SCRIPTURE: Psalm 51
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. [Psalms 51:17]
Some people live with such a burden of guilt that they cannot accept that God could forgive them.
They know their sin, their failure, and they live with a sense of shame that weighs them down.
Add to that the voice of others, who look down on them because of their shame, as well as the voice of the devil, who loves to make guilty people feel worse.
Certainly David could have been like this; afterall, he had slept with another man’s wife and then murdered that man so that he could have her as his own.
All this from David, described as “a man after God’s own heart.” [Acts 13:22]
But David knows God’s heart, and he knows that more than anything God desires repentance.

But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. [Luke 18:13-14]
Jesus reaffirms this, making it clear that terrible sinners (the tax collectors were considered the epitome of sin, having betrayed God and their people to serve the Romans) could find forgiveness if they came to
God with “a broken and repentant heart”.

God hates sin, not just because He is picky but because sin causes such terrible damage – to God, to others and to ourselves.
God hates greed, cruelty, selfishness, arrogance, sexual immorality, not because He is a prude and is against all fun, but because He knows how destructive these attitudes and behaviours are.
The world that we live in is the mess that it is because of such attitudes and behaviours.
God is not to blame, we are; we desperately need help but cannot get that help unless we are honest and repent of the attitudes and behaviours that cause the problem.

We need to get to a place where we hate sin, where it breaks us and humbles us and drives us to our knees before God, asking for mercy and help.
This is the same truth that an alcoholic needs to come to; until they are broken, until they come to realize that they are doomed on their own and need God’s help to break free – they will not be free.
Psalm 51 (like Psalm 32 and Psalm 139) is a very important psalm for Jesus-followers today.
It reminds us that repentance is STILL a necessary step to healing, help and hope.
It is not until we humble ourselves that we can be exalted; its not an easy step to take, but it is necessary.
And God’s promise is this: He will not reject a broken and repentant heart!

PRAYER:
Lord, I think like David I need You to remind me how serious my sinful heart condition is, so that I can pray with depth and sincerity, O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’