(from Good Word Online):?

Memory Texts: Psalm 130:3, 4 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? [4] But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

Guilt responses

• Adam hid then blamed the serpent and Eve
• Joseph’s brothers rehearsing their wrong
• David’s confession about Bathsheba (Ps 32) relieved physical as well as psychological symptoms
• Peter’s betrayal of Jesus brought despair

Is confession necessary to alleviate guilt?

• Jesus asked God to forgive those who killed Him, before they confessed.

God’s forgiveness

• What is reasonable (“let us reason together” Isa 1:18) about God’s radical forgiveness?
• How does one convince oneself that God has forgiven them when they don’t feel forgiven?
• If we have confessed our offense to the one we have wronged, why do we need to confess to God and seek God’s forgiveness?