READ Psalm 51:14–19. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
THE ELOQUENCE OF BROKENNESS. What is the broken and contrite heart God wants so much (verse 17)? It is a heart that knows how little it deserves yet how much it has received. To know only the first truth is to be self-loathing, to know only the second is to be self-satisfied—and both kinds of hearts will be self-absorbed. David is talking instead about hearts broken by costly, free grace—knowing both how lost and how loved we are. This gets us out of ourselves, freeing us from the need to be constantly looking at ourselves. When our lips are opened, we do not speak of ourselves but of God’s praise (verse 15).
Prayer: Lord, create in me true brokenness—not the counterfeit ones of discouragement, bitterness, or despair. Let me know liberation from always needing to defend myself, always standing on my dignity, always smarting because I’ve been snubbed. Give me the quiet peace of a broken spirit. Amen.