Exodus 13:17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:

God knows the nature of man and how easily he is turned, like a pancake, at the first sign of heat. I did not come to this issue of repentance easily nor on my own.

Psalm 62:1 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

Preaching that repentance leads to salvation is misleading when the turning becomes the focal point. God led the captivity away from the land of promise, which was close at hand, because they were not prepared to enter.

“The principal idea is not personal relation to sin, either in its experience of grief or in turning from an evil course. Yet the results of sin are manifest in its use. God’s heart is grieved at man’s iniquity, and in love He bestows His grace, or in justice He terminates His mercy. It indicates the aroused emotions of God which prompt Him to a different course of dealing with the people.” Quoted from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Salvation belongs to God and is His and His alone. In repentance, God decides the course of action required to bring man in line with His will. When we follow Jesus we do not get to choose what course to follow after the turning. We need only to walk in it and not reject the course set before us.

Salvation by repentance is misleading when it ignores what is seen upon turning.

Pancakes merely turn, they see nothing.