(Psalm 51:16-17 NLT) You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” If you read Paul’s letters to Rome and Galatia you will see a clear picture of the contrast between living under the Law and living under Grace. As an example, I will give you a snippet from Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised… Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:19-22). I am sharing this with you because I want to highlight the fact that David lived under the Law. Christ had not come yet, so neither had the dispensation of Grace. In David’s time, when you broke the Law of God — which everyone did by the way, because no one but Jesus could ever fulfill it — you had to offer a sacrifice for what you did. But David was in a bad situation, because the Mosaical Law allowed no reconciliation, no sacrifice, for murder. David could not kill a bull or a turtledove as as a sacrifice for what he did, so David offered himself. David gave God his heart, but not just his heart, but a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This offering was acceptable to God.
Theologian John Gill, when commenting on this passage said, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,… That is humbled under a sense of sin; has true repentance for it; is smitten, wounded, and broken with it, by the word of God in the hand of the Spirit, which is a hammer to break the rock in pieces; and that not merely in a legal, but in an evangelical way; grieving for sin as committed against a God of love; broken and melted down under a sense of it, in a view of pardoning grace; and mourning for it, while beholding a pierced and wounded Saviour: the sacrifices of such a broken heart and contrite spirit are the sacrifices God desires, approves, accepts of, and delights in.”
The Bible also says, “The Lord will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas” (Psalm 102:17), “The Lord heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds” (Psalm 147:3), and “The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed” (Psalm 34:17,18).
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The fact that we are under Grace, and not the Law, does not alleviate us from the requirement to be contrite when we displease God. While we should not wallow in our sin, we should also not make light of it.
2. Even under Grace, the Lord welcomes a broken and repentant heart.
3. Your brokenness towards God should not come as a result of legalism, where you are broken by the fear of the impending punishment. No, under Grace you can still be broken, but your brokenness should come from the disappointment you know the Father has towards you, because you chose to live under His best for your life.
4. When you come broken before God, accepting His pardoning Grace, knowing you are not worthy of His best, but accepting His assignment and seeking to continue on towards fulfilling it — not because you are so good, or because of your own merit, but because God is so good and because of His power — then powerful things happen. It is then, and only then, that you can completely submit to the power of God to flow through you, because at that point you know the power is coming from Him and not you! It is about Him, His power and His righteousness, not about you, your power or your self-effort. That my friend is the power that is accessed by faith and released through Grace!
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for Your immeasurable, inexhaustible, unyielding and amazing Grace. I am under Grace and not the Law. I don’t have to attempt to kill any animals for my wrong. The blood of sheeps, bullocks or turtledoves are no longer necessary. The Blood of Jesus paid for my sin once and for all. The only sacrifice I can offer You is myself. I give myself over to You. I know I am not worthy, but You choose to use me by Your Grace. I humble myself before my Holy God. I give myself completely over to You. I come to You with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. I am not contrite because of legalism. I am not humbling myself before You because I am afraid of going to hell. I am not bowing before You out of a fear of punishment. No, I bow before You Father because I have disappointed You more times than I want to acknowledge. I have gone astray more times than I want to remember. I know I am not worthy, but You choose to use me anyway. The only thing I can give you is ALL of me and I declare, by faith, that I do. I give myself over to You, to be used of You, for Your glory. You put Your Holy treasure in me, an earthen vessel, that the excellency that comes out of my life may be of You and not of me. Therefore, by faith I allow Your light to shine through me, in the earth, so that men may see my good works and glorify my Father which is in heaven. My life is not about me, it is All About You! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
