Contrite and Broken Spirit

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.’ In the olden days of the Jews would offer burnt offering to God as an appeasement. Now let us ask ourselves one thing, why did God want the Jews to offer sacrifices for sin, thanksgiving, dedication, atonement and other such events, was it for the meat, aroma (the seen things) or was there more? Now before a person makes a sin sacrifice, for example, he has to be aware that he has sinned in the first place. After knowing his sin, then he has to be remorseful and sorry about the wrong he has done. But it does not end there, he has to be repentant; that is, being sorry enough to stop doing the wrong thing and then know that it is only He who needs to and can forgive our sins. That is why He accepted Abel’s sacrifice but rejected Cain’s. God desires that whatever we do; be it thanksgiving, seeking forgiveness, asking for help, we should place Him first knowing that He is God, acknowledging that we can do nothing without Him, and then completely trust in Him. In other words, we have to acknowledge He is our God and that we wholly depend on Him for everything. We need to accept that we are incomplete and broken. Only in our brokenness can we completely and willingly submit to God’s will for our life. Only then can God work in and through us. Only in our brokenness can the light of God that is in us light the world.