3 Day Bible Reading Plan - “Confession”
It’s scary and insulting to accept the Bible's depiction and appraisal of our hearts. The hard thing about confession is that it brings our sin to the surface. We see it, so does God, and sometimes others do as well. It hurts. We feel ashamed and even embarrassed, yet this is when God's healing begins. - Pastor Paul Crandell, 2/22/26
Day 1
Featured Verse: Psalm 51:1–6
When you cry out for God's mercy "according to [His] unfailing love" and great compassion, what specific areas of your life are you most longing for Him to blot out or wash clean right now?
In what ways have you come to recognize that your wrongdoing is ultimately "against [God] only," even when it has hurt others? How does that shift your perspective on confession and repentance?
How does the awareness that you were "sinful at birth" and carried a sinful nature from conception influence your understanding of your need for God's cleansing and transforming grace?
Pause and Reflect: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; in Your great compassion blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions are ever before me and against You alone have I sinned. Create in me a clean heart that acknowledges the truth You desire in the inward parts, and grant me the grace to rest in Your righteous judgment and perfect forgiveness.
“Blot out my transgressions. My revolts, my excesses, are all recorded against me; but, Lord, erase the lines. Draw thy pen through the register. Obliterate the record, though now it seems engraven in the rock for ever; many strokes of thy mercy may be needed, to cut out the deep inscription, but then thou has a multitude of mercies, and therefore, I beseech thee, erase my sins.” - Charles Spurgeon
Day 2
Featured Verse: Psalm 51:7–12
How have you experienced the kind of inner brokenness David describes, where your "bones" feel crushed by conviction or consequences, and what would it look like for God to turn that deep sorrow into genuine rejoicing and gladness?
David asks God to "create in me a clean heart" rather than merely repair the old one. What does this reveal about the radical nature of true heart-change, and where in your life do you sense the need for God to do something entirely new?
When joy in your salvation feels distant or lost, what barriers might be keeping you from that full experience of gladness?
Pause and Reflect: Lord, purge me with hyssop and wash me whiter than snow so my broken bones may rejoice and my hidden sins be blotted out forever. Create in me a clean heart, renew a steadfast spirit within me, restore the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with Your willing Spirit that I may never be cast from Your presence.
“Make me to hear joy and gladness. He prays about his sorrow late in the Psalm; he began at once with his sin; he asks to hear pardon, and then to hear joy... God's voice speaking peace is the sweetest music an ear can hear. That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. He was like a poor wretch whose bones are crushed... Yet if he who crushed would cure, every wound would become a new mouth for song.” - Charles Spurgeon
Day 3
Featured Verse: Psalm 51:13–19
David pleads for deliverance from "bloodguiltiness" so his tongue can sing aloud of God's righteousness. Where in your story of sin and forgiveness do you sense lingering guilt or shame that still silences your praise, and what would full deliverance look like to free your voice in joyful testimony?
Reflecting on the truth that God does not delight in mere outward sacrifices or burnt offerings but in a broken and contrite heart, what "sacrifices" in your life might be empty without genuine brokenness, and how can you offer Him the inner contrition He truly desires?
In what ways do you sometimes rely on external acts of worship or service to cover inner issues, and how does David's shift to valuing a humble spirit challenge you to prioritize heart-level surrender over performance in your relationship with God?
Pause and Reflect: Lord, open my lips to declare Your praise and teach transgressors Your ways, delivering me from bloodguilt so my tongue may sing aloud of Your righteousness and my life become a testimony of Your restoring mercy. Accept the broken and contrite heart I offer You instead of empty sacrifices, do good to Zion, build up the walls of Your people, and let true worship rise from renewed hearts in Your holy city.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. All sacrifices are presented to God, but the spiritual worshipper presents himself. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Humility, contrition, and sorrow for sin are God's sacrifices, and he despises them not; nay, he prizes them above all burnt offerings.” - Charles Spurgeon