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“For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart O God, you will not despise” Psalm 51:16-17

In the Old Testament, before Jesus Christ came. Whenever people sinned, they would bring the best of their harvest or first fruits of their labor and sacrifice it onto God as a form of atonement for their acts of transgressions. However, King David wrote Psalm 51 after the prophet Nathan had rebuked him and made it known to King David that God was displeased with his actions.

It was in this moment that he realised that he needed the mercy of God and a burnt offering, a religious ritual or traditional custom wasn’t enough to appeal to God. But rather asking for forgiveness and the act of humbling himself. “The sacrifice acceptable is a broken spirit”…a spirit that is submitted onto God and ready to surrender. “…a broken and contrite heart O God, you will not despise” A heart that is apologetic and recognises what one has done wrong, is a heart that our Father cannot overlook.

But sometimes God has to break us in order to mould us, especially when we aren’t able to see our actions in His eyes. And when he breaks us, it’s not to hurt us or to make us feel unworthy but to lead us to repentance. Our pride might be shattered, plans may have to scrapped, crowns need to be laid on the ground, hearts will be heavy, weaknesses and things inside of us will be exposed. We will have to come to the end of ourselves, empty who we are so that He can fill us up. Though it may be painful and seems like he’s undoing us. It’s only so that He can soften us and bring us back to Him.

I read somewhere on the internet, that in order “to get to the heart of the matter, you must get to the matter of the heart.”

We seem to think that we are to perform in a way that pleases God or try to show Him what we’re doing right, to cover up our deeds. God is looking at the heart and none of our actions mean anything if our hearts aren’t humbled. He wants us to come as we are and lay ourselves before him. In your quiet time with the Lord, get on your knees and ask God if there are any things in your life that you need to repent of or are hindrances in your relationship with Him.

God bless you,

Susan