Repentance is the grace of bitter-sweetness. The sweetness comes from God’s forgiveness, welcome, and acceptance of us because of Jesus’ death on the cross. This is the comfort that only God can give. This is the joy of knowing God as my heavenly Father. The bitterness is the memory of our shame and guilt and sorrow for having offended God. The bitterness is God’s means to bring us to seek him. We become so miserable that we cannot stand to be alienated from God any longer. Once we come to God through the Lord Jesus, then the sweetness overshadows the bitterness and gives way to joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8). When we confess our sins and seek God’s forgiveness, we realize who we are and how majestic God is. We see the awesome power of His grace; that He would continue to love us and restore and uphold a relationship with us even though we sin against Him. There is a sweet brokenness that accompanies the tears of remorse, the melting and relenting of the soul returning to God, lamenting its former unkindness. “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise,” Psalm 51:17 says. This means He not only doesn’t despise it, he delights to embrace a broken heart with His love.