40 Days of Prayer, Day 4
Day 4, Wednesday, August 24
“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 51:16-17
The Necessity of the Broken Heart
Just as Israel had the sacrificial system, the church has ceremonial aspects of our worship. In our context, as believers in Christ and as a church gathering together regularly for worship, we also have been given tangible expressions of our relationship to God. We have baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The church regularly gives, sings, prays, fellowships and serves. All of these acts originate from the mind of God. Just as He provided the religious life of Israel, He has provided for the church these tangible expressions of our relationship to Him. However, just as with Israel’s religious life, these expressions are not intended as an end to themselves. These religious rites provide us with physical tools to portray spiritual realities. David, after the sin with Bathsheba, knew that mere religious ceremony was insufficient to reconcile his relationship to God. In fact, mere religious ceremony is never sufficient. We are creatures of habit. We also tend toward laziness in our relationships. We get comfortable with others and take them for granted. We are prone to allow ongoing rote activities become substitutes for authentic relationship. Moments of crisis shock us out of the mundane, rote external behavior and pierce us to the heart. David likely had an active religious life when the sin with Bathsheba emerged. However, it might well be that David had defaulted to the external actions without having his heart engaged in the relationship with the God He worshiped.
The same thing can happen to us. We might sing every Sunday but as the words are coming out of our mouth, our hearts and minds are focused on something else. We might attempt to appease God through giving some money to the church or someone in need. We might try to impress God through church attendance. Just as for Israel, there is nothing inherently wrong with religious acts as God provided those to both Israel and the church. Sacrifices and burnt offerings originated with God. He gave them to Israel in order to provide tangle expressions of worship and faithfulness to Him. Giving, worship and the church also come from God. He established these aspects of religious life. God gave us tools to express gratitude, repentance, dependence and worship directed toward Him, but all of these acts must begin within the heart of the worshiper.
Prayer Focus
God, protect me from mere external religion. Engage my heart and mind as I pray, study and worship. You know my heart and You know my weaknesses. I am prone to act religious while being completely disconnected from You. Draw me close to You. Amen.
From Bunyan’s The Acceptable Sacrifice
But we will demonstrate by several particulars, that a broken spirit, a spirit RIGHTLY broken, a heart TRULY contrite, is to God an excellent thing.
First. This is evident from the comparison, 'You do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it, You do not delight in burnt-offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.' Note, he rejects offerings and sacrifices: that is, all Levitical ceremonies under the law, and all external performances under the gospel; but accepts a broken heart. It is therefore shown by this, were there nothing else to be said, that a heart rightly broken, a heart truly contrite, is to God an excellent thing; for as you see such a heart is set before all sacrifice; and yet they were the ordinances of God, and things that he commanded; but a broken spirit is above them all, a contrite heart goes beyond them, yes, beyond them when put all together. You will not have the one. You will not despise the other. O brethren, a broken and a contrite heart is an excellent thing. Have I said a broken heart, a broken and a contrite heart is esteemed by God above all sacrifices.