A Christian Epistle on Prayer

first be reconciled with God in Christ, if we wish to obtain anything from God for ourselves and others. We have an example of this in Psalm 32, where the Prophet, through the confession of sins, begs God [forgiveness] for his misdeeds and says: "Therefore I acknowledge my sin, and do not hide my iniquity; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord; then you forgave the iniquity of my sin; for this all the holy ones shall pray to you at the right time."

Of this first part of prayer or petitioning, namely Deprecation Abbitten: To plead for the turning away of God's anger or the removal of guilt; literally "to beg off.", the Prophet also speaks in the 6th and later in the 38th Psalm: "O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor chasten me in your wrath. For your arrows stick fast in me, and your hand presses me down. There is no health in my flesh; my sins have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they have become far too heavy for me. My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness," etc. "But I hope in you, Lord; you, Lord my God, will answer me" (Psalm 38). This is a powerful, earnest psalm and a human complaint against oneself; for no hypocrite Gleißner: A person who puts on a false show of piety; a "shiner" who is only bright on the outside. can pray rightly. Instead, only he who thoroughly knows and judges himself, and begs God [forgiveness] for his misdeeds, prays and pleads that He might spare us and not deal with us according to our sins (Psalm 25). Of this also Psalm 143: "Lord, enter not into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no one living is righteous." And Psalm 130 The original text cites Psalm 125, but the verse quoted—"If you, Lord, should mark iniquities..."—is historically found in Psalm 130:3.: "If you, Lord God, should count sins, O Lord, who shall stand or remain?"