I don’t know about you, but I am good at making excuses.

There’s only one problem: excuses undermine God’s plan for us. They defy the truth that God is able to deliver us despite our difficulties.

I am ashamed to admit that I have caused church hurt. As someone who consistently prioritized the mission of getting the message of Christ out to larger audiences of youth, I often moved past others at a breakneck pace. My pace resulted in many careless words spoken at the expense of the very people I led—and I failed to see it. The department I served enjoyed success, but I often attributed our internal issues to warfare, which wasn’t completely accurate.

It wasn’t until I stepped down from leadership at the prompting of the Holy Spirit that I finally slowed down enough to see where my priorities were misaligned. The external pressures I felt caused me to view people as if they were expendable. As a result, I failed to take responsibility for the areas where I should have assumed servanthood.

I tell you this because God has lovingly restored the relationships with those I once led. Although our relationships have shifted with new seasons of life, additional ministry opportunities only became possible when I stopped making excuses and started accepting responsibility.

Worship is a gift because it helps us recognize that God can redeem anything. It serves as a practice that renews our minds. After all, we are not our mistakes. That one simple truth helps us find the freedom to believe God’s Word when our emotions say differently. It even leads us to stop making excuses about our part in the matter.

So how do we make restitution? We repent. Worship should produce more than lip service—it should lead to an abrupt change in direction. Nevertheless, it will also require us to incorporate other accountability measures that we adhere to faithfully.

Repentance is often reinforced through the spiritual practice of confession so that we remain committed to the new direction. Regardless of how we feel about confessing, we’ll find that the more we practice it, the more conviction we experience—and the opposite is true as well. If we stop confessing our areas of weakness and our opportunities for greater accountability, compromise will creep in closer than we realize.

Through David’s life, we see this principle illustrated again and again. One of the most important things we learn from David is that God called him a man after His own heart long before David ever made a mistake. And not once did God regret giving David the kingdom as He Saul (1 Samuel 13:14).

We are prone to think this was because David was perfect, but nothing could be further from the truth. For instance, in 1 Samuel 22, David recognized that he had allowed Abiathar to escape and didn’t offer excuses—instead, he accepted responsibility. He admitted that he had seen Doeg the Edomite spying on him that day, and he probably prioritized escaping above the very people he was meant to protect.

Worship invites us to accept responsibility and repent of our mistakes. It is powerful because it consistently leads us to prioritize God’s voice and put everything in perspective.

When we focus on Him, repentance frees us to receive His direction anew.

Adapted from Selah: A Study of 1 & 2 Samuel by Liv Dooley, published by TBKS Christian Resources, © 2023. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

For deeper reflection, listen to 1 Samuel 22 today!