"For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God Thou wilt not despise."
The story, probably the joke, is told about an airplane that was in serious trouble. The plane was diving fast, when someone screamed: "Quick somebody do something religious." One of the passengers was a Baptist preacher and he took up a collection. He did something religious, but I doubt very seriously that it did any good. This is what David is saying here in his prayer of repentance after his adultery with Bathsheba. Burnt offerings were a fact of life for the Israelites. A lot of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) is taken up with how to do burnt offerings. They were offerings, among other things, to atone for Israel's sins. But the mere act of doing a burnt offering was not sufficient; one's heart had be right when he offered the burnt offering. God is not mainly concerned with religious practices, if they are not done from the heart. For example, it is not enough just to go to church, take up space on a pew, and just endure the worship service. Just being at church is a religious exercise, but it does not, necessarily, please God. What pleases God is for our hearts to be broken and for us to come to Him in repentance with a "contrite heart." The meaning of contrite is to feel guilty about sins that have been committed. David was certainly feeling contrite at the time he wrote these verses. He knew that he had sinned, and he was not going "to do something religous," rather he was going to genuinely repent with a contrite heart. Today we see guilt as something bad, and it is if it is unnecessary, but if we have something to feel guilty about, we should be driven to repentance. Indeed, our hearts should be touched and changed. Faith begins in our hearts and we should keep close watch on what we have in our hearts. Just going through the motions and doing religious things is not enough. God calls us to joy, but we cannot be joyful if our hearts are filled with sin. That is why David told us: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and contrite heart..." Remember that! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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