Psalm 30:11-12
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
In our modern day, we don’t wear a sackcloth anymore. There are many references to this practice of atonement in the scriptures as a visible way that people would mark their penitence before God. They would put on a sackcloth, sit in ashes, and cover themselves with ashes as a way to show God humility and repentance. Although we no longer practice this, there is something to this practice to convey an outward confession before God of our sinfulness.
Let’s visualize. Imagine that you are wearing a sackcloth or some sort of a burlap cloth that is rough to the touch. Imagine sitting in a pile of ashes or dirt and think about yourself covered in the choices that you have made and the ways that you have fallen short. Now, imagine God transforming this filthy scene of ashes and dirt and clothing you in a dazzling, clean and new outfit much like the feeling of a really good shower after a day of working in the yard. You are clean and standing before God in the sunlight and grassy fields.
Despite all that we may do in this world, because of Jesus Christ, this is how God sees us all the time. Bathed in beauty and light, God sees past our shortcomings and sees us in as new again and again. You are clothed in deep joy and radiating the glory of God from within.
Prayer
God of forgiveness, we come before you in our sackcloth and you remove it time and again clothing us in joy. We are grateful for your grace that transforms us from the choices we make into the humans that you love. In Jesus name, Amen.