40 Days of Prayer, Day 6
Day 6, Friday, August 26
(Note: We will have a few group prayer times for the next few weeks. We will meet in the conference room on Sunday mornings at 7:50 AM and Sunday evenings at 7:50 PM. We will meet in the worship center at 12:15 PM on Tuesdays. We will also meet in the conference room at 8:15 PM on Wednesday evenings.)
“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
Marks of a Broken and Contrite Heart
We are now on our sixth day into the 40 Days of Prayer. We have spent all six days on just two verses from Psalm 51. The theme of the entire 40 Days is “Praying with a Contrite Heart.” It seems fitting that we should take a few moments to define the terms. What is a broken and contrite heart? What is a broken and contrite heart with specific reference to our relationship to God? When speaking of a broken heart we need little outside assistance. All of us have been betrayed by a friend or spurned by a potential love. All of us have had our hearts broken over the loss of someone or something significant to us. From deep seated emotional stress to physical symptoms, when we have badly broken hearts, our broken hearts control our every waking moment. We even struggle when we are not awake, as our sleep is restless. We battle feelings of hopelessness and despair. Physically our energy may be low and our motivation may be stymied. We feel distant from others and alienated even from our own self. Someone betrays us and life changes dramatically in how we think, feel and act because of a broken heart.
We can also experience this same sense of brokenness when we are the offending party. When we hurt someone or betray them, we are heartbroken for the harm done to that person and for our own sense of failure in the relationship. Husbands and wives, parents and children, friends and co-workers have all experienced both being betrayed and being the betrayer. When those relationships are damaged, the next step to restoration involves a brokenness and contrition of heart. “I feel terrible about the pain I have caused you.” “Please forgive me.” “I am so sorry for what I have done to hurt you.” These are statements of contrition. For David, he had committed adultery and then murder. He spent a year without any consequences for his actions. He even took Uriah’s grieving spouse, Bathsheba, into his home and married her. Did Israel perceive this as an act of mercy by David? Did David give the illusion of doing good while covering his evil? For a year David maintained life as usual. He probably attended religious activities at the tabernacle. He may have even shown support for the priests and Levites in their function as spiritual leaders of the nation. Did he offer sacrifices? Did he bring animals for sin offering? All of this external appearance of wholeness was a fraud. All of this was simply a cover for a corruption of heart, mind, body and soul. One year later Nathan the prophet confronts David. David responds with repentance through which he crafts this psalm. The psalm opens with the words of contrition. “Be gracious to me, Oh God.” Even though David’s sin greatly impacted Bathsheba and Uriah along with their families, his sin ultimately was an offense against God Himself. God had established David as King of Israel. God had placed him in that position through the anointing ministry of God’s prophet, Samuel. For David to then use that position in order to commit such incredible sins against others was particularly offensive to God. However, despite David’s unique position and unique sin, all sin really falls in this category. God has created and given to us incredible opportunities for good. He gave us minds, bodies, relationships, gifting, and many other resources. These were given to us by God to honor Him and to serve others. Sin violates the purposes for which these gifts have been given to us by God. When we sin against others, we ultimately are sinning against God.
The first step in forming a contrite heart is being confronted with the reality of our sin against God. David had surely offered sacrifices during the time of his year of duplicitous living. However, none of those offerings reached the heart of God because the relationship between David and God had been severed through David’s rebellion. Our sins, the sin we commit every day, both big and small, are sins against God. Our sin separates us from Him. Contrition begins with an acknowledgment of our sin and its devastating impact. We have to own this. We can’t blame someone else. We can’t blame God. Our sin is our own. When we see God has He really is and our sin as it really is, guilt, heartbreak, isolation, desperation all flood the soul. And God loves the fact that we are now seeing our sin the way He sees it. This humility before God is met with the compassion of God. God is a God of relationships. And He loves restoring relationships with repentant, contrite people.
Prayer Focus
Oh God, I confess that my sin violates all of the purposes for which You have created me. I have used Your gifts and Your resources for my sinful own purposes. Please forgive me. I am so sorry for failing to see You as You really are, holy and pure. I am also sorry for failing to see myself as I really am, sinful and rebellious. Thank You for Your unending mercy. Thank You for how You wait patiently for me to turn to You. Work in me so I may experience the very purposes for which I have been made. Amen.
From Bunyan’s The Acceptable Sacrifice
Behold both the majesty and condescension of the high and lofty One; that He is high, and the inhabiter of eternity; 'I am the high and lofty One, ' He says, 'I inhabit eternity.' Truly this consideration is enough to make the broken-hearted man creep into a mouse-hole to hide from such majesty! But behold his heart, his condescending mind; I am for dwelling also with him that has a broken heart, with him that is of a contrite spirit; that is the man that I would converse with, that is the man with whom I will cohabit; that is, I will choose for my companion. For to desire to dwell with one supposes all these things; and truly, of all the men in the world, none have acquaintance with God, none understand what communion with him, and what his teachings mean, but such as are of a broken and contrite heart. 'He is near to them that are of a broken spirit' (Ps. 34:18). These are they in the 14th Psalm, where it is said, 'The Lord looked down from heaven, - to see if any understood and seek God'; that he might find somebody in the world with whom he might converse; for indeed there is none that either understand, or that hearken to him. God, as I may say, is forced to break men's hearts, before he can make them willing to cry to him, or be willing that he should have any concerns with them; the rest shut their eyes, stop their ears, withdraw their hearts, or say to God, Be gone (Job 21:14). But now the broken in heart can experience it; and therefore is fit to have an encounter with God. There is room in this man's house and heart and spirit, for God to dwell, for God to walk, for God to set up a kingdom.