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A broken and a contrite heart O God, You will not despise (Psalm
51:17). Last day we were talking about the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and praise. And these things are sacrifices when we we are doing them
in spite of the negative circumstances in which we might find
ourselves. This morning it is a different kind of sacrifice, the type
that needs to accompany true repentance. I love it that the Bible
does not try to sugar coat its heroes. David had messed up big time.
He commuted adultery with the wife of one of his warriors, and then
tried to cover it up by having him murdered. The Lord had sent
Nathan the Prophet to uncover his deception the the way only the Lord
can (2 Samuel 11, 12). And this Psalm is what David penned about his
repentance.
The
Old Testament sacrifices were but a shadow of things to come, for
“it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take
away sins” (Hebrews 10:1, 4). And here in this Psalm, in the
face of his blood guilt of a man murdered (verse 14), David sees their
inadequacy. He prays “You do not desire sacrifice, You do not
delight in burnt offerings” (verse 16). And he goes on to pray the
verse in the title. Please don't get me wrong here, I am not
advocating sin, but what I want to say, is that there is an advantage
to having utterly failed. In verse 4 he says “Against you, you
only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are
right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” And the
advantage is that we start to truly see that what he says about us, about
our fallen human nature is true. We start to see the little old me is capable
of the most heinous of sins, and that given the right (or perhaps the
wrong) circumstance, we could do almost anything. So yes, God would
be right and just to condemn each and every on of to hell!
There is a “but” here, but God is not willing that any should
perish but all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). And since all sin
is ultimately against Him (verse 4 again), He can forgive us of
anything, no matter how bad or evil. He does require repentance of
course, heart felt repentance. The sacrifice God desires is a
contrite heart that is willing to put the self life to death, that is
willing with His help, to crucify the deeds and the desires of the
sinful nature (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:24). He is talking about a
brokenness that out of love and gratitude for the deliverance from
self, produces a zeal for the Kingdom and lives that are no
longer all about me. Indeed, it is because of the tender mercies of
our God that Paul admonishes us to be living sacrifices (Romans
12:1).
Father,
I want to offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving this morning,
as well as presenting myself as a living sacrifice. Thank You Lord
that my name is written in the Lamb's book of life. Thank You Jesus
that You were willing to come and live and die, so that the Father
could be just and the justifier of all who believe (Romans 3:26).
Break our hearts Lord with what breaks Yours, and give us the Grace
to bear it, in Jesus Name Amen
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