeah, it is, and I'm.
I'm hearing the Lord tell methat.
Okay, heidi, how are you doingwith your spending and saving?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
You know and that's.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
I tend to be rather flippant, and I think it's the
flippancy that he wants me to bemore aware of.
I think it's the flippancy thathe wants me to be more aware of
.
Yeah, do you have somethingthat comes to mind?
Speaker 2 (38:10):
I do, I do.
I feel like God is asking mewhat voices are you listening to
that are not mine.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Ooh, you see how life-giving this is.
Yeah, I don't want to listen tovoices other than the Lord's.
They're accusing I had, rightbefore we started recording this
, I had a voice hit me, uh, in atext, in the form of a text
from a really wonderful friend,and it just threw me.
But I know and I was able tosay this in a response I have a
(38:44):
clean conscience about the thingthat the person confronted me
about.
I know I have honored God andthat's the voice that matters
the most.
It sure is.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yes, okay.
Second reflection what would itlook like to return to God's
kindness, not punishment?
Can you even just kind ofimagine it?
Imagining opening thatinvitation, imagining Jesus
(39:19):
right there with you, imaginethe kindness in his eyes?
What would it look like toreturn to that, to God's
kindness, not punishment?
Imagine what that would looklike.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
Yeah, that feels really good.
That feels like a place that Iwant to be yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
And then there's a third question Are there words
from Psalm 51 that you want topray today as your own?
And we did that breath?
Prayer created me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right
spirit within me might be partof that, or restore to me the
joy of your salvation.
That might be another one thatwe want to pray and, oh my
(40:07):
goodness, the whole Psalm 51,open it up and have a look and
pray through it.
It can be a beautiful way torenew your mind and bring to the
Lord things that he wants youto bring to him.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Well, friend, repentance is not a detour in
your faith.
It's the way back to joy.
Let's not run from it.
Let's run to the one whoalready sees and still chooses
to lavish us with his mercy andhis love and his kindness.
That leads us to repentance,woo.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
So, whether your story is like David's or
completely different, well, Imean it might be.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Yeah, yeah that's true.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
It's probably a little bit different.
Whatever your story is, godinvites your whole heart, and he
meets broken hearts with mercythat restores.
He wants to restore you back tojoy.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
And if you want to hear more teaching like this, if
you want to be supported byothers who are experiencing
growing closer to God andrestoring intimacy with him
through repentance.
Our month of September is afocus on turning seasons,
turning hearts, and we are.
(41:32):
We are doing this very thing.
We are spending time lookingwith the Lord and our hearts and
at him and his desire for us.
So join us, visitrevelationwithinorg and it will
tell you all about what's goingon in the month of September.
If you're hearing this, afterSeptember of 2025, we probably
(41:53):
still have the training audiosand still have the videos
recordings.
It's a full month for us.
We have audio recordings everyday and we have a once a week
video gathering in Zoom.
And you get the first monthfree and, yes, if you know you
can't afford to continue afterthat, you are welcome to enjoy
(42:15):
the free month anyway.
Absolutely and I'm not justsaying that because I want to
have you come you do have togive your credit card, because
that's the way the system we'reusing is wired.
It's not what we prefer, butit's what is required by them.
So just just know, there's noshame.
We want you to be our guestsfor a month and if September
(42:35):
works for you I know we'realready into the almost at the
end of the first week ofSeptember when we're recording
this and probably by the timeyou hear it it will be mid
SeptemberSeptember.
But come join us anyway, youcan get in on October.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Come join us anyway.
Yeah, definitely, we are justabsolutely so glad that you've
been here, absolutely, and wehope that you'll join us for our
next podcast at RevelationWithin on the go Go, we will see
you next time.
Bye for now.
(43:09):
Hope to see you in thecommunity the go.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
We will see you next time.
Hope to see you in thecommunity.
Revelationwithusorg Come joinus.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Bye-bye.
Hi and welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On
the Go.
I'm Heidi Bilesma-Epperson, oneof your hosts and the owner and
lead coach of theRevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we are sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin on the show.
Hey we are so glad you're here.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
We are glad you're here and we've got quite an
episode planned today.
You know we've really beentaking to heart.
Where does God want us to gowith these podcasts, with our
community themes?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
and so on.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
And gosh, you know, he's really showing us and he's
blessing the choice to go intorepentance a little bit more in
our community, and we releasedone previously, an episode on
repentance, and we're going togo there again because, gosh, I
don't know, christina, what doyou think I'm actually?
(01:15):
I can't believe I'm saying thisafter all the many years of
going.
I'm enjoying this focus onrepentance, on biblical
repentance.
Yeah, me too, and it's reallybeing a.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
It's a delight to my heart these days, yay, it is for
me too, and I think so many ofus, including me, have had
misconceptions for so long aboutwhat repentance is, kind of
from our culture, from the world, from all these other sources.
But what does God say about it?
And what he says in his word isabsolutely beautiful and
(01:55):
refreshing and life-giving andit's really drawing me in.
I am loving it loving it.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Me too, for sure.
It has been and continues to belife-giving for me, and that's
kind of a surprise.
Well, yeah, it's a surprise Inmy brain I knew that repentance,
since it's from God, it's agift from God, is what the word
says.
I knew it had to be life-giving, but I guess I was more
impacted by my history than Irealized.
(02:26):
So, yeah, good, good.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So today's episode is one we've been praying into.
It's a sacred invitation.
Isn't that beautiful Just tothink about?
Think about when you get aninvitation in your mailbox and
it's just beautiful, theenvelope.
You're excited and then youopen it up and you have been
invited.
This is like that times athousand a million, because it's
(02:54):
a sacred invitation into theheart of repentance.
Not shame, not guilt-drivenstriving, but the kind of deep,
holy turning that draws us backinto the arms of God.
I love that yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Today we're going to kind of dive in to some
scripture, and so you might wantto have your Bible out if
you're in a place where you cando that.
And we're going to look atDavid's story and the example of
his repentance in the word ofGod and see what we can pull
from that.
So I'm just going to pray forour time together real quick.
(03:33):
Great Lord, god, would youcreate in each one of us clean
hearts?
We want to see with your eyeswhat repentance is where it's
needed, even in our own lives.
As we look into David's story,may we hear kind of a gentle
echo of our own story and theinvitation you issued to David.
(03:56):
May we sense that invitation toour own hearts, our own minds,
our own souls.
May we not resist you one bitbut run toward you because of
your great mercy.
Thank you, lord, and it's inyour name, jesus, I pray.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Amen.
Okay.
So before we get into David'sprayer in Psalm 51, we are going
to go to Psalm 51.
And if you have your Bible, youcan put a little bookmark there
or your finger there.
But we need a little bit ofcontext.
So we're going to start withthe backstory in 2 Samuel,
(04:35):
chapters 11 and 12.
Okay so David was king,powerful, beloved.
At the height of his reign hestayed back from war, which is a
detail that matters goingforward.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, I think this one is important.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I mean and we'll go ahead and read that verse Second
, Samuel 11, one in the springof the year, the time when kings
go out to battle.
David remained at Jerusalem.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So I mean that right, there is an indication that he
I mean, this is when kings wouldall go out to battle.
What's he doing staying home?
It just makes you wonder wherewas his heart then?
You know, it's kind ofinteresting.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
We're going to find out right now where his heart
was.
He wasn't even supposed to behome.
Right exactly exactly oneevening, he saw a beautiful
woman, bathsheba, bathing, andhe summoned her and he slept
(05:42):
with her and she became pregnant.
Wow, so there was well.
There's actually severalproblems with all of this, but
one of the biggest problems wasthat Bathsheba was actually
married.
She was married to Uriah, oneof David's most loyal soldiers.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, you got to check out the story, maybe
refresh your understanding of itby looking at 2 Samuel, 11 and
12.
I mean, uriah was quite thesoldier, quite the man.
He was so loyal.
And here's the thing Davidtried to cover up his sin.
He had grabbed somebody else'swife, had done what he had done
(06:31):
with her and she'd gottenpregnant.
And so he had this plotunfolding in his head, which he
executed.
He had Uriah brought home fromthe battlefield and kind of
hoped that Uriah would do whatany red-blooded man would do
who'd been away from his wifesleep with her, and stuff, of
(06:54):
course.
But Uriah, oh my word, herefused.
Talk about a man of integrity.
Uriah refused to sleep with hiswife out of loyalty to his
fellow soldiers who were stillat war, who didn't get to come
home and enjoy their wives.
So David's plan was foiled atthe very beginning, and so, when
(07:17):
that didn't work, to have youknow Uriah sleep with Bathsheba,
and then, supposedly, the babyin her womb would be attributed
to Uriah fathering the baby,anyway.
So, david, it's hard for me towrap my brain around this.
It's quite a story, isn't it?
I know, talk about drama.
I mean all those stories on TVand whatever.
(07:40):
I don't even know what they arebecause I don't watch them, but
I mean this takes the cake.
Really it does.
Yeah, david arranged for Uriahto be placed on the front lines
of battle and for other troopsto pull back and leave Uriah
fighting alone.
(08:00):
It really was a death sentence,but I mean it was a scheming,
conniving, deceptive deathsentence.
I mean he was killing aninnocent, loyal man and Uriah
was killed.
Yep, it happened.
And then, of course, david lala la, he took Bathsheba as
another wife.
(08:20):
I was like what?
Another wife, not just one, butanother, yeah, yeah, so he had a
bazillion wives and concubinesand it's like hello.
What is that about?
And, of course, for a whilelife went on.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Okay, so now God sends Nathan.
So we're now in 2 Samuel 12,verses 1 through 13.
Enter Nathan, the prophet sentby God.
Okay, so, nathan is sent by God.
He told David a parable.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I love this.
This was so I mean, I gosh.
You know, when somebody isdifficult to communicate with in
direct word, you can trydrawing a visual image in their
mind, and it's like Nathan knewDavid had been acting clueless
about what he had done, and so Ilove that he used a parable.
(09:17):
Go for it.
Read it to us.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
So from 2 Samuel 12, 1 through 4, and this is
paraphrased.
There were two men in a certaintown, one rich, one poor.
The rich man had very manyflocks and herds, but the poor
man had nothing but one littleewe lamb.
And the rich man took the poorman's lamb to feed a traveler.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
David was outraged with this story.
Could you just imagine it?
I mean, he's hearing this storyfrom Nathan.
He's going as the Lord lives,the man who did this deserves to
die.
That's what he said over alittle ewe lamb that didn't
belong with somebody, it's like.
And Nathan said oh, this hassuch wisdom.
(10:04):
You, david, are the man.
And that's 2 Samuel 12, 7.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Wow, whoa.
Talk about conviction.
Oh my gosh.
And this again.
This man was sent from God.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
God had clearly been working on David's heart at some
level because of his response,because you know he could have
cut off Nathan's head.
He could have had Nathan killedon the spot.
He certainly had no scruplesabout killing innocent people.
We know that at this point.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Right, exactly, yeah, okay.
So basically, david was cut tothe heart and the veil was
lifted.
And the veil was lifted, he sawthe horror of what he had done
his adultery, his coverup, hismurder, all of it.
(10:59):
He didn't deflect and he didn'tcome up with excuses.
He said this is second Samuel12, 13.
He said I have sinned againstthe Lord.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Wow.
Now, chances are those of youwho are listening to this have
not, you know, had somebodykilled and done all of those
things that David did in thisexample.
But I mean, and that's just ina way, that's the point Look at
how God related to David sendingsomebody to confront him about
(11:30):
his sin and somehow he hadgotten to David's heart because
he was repentant.
I mean, he had the right words,that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, he did.
Okay.
So now we can go to Psalm 51,because this is what David wrote
in response.
So it helps so much to havethat background, because we can
see how extreme the situationwas.
We're not just talking about alittle of this or a little of
(12:00):
that, we're talking about reallyextreme stuff.
That gives a different meaningto this Psalm.
As you read it, you can thinkabout oh my gosh, this is the
response to all that happened.
And then God sending Nathan andthe conviction and all of that.
So here comes Psalm 51.
It begins with have mercy on me, oh God, according to your
(12:25):
unfailing love.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I love his approach to the Lord in this here he had,
he doesn't beat himself up, nothis first initial approach to
the Lord.
He's like Lord, I need yourmercy, I need your unfailing
love, and basically it's alittle mini praise fest.
God, you are merciful God, youare unfailing in your love for
(12:50):
me, and I need both of thoseright now.
So David doesn't plead with Godbased on what he thinks he
deserves, because what I mean hemight go into the whole.
I'm your king, your anointedone, and you've got to no, no,
no.
He doesn't do that.
He appeals to God's chesed andthat's the Hebrew word is
(13:11):
covenant, loyal love.
That Hebrew word, chesed, isused over 240 times in the Old
Testament to describe God'smercy and it means steadfast,
never failing love.
Oh, what a beautiful picture.
In verse two, david knowingfull well there's a big job to
(13:33):
do here, he says wash away allmy iniquity and cleanse me from
my sin.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, wow, you would think that he would first go to
God and say well, let me tellyou what happened.
You know like let me start fromthe beginning and maybe throw
in some blame in there.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, what was she doing out there on the?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
roof.
Yeah, I mean having a baththere, you know.
I mean I couldn't not look ather, you know?
Things like that.
There could have been such adifferent response.
Oh yeah, but his response justcut right to the chase.
What do I need?
I need cleansing.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I need help.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I need your unfailing love.
Okay, so wash away.
He says wash away all myiniquity.
Wash here is kabak.
Is the word kabak a vigorousscrubbing used to clean garments
?
David knows that his soul needsmore than just a rinse.
I love that.
(14:34):
I mean it's true.
He knew that it needed to be avigorous scrubbing that would
lead to being really washedclean.
And then verse three, for Iknow my transgressions, so he's
owning it.
He's totally owning this.
I know my transgressions and mysin is always before me Wow,
(15:00):
wow.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
He's not hiding, he's full on.
Owning it Always before memeans I can't escape it.
It haunts me it's following meeverywhere I go.
And verse four says against you.
He's saying this to the Lord,of course, against you.
You only have I sin.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Okay, but wait, didn't he sin against Bathsheba
Uriah?
And how about the nation?
Yeah, yes, yes, he did, butultimately, all sin is rebellion
against God and he recognizedthat, he owned it and he knows.
In order for this to be maderight, he needs to totally own
(15:46):
it and own the fact that all sinis rebellion against God.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
You know what this makes me think of situations
over the years when I have knownthat I didn't behave the way I
wish I had and didn't want toown it, had and didn't want to
(16:12):
own it.
You know, it's like I didn'twant to embrace the gravity of
my choices.
It was, it was so hard, but Godgives us the ability to look at
it square in the face andacknowledge that, yeah, I
wronged so-and-so and so-and-so,but ultimately I wronged you,
lord, and he wants us to be ableto approach him with that.
You know, I think of differentaspects of my life that might
(16:36):
need to come under the scrutinyright now, today.
Right now, today, this minute,and I want to own it in the face
of the Lord.
His has said his never ending,everlasting love is there for me
.
Wow, I appreciate this statementbecause he is not doing what
(17:10):
many of us fall into, thatself-loathing and
self-deprecation.
No, no, no.
This is humility, and it's notlike he's saying, well, you
chose me, you knew I was goingto be home and you knew, yeah,
no, he didn't do that, and so hedoesn't do the self-loathing
thing, he doesn't do the denialthing.
(17:31):
Instead, this is humility, it'strue humility.
David is not saying boy, I'mjust worthless, I have a real
lust problem.
Yeah right, you know.
What are you going to do aboutit, god?
He's saying Lord, I have alwaysneeded you and I need you now
(17:53):
too.
That's beautiful, verse six.
David goes on to say yet you,lord, desired faithfulness even
in the womb.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Oh yeah, so he's going back to a place where he
couldn't make choices.
He was a babe, you know, so hecould.
He's going all the way back tothe beginning here.
Truth in the inward being.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
God isn't.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
after behavior modification, what is God after?
He wants our hearts, he wantsus to be real with him.
He is looking for, he wants thebottom line.
You know he's not messingaround.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
You know I just want to interject here that over the
course of the years that I'vebeen involved before Revelation
Within was Revelation Within, itwas Thin Within, and I was
first involved in 2001.
So that goes back a long timeit does.
And I know a lot of people wouldcome to the program Thin Within
(18:59):
and even now Revelation Within,and their thought is give me a
program, give me a fix, andthey're looking at their
behavior and they're looking atthe results of their behavior,
which many of us have worn onour bodies over the years as
extra weight and some of us arevery burdened by that.
But we have focused people onokay, let's go deeper than just
(19:25):
modifying our behavior,modifying our eating and
changing the way we look.
Let's go deep and I reallythink that this is a great
example of true repentance Isn'tgoing to just be a shift in how
much I eat or how much I movemy body in that realm.
It's going to involve changingthe way I think, because I've
(19:48):
got to think God's thoughtsabout all those things that have
caused me to eat more food thanI need.
I've got to think God'sthoughts about my emotions.
I've got to think his thoughtsabout even what foods can best
nourish me.
I need to think God's thoughtsand so I want to be able to be
in a place of truth in theinward being.
(20:10):
God wants me to be real and hewants to show me how.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
He does and what we have found, as we have focused
on this in our community andwith the coaching that we do, is
that things come up and arehealed, that need to be healed,
and then we can get to some ofthe logistical things about.
Well, maybe this would be bestfor me today and, oh, I think
(20:36):
I'm going to wait for hunger,all those things.
Those things come later.
First, we have to begin withthe heart, and this is such a
beautiful example.
David was confronted with hissin and he began with his heart.
That's what he's doing here,and the words that he's saying
are echoing God's heart.
(20:58):
And that is exactly where weneed to go with any stronghold
that is tearing us down, thathas torn us down for any amount
of time.
We need to go to the heart andbe real with God and own it,
like David did, and move fromthere, asking him for his
provision and his help and hiswisdom.
(21:20):
Amen Again, it's an invitation.
Think about that beautifulinvitation coming in the mail.
Imagine in your mind the mostbeautiful envelope that you go
oh, what is this?
What is this?
Imagine opening it.
And it's God's invitation foryou to come close and be real
(21:41):
with him and be, you know, lovedby him with an everlasting love
.
Yeah, okay.
So verses seven through nine weread cleanse me with hyssop.
Let me hear joy and gladness.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
I love this imagery.
Hyssop was used, of course, intemple rituals to kind of
spatter and sprinkle blood forpurification, and so David is
really essentially praying fromhis perspective.
This is kind of what it meansRestore my intimacy with you,
god, let my joy return.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Ah, I love that, and then he goes on in verse 10 to
say create in me God a pureheart.
Yes, yes, okay, so create.
The word create is bara thesame verb used in Genesis 1.1.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, this is not self-improvement, not even close
.
This is divine recreation.
Yeah, really, going back to thebeginning here, yeah, yeah.
And then verse 11,.
Do not cast me from yourpresence.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So I've always kind of stumbled a little bit over
this verse because I don'tbelieve that God does that when
we're in Christ and in the OldTestament anybody who was as
faithful as David was and lovedGod the way he did wouldn't be
cast from his presence.
And so this particularphraseology do not cast me from
your presence can kind of comehome a little more truer when
(23:22):
you think of Saul.
King Saul, god removed his HolySpirit from Saul, completely
removed his spirit.
So David's cry is one of oh,don't let that happen to me.
He is deeply dependent on Godand he knows that.
He wants to preserve that.
He wants that intimacy backagain and he doesn't want God to
(23:43):
do anything that would keep himfrom experiencing that intimacy
with God, that would keep himfrom experiencing that intimacy
with God.
So in verse 12, he goes on andsays restore to me the joy of
your salvation.
Ah, what a precious prayer thatis.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
It is.
That is a precious prayer.
It's not the joy of hisperformance.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Right right.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Salvation of God's rescue.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
That's where joy flows from Salvation, of God's
rescue.
That's where joy flows fromRight.
It's not like he's just saying,oh, let me get back to being a
champion at whatever it is.
Right, right.
He is totally aware that God'ssalvation and God saves us again
and again and again.
Now, obviously, one and done istrue as far as salvation from
(24:28):
hell and the punishment of beingestranged from God for eternity
, but every day we need God tosave us from our own choices,
maybe from things that we aren'teven aware of, and so asking
God to restore to us the joy ofour salvation is a precious
prayer.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I love it too.
And then in verse 13, then Iwill teach transgressors your
ways.
So he's ready to pass it on?
Yeah, I love that.
He's ready to share.
He's ready to share this, whichis kind of amazing in itself.
You know that that he would beready for something like that
instead of don't tell anybody,right.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Like don't tell anybody I messed up, let's just
keep this under your hat.
Yeah, don't tell anybody.
To me it also shows that it wasgenuine repentance.
I don't think it's genuinerepentance when we sit and beat
ourselves up and and just staythere down on the ground,
beating ourselves up, saying Ihave been a rotten person or
(25:32):
whatever Well, and isolating too.
Right, right, no, repentanceisn't going to end in shame.
It's not going to start inshame.
It's not going to be fueled byshame.
It's not going to end in shame.
It's going to spill intotestimony.
It's not going to end in shame.
It's going to spill intotestimony.
And I love this that brokenpeople become teachers of mercy.
(25:55):
We become sounding what is theword I'm thinking of Almost like
megaphones for God's mercy.
When we've been broken andwe've been restored by God, we
then want to speak of it toothers.
And we've been restored by God,we then want to speak of it to
others.
So verses 16 and 17 of Psalm 51have these phrases in them you
(26:17):
do not delight in sacrifice, andof course he's speaking of the
blood of bulls and goats and soon.
But the sacrifices of God are abroken spirit and a contrite
heart.
I love that.
That's so awesome.
Look where we've gone from,where you know I, I am a mess.
(26:38):
I am coming to you, I need yourrestoration.
And now he's like oh, I get it.
You want my heart to be brokenfor you.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
David knew God wanted more than rituals.
He knew that he knew what Godwas after.
He knew that God was aftersurrender, brokenness, not
performance.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Exactly.
So.
We're going to dive in a littlebit into repentance and what it
is, and some of this might beby way of review.
We're going to bring in the NewTestament here into Romans 2.4.
And etanoia is the word that istranslated repentance.
So in Romans 2.4, paul writesdo you not realize that, god's
(27:28):
kindness?
Is meant to lead you torepentance.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
One of my favorite verses.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I love this connected with Psalm 51, because God's
kindness caused Nathan toconfront David in a way David
could receive, and God'skindness had moved in David's
heart so that he wouldn't chopNathan's head off because he
chose to confront the king.
(27:55):
His kindness led David torepentance and it does for us
too.
I just think that's it's huge.
It's huge.
It's not shame that leads me torepentance.
It's not fear of punishment,it's not fear of letting God
down that leads me to repentance.
No, so the Greek word forrepentance is metanoia, and it's
(28:19):
several words put together Meta, which means change, and noia,
which means mind.
It basically means a fullturning, a new way of thinking.
Gosh, that's so perfect for ourministry.
We want to put God's thoughtsafter him.
It's not just stopping abehavior Right, but it's
(28:40):
thinking differently andstarting something completely
new.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Wow, that's amazing, and all of that is in that
invitation.
Wow, that's amazing, and all ofthat is in that invitation.
Repentance is not spiritualself punishment.
Who out there needs to hear it?
I mean, certainly we all needto hear that, because I think
there is a message out therethat this is what it is and it's
(29:06):
not what the word of God says Igrew up in a generation that
had BC comics.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I don't even know if they still exist, I have no idea
.
I've not opened a newspaper ina decade at least, and that's
just true confession.
But back when I was a kid and ayoung adult, certainly you
could see every now and then inthe BC comics that there was
this like profit type guy drawnin of course in the comic strip
(29:34):
who had a robe and a beard and asign that said repent, and that
is kind of the image that wehave of it.
I don't know if others do, butdid you see the BC comics when
you absolutely Yep For years,for years.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
My dad loved the comics.
He never missed the comics inthe paper.
My dad too.
Yeah, we would share them often.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah, and so I think what has happened over the years
and years and years is thisword repentance has brought with
it this sign of fire andbrimstone, and you're going to
be punished and you're an awfulperson and God's really mad at
you.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yeah, in contrast to the beautiful invitation that
we've been talking about, right,right.
So I mean, what really isrepentance according to God's
point of view, his words, whatwe read, what he has chosen for
us to read in the Bible, it'srealignment, it's relational,
it's realignment with the onewho knows you, who loves you and
(30:39):
restores you.
Like you said, the end of theprocess of repentance is
something new.
That's beautiful something new.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
That's beautiful, beautiful, and I just have to
insert here that we, atRevelation Within, and prior to
that, thin Within, use a toolcalled Look and Learn.
And really it's confession andrepentance Learning from my
mistakes by going to God andsaying what could I do
differently in the future, sothat, if all things are equal in
a similar situation, I make achoice that honors and glorifies
(31:20):
you and is life-giving for me.
That is what repentance is.
So look and learn.
When we talk about the look andlearn mind renewal tool, that's
really what we're talking about.
It's taking God's thoughts andthinking them, about my failure,
about my sin, about my slips,stumbles, falls, all of it, and
then asking him what can I learnfrom this, what can I do
(31:42):
differently?
And boy, when God is given achance to author, here's what
you want to do differently,here's what you should think
differently.
It's going to be good.
It's going to be good.
It's not going to beself-deprecating, it's not going
to be.
No, god doesn't want us to feelcondemned, he doesn't, no matter
what teacher tells youotherwise or has told you
(32:06):
otherwise.
And really, when it comes tothe issue that has brought a lot
of people to our ministry foodand eating and body size and all
of that.
It's like do I really thinkthat my body size or shape or
the way I eat is more importantto God than my heart?
He wants relationship with me,and it doesn't mean that I won't
(32:30):
be transformed or changedphysically, but what it means is
the motivation is different.
Rather than fear of punishment,perfect love casts out fear,
and that perfect love causes meto oh Lord, here's my heart,
here are my passions, here aremy desires, and I want to make
choices that align with you,lord, not with my own little
(32:54):
petty way of numbing out orwhatever it might be.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Right?
Well, because when we feel thatway, when we're going deep with
him, we don't want thecounterfeit comforts, we don't
even want them, we don't evendesire them, we know they will
fall short.
It's when we're in that otherplace where we're not talking
with him, we're not being realwith him, we're not feeling our
feelings, we're not asking himfor his thoughts, renewing our
(33:20):
mind.
That's when we want to go forthe counterfeits right, you know
, because we're feeling such avoid and it's like I need to
feel better, and so I'm justgoing to go for the quick fix.
Right and then it doesn't lastbut more than a few seconds and
then we feel bad again and we'rein that cycle of shame and
guilt.
That's not what this is Not atall Right.
(33:41):
Think of David's example.
He did this so well.
I mean, he messed up really alot, like it was.
It was a big mess up.
It was like a whole series ofgigantic mistakes, right.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I mean, that's me, that's you, that's everybody.
You know we are being invitedinto God's presence to be
restored.
Every time we look and learn,and that's beautiful.
I mean, heidi, I know that youand me, the two of us we use
look and learn pretty much everysingle day.
(34:18):
And it's a life giving rhythmand it becomes a part of your
relationship with the Lord.
That is beautiful.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
You don't want to miss it.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Because it's so good, yeah, it's so good.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Right.
So over the years, as we'vementioned so far, we've heard
people say I think I've let Goddown.
My eating is off the rails andI just I'm sure I've
disappointed him.
Well, here we are in scripturethat shows us David did
unthinkable things.
He didn't just overeat theTwinkies, or whatever it might
(34:52):
be.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Do they still make Twinkies?
I was just going to say, dothey still exist?
Well, they exist on people'sshelves because of their long
shelf life, right.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Anyway, we know David did unthinkable things and yet
God restored him, and it wasn'tjust because he was King David.
I mean, we don't want to say,well, that doesn't count for me
because I'm not a king orsomething.
God doesn't see that.
He sees that you are his and heloves you and he loves me.
(35:25):
So, even though David didunthinkable things, unspeakable
things, really, god restored him, not because David earned it,
but because he returned to theLord, he confessed, and
repentance is really and trulythe door to joy.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
It really is it's not scary, it's not scary.
Is it's not scary?
It's not scary, it's holy, itreally is Okay.
So we've got a beautiful breathprayer for you that might
really help you to enter intothis, to say yes to this
invitation.
We're going to inhale and saycreated me.
(36:04):
And we're going to exhale andsay a clean heart, oh God.
So those are the words from thestory, just absolutely
beautiful.
So take a take.
Let's just take a deep breathright now and kind of get into
that place of calming our bodiesand let's go ahead and inhale
(36:28):
and say create in me, inhale,create in me, exhale a clean
heart, oh God.
Beautiful, let's do that again.
Inhale.
Beautiful, let's do that again.
(37:01):
Inhale.
Create in me, exhale A cleanheart.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Oh God, beautiful, Beautiful, yay.
Well, we've got some reflectionquestions for you, too, that
you can ponder or journal aboutwhen you have a minute.
Is there an area in your lifewhere you might be resisting
repentance?
Okay, and what we're talkingabout is not feeling bad.
(37:24):
We're talking aboutacknowledging that you've
stepped outside of God's best,of where you might have embraced
something that is lifedepleting, instead of his will,
his way, which is life giving.
So is there an area in yourlife where you've been resisting
repentance, been resistingrepentance?
(37:52):
Excellent question, yeah, it is, and I'm.
I'm hearing the Lord tell methat.
Okay, heidi, how are you doingwith your spending and saving?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
You know and that's.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
I tend to be rather flippant, and I think it's the
flippancy that he wants me to bemore aware of.
I think it's the flippancy thathe wants me to be more aware of
.
Yeah, do you have somethingthat comes to mind?
Speaker 2 (38:10):
I do, I do.
I feel like God is asking mewhat voices are you listening to
that are not mine.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Ooh, you see how life-giving this is.
Yeah, I don't want to listen tovoices other than the Lord's.
They're accusing I had, rightbefore we started recording this
, I had a voice hit me, uh, in atext, in the form of a text
from a really wonderful friend,and it just threw me.
But I know and I was able tosay this in a response I have a
(38:44):
clean conscience about the thingthat the person confronted me
about.
I know I have honored God andthat's the voice that matters
the most.
It sure is.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yes, okay.
Second reflection what would itlook like to return to God's
kindness, not punishment?
Can you even just kind ofimagine it?
Imagining opening thatinvitation, imagining Jesus
(39:19):
right there with you, imaginethe kindness in his eyes?
What would it look like toreturn to that, to God's
kindness, not punishment?
Imagine what that would looklike.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
Yeah, that feels really good.
That feels like a place that Iwant to be yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
And then there's a third question Are there words
from Psalm 51 that you want topray today as your own?
And we did that breath?
Prayer created me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right
spirit within me might be partof that, or restore to me the
joy of your salvation.
That might be another one thatwe want to pray and, oh my
(40:07):
goodness, the whole Psalm 51,open it up and have a look and
pray through it.
It can be a beautiful way torenew your mind and bring to the
Lord things that he wants youto bring to him.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Well, friend, repentance is not a detour in
your faith.
It's the way back to joy.
Let's not run from it.
Let's run to the one whoalready sees and still chooses
to lavish us with his mercy andhis love and his kindness.
That leads us to repentance,woo.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
So, whether your story is like David's or
completely different, well, Imean it might be.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Yeah, yeah that's true.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
It's probably a little bit different.
Whatever your story is, godinvites your whole heart, and he
meets broken hearts with mercythat restores.
He wants to restore you back tojoy.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
And if you want to hear more teaching like this, if
you want to be supported byothers who are experiencing
growing closer to God andrestoring intimacy with him
through repentance.
Our month of September is afocus on turning seasons,
turning hearts, and we are.
(41:32):
We are doing this very thing.
We are spending time lookingwith the Lord and our hearts and
at him and his desire for us.
So join us, visitrevelationwithinorg and it will
tell you all about what's goingon in the month of September.
If you're hearing this, afterSeptember of 2025, we probably
(41:53):
still have the training audiosand still have the videos
recordings.
It's a full month for us.
We have audio recordings everyday and we have a once a week
video gathering in Zoom.
And you get the first monthfree and, yes, if you know you
can't afford to continue afterthat, you are welcome to enjoy
(42:15):
the free month anyway.
Absolutely and I'm not justsaying that because I want to
have you come you do have togive your credit card, because
that's the way the system we'reusing is wired.
It's not what we prefer, butit's what is required by them.
So just just know, there's noshame.
We want you to be our guestsfor a month and if September
(42:35):
works for you I know we'realready into the almost at the
end of the first week ofSeptember when we're recording
this and probably by the timeyou hear it it will be mid
SeptemberSeptember.
But come join us anyway, youcan get in on October.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Come join us anyway.
Yeah, definitely, we are justabsolutely so glad that you've
been here, absolutely, and wehope that you'll join us for our
next podcast at RevelationWithin on the go Go, we will see
you next time.
Bye for now.
(43:09):
Hope to see you in thecommunity the go.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
We will see you next time.
Hope to see you in thecommunity.
Revelationwithusorg Come joinus.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Bye-bye.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.