“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14
In the Old Testament the act of humbling yourself was outward as much as it was inward. They would strip themselves of their clothes and put on sackcloth. Sackcloth was typically worn in association with humility and mourning for that which was lost. Totally opposite to dyed fabric or ordinary day garments, which would have been pleasant to the eyes or hold practical value. Furthermore, the sackcloth would raise awareness among the Jews as to the wearer’s purpose; they were praying and seeking God. That purpose was birthed out of humility because you don’t lay sackcloth on your shoulders without first taking off that which YOU would have decided to strut around in. In addition to the sackcloth, the process of humbling yourself would sometimes include ashes. The two were often performed in tandem whilst praying. So in total, you would have the renting of your own clothes and the wearing of sackcloth and ashes. The idea being that you were willing to publically show that you were abased and God was exalted. The goal was to humble thyself and pray.
We now live in the new dispensation, which is a way of saying that we live under the gospel that Jesus brought. It in no way removes the Old Testament, in fact it fulfills it. It fulfills it in the Spirit. If you were to seek and find God today, sackcloth and ashes would not be required (thank the Lord). However, you would need the spirit of it all. Jesus was concerned with the heart. The Pharisees fasted, they prayed, they went to church; but Christ rejected them. He rejected them because their heart was not right even though they “performed” all the “deeds” of the law. Jesus doesn’t want a show of humility, he wants humility itself. He doesn’t want a show of repentance, he wants repentance itself. The heart is the point of concern and the head can learn from the deed of removing of your day clothes and wearing sackcloth and ashes. For example, the Jews would first rent their clothes. One of the first things you learn as a young person, the beginning of your identity, is the choosing of what you are going to wear. When the Jews of old began to humble themselves and seek God, they torn off their clothes. They rejected the notion of their identity and turned to cleave to God’s idea of it. Next they placed on themselves this sackcloth, an uncomfortable, ugly thing; when you kneel in repentance, your sins are bare before God. You and the Spirit dredge up all the ugliness of your past and say God please forgive me. The process of this (though at times may be just minutes) is ugly and uncomfortable. There is no pride here, no trophies, it is the turning away of your old life and the beginning of embracing your new life in Christ. This is all done while you’re kneeling in ashes, representing all your: plans, ambitions, past and future. Everything that you are, in ashes, before the throne. This symbolizing to God that you want more than anything to be as he would have you to be, your life, a blank canvas and the whole of your being prepared for His purpose.
God hears this prayer, he forgives this soul, and heals. He changes the heart of the humble. If you have it in your mind that you want God and want your own way, this is fruitless; but to want God above any way is the path to forgiveness and everlasting life. It begins with humility and prayer.
