O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Psalm 51:15-17 LSB
Do you ever wonder what God really wants from us? We know Jesus said we are to take the narrow road and enter through the narrow gate in Matthew 7:13-14. We know it is impossible to please Him without faith from Hebrews 11:6. But where do we begin? What are the first steps we need to take to enter into a good, solid, loving relationship with our Lord and Savior?
Our Scripture passage was written by David. This was after David had sinned with Bathsheba. David started out as a young shepherd boy, who with God’s help, slay a giant named Goliath. David was anointed king to replace Saul. He had to endure years of Saul trying to kill him before Saul died and he became king. At a time when David was truly blessed and had all God had promised him, he messed up. He not only committed adultery with Bathsheba, but he had her husband murdered.
In Psalm 51, David comes to the Lord in humility. He surrenders to Him. He asks God to cleanse Him. He asks to have his spirit renewed. He had enjoyed a life of faith with God. He had enjoyed God’s love, mercy and protection. However, because He let his fleshly desires get the best of him, he had violated God’s commands. He had walked away from God for one night of passion.
David knew what it was like to be in God’s good graces. He had been called a man after God’s heart in Acts 13:22 and 1 Samuel 13:14. And now he was broken.
When we separate ourselves from God to do what we want to do, eventually, it will break us if we truly love the Lord. So, where do we begin to get back to God? If we have never experienced the peace, joy and protection God gives His children, where do we begin to establish a relationship with Him?
David answered this question in our Scripture passage. We must be broken to the point of humility. We must humble ourselves before the Lord. David said a broken spirit and a contrite heart the Lord will not despise. God will welcome our broken spirit and a heart full of remorse. When we are contrite, we are sorry for what we have done, not just sorry we got caught.
A wild horse is full of spirit, but it’s a spirit that makes it useless for anything but running free on a prairie. We are kind of like that when we are full of ourselves and our fleshly desires. When we are focused on ourselves, no good comes of that. The Lord put us here to serve Him and others.
When we humble ourselves and surrender ourselves to the Lord, we can be more like Him. We can experience the kind of peace and joy that comes from being in a relationship with Him.
Whether you have never been in a relationship with Him or you have fallen away and become backslidden, you can begin with humility and surrender. Giving of your time and money are good things to do, but He requires your whole heart. He requires a humble heart, and a heart filled with remorse over the sins we have committed.
We begin with humility. We must come to Him with a broken spirit.
I can tell you all about His love and how you have to have faith, but you have to start with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Once you confess your sins and repent, God will wash them away with the blood of Jesus Christ. He will forgive you and remove them from you. He will strengthen you to help you resist temptation.
Are you willing to surrender to Him?
Have a great day!