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A BROKEN HEART (III)
LORD’S DAY, APRIL 4
Psalm 51:13-19

2 Samuel 12:1-14

 

“…my mouth shall shew forth

thy praise.”

 

A BROKEN HEART (III)
 
A broken heart desires to magnify God. David’s desire for cleansing was not motivated merely by a desire to be free of the personal distress of guilt. In Psalm 51, he expresses his desire to serve God once more: praising Him publicly and telling others of His mercy and saving grace (vv 12-15). David’s desire, in other words, was for God’s glory, and not his personal comfort; he recognised that the true evil of his sin lay not in the personal distress it brought upon him as he was burdened by guilt, but in the dishonour it brought to the name of God. Hence his desire was not only for his own joy to be restored, but that he might once more glorify God ‒ to repair, as it were, his testimony for the Lord.
 
We can see the sincerity of David’s desire (vv 16-17). He is not concerned to put on a show, offering sacrifices with grand pomp and ceremony. He knows what God desires ‒ “a broken and a contrite heart,” not mere ritual observance. How different David was from Saul! Even though Saul, when confronted by Samuel, appeared to confess his sin and even expressed a desire to worship God (1 Sam 15:24-26), this was in fact a sham. He wanted to put on a show for the elders of Israel, in order to preserve his own reputation (1 Sam 15:30-31). Saul’s concern was not for God’s glory, but his own; his was not the sacrifice of a truly broken heart.
 
This illustrates an important point for us to remember. In all that we have considered of the broken heart that we ought to have when we sin, the common feature is a focus centred on God, and not on self. In our desire for mercy, we seek not for ourselves to be vindicated, but for God’s justice to be vindicated. In our desire for mending, we do not try to fix the problem ourselves with cover-ups nor wallow in self-pity, but turn to God for cleansing and sanctification. In our desire to magnify God, we put away all thoughts of promoting ourselves or maintaining our reputation before others.
 
Dear reader, examine yourself. Is your heart truly broken by sin? Is yours a heart that desires mercy from God, desires mending by God, and desires to magnify God?
 
THOUGHT: Is my response to sin all about self, or all about God?

PRAYER: O Father, give me a heart that pleases Thee.

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