When We Are Contrite
The Sacrifice of God

Scripture Reading: Psalm 51: 12-19

Key Verses: Psalm 51:16-17

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

This month we are trying to stay focused on God not ourselves. We hear a lot about how God delights in us and blesses us. If we’re honest, our prayers are far too much about our comfort and pleasures of this life. There is certainly nothing wrong with bringing all our concerns to God, we are told to do this in the Bible. But God deserves some attention as well. It’s good to bless Him and delight Him! When Jesus taught the disciples the model prayer, He started with a focus on our Heavenly Father, His hallowedness, His kingdom and His will for this world. Our prayers should start with God, not us!

This week I want to talk about one more way in which we delight God: When we are contrite. Webster defines contrite as “remorseful for wrong doing, penitent.” Our printed scripture for today reminds us that this contrite spirit must come from the heart. God looks at our hearts. God knows when we are only sorry for getting caught. An authentic, contrite heart feels deep remorse for the sin. A contrite spirit understands the hurt that sin causes. A contrite heart feels the pain of grieving God’s heart because of disobedience!

God is not delighted over our failures, of course, but is delighted with our remorse! God remembers that we are but dust (Psalm 103:14) and has compassion for every repentant heart. If you’ve failed, don’t stop there, turn toward your Heavenly Father. He’ll be delighted when you do!

Father, the devil wants to discourage and destroy me when I falter. Remind me of your love and compassion even amid my failures. I receive it in Jesus’ Name, Amen.