Jonah 3:5-10
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

“Who can tell?” asks the king, and so the people of Nineveh did all of this not really knowing if it would do them any good or not. Jonah had come and brought the word of the Lord, and amazingly, the people responded. They believed the message of the reluctant prophet. They repented of their sin. They sought to change their wicked ways. They mourned what they’d done upon their recognition of it. And they did so not knowing if God would change His mind or not, not knowing if they would still soon face His wrath and judgment. In the end, though, God responded to their sincere change of heart, to their confession and repentance, and spared their city.

How much more can we go with confidence before the Lord with our confession and repentance? We have His sure Word which tells us that God is gracious and just to forgive and to cleanse us from unrighteousness. We have His promise that He responds to a sincere heart that turns from sin and seeks Him instead. We can know so surely that He is a God of mercy who desires to forgive and restore and, more than that, to grant eternal life to all who believe.

We don’t have to “hope so, maybe so” when it comes to repentance, salvation, forgiveness, redemption. We can know for sure that God will hear from heaven and forgive. We can know the heart of our heavenly Father. We can trust in what He has said to us in His Word. And we can live freely in the grace He pours out upon us without having to wonder or worry. Let us rest, then, in the mercy He offers and turn from our sin with the certainty that God will forgive.