Just saying “sorry” isn’t enough.

And the people of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

Judges 10:15-16

It is one thing to feel bad about sin and its negative consequences; it is quite another thing to repent and do something about it. Feeling bad or feeling sorry about sin is just the start of something than can eventually lead to repentance, faith, and obedience. But the feeling is not what pleases God. The obedience and faith show proper worship and move Him to see and accept our change.

That is what happened in this passage and really in cycles throughout the book of Judges. The book shows us that we cannot keep God’s Law on our own efforts. We fall short. Our hearts are easily drawn to trust in many things other than God. In Israel’s case here in Judges ten, they literally trusted in every other idol of every other nation around them. They forsook God with the pursuit of every kind of idolatry they could find. Religious pluralism was what they pursued... they were given to spirituality, but not the worship of God (Judges 10:6). This did not make them good people. It made them sinners. God brought 18 years of oppression under the hands of the Ammonites as a result.

Israel eventually recognized that sin had got them into this mess (Judges 10:10) and their first prayer saying “sorry” wasn’t enough to move God. God’s response instead was to let them know He had no intention of rescuing them in this condition. He tells them to let their false gods save them this time (Judges 10:14). Only when the nation acted on their confession, truly repenting, smashing idols, and worshiping God again did He move toward rescuing them from Ammonite dominion.

So just saying “sorry” is not real repentance. It can, however, lead to repentance when it is by faith and trust in God followed by obedience to God’s Word. Repentance that God desires is real change and not just the desire to change. It is more than a feeling. It is a faith action. I know that I still need to learn that when dealing with my own sin. I often stop at the feeling alone in my prayers of “confession” without getting to the idol-smashing changes that need to occur in real repentance. God is not fooled by my insincerity. Sorrow alone never saved anyone.