Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all.
Father, as we read these words of confession from the prophet Isaiah, we recognize that he spoke of a people who had once known You, but who had fallen away. We confess that this is true of our nation, and many other nations in the West besides. We ask You to restore us as peoples, and we ask in particular that You forgive us in such a way as to restore our ability to sing. Restore us in song, we pray.
We know, Father, that if we in the Church regard iniquity in our own midst, or in our own hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual.
Father, we confess that in the Church we have consistently amused ourselves with our music instead of seeking in the first place to worship You. Restore our priorities, and restore music to the Church so that we might bring it to the world. Father, we confess that far too many of Your children listen to a steady diet of foul and corrupt music, and try to excuse it under the cloak of Christian liberty. Forgive us for this abuse of liberty, we pray.
And so Father, we confess our individual sins to You now—and Selah . . . We do this in the kind name of our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus, and amen.
You have confessed your sins, and God has put a song in your mouth. On the basis of all God’s gospel promises, I declare to you that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!