Lady Jane Grey was a Psalm 51 sort of confessor of her sin.
King Henry VIII's son Edward, upon his early death, ordered that reformed sympathizer and royal cousin, Lady Jane Grey, succeed him on the throne. But Edward's sister Mary was next in line to the throne, and she raised an army and took London six days after Lady Jane was crowned. Mary made herself queen and declared England to be Roman Catholic. Then she tried Lady Jane for treason.
Lady Jane was a godly woman. The following are some of her last words before being beheaded: After declaring her only hope of salvation to be in the mercy of God and the blood of Jesus Christ, she said,"I confess that when I did know the word of God I neglected the same, loved myself and the world; and therefore this plague and punishment is happily and worthily happened unto me for my sins; and yet I thank God of his goodness that he hath thus given me a time and respite to repent."
How strange such words fall on my twenty-first-century ears. I am so in the habit of excusing, denying and redefining my sin. Lord, make me more like King David in Psalm 51 and Lady Jane Grey at the scaffold.
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