The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise. - Psalm 51:17
God sent Nathan to tell King David that he had seen what David had done to Uriah and was angry with him. David’s repentance was immediate. “I have sinned against the LORD,” he cried out (2 Samuel 12:13). He was not angry with Nathan, or with God, but at himself!
True repentance is being angry at yourself in the right way. Many of us are angry when we’re found out—with the person who finds us out, or with the one with whom we sinned. When God sees us truly angry with ourselves for sinning, then he accepts our confession. A truly broken and repentant spirit he will not despise. As soon as David confessed his sin, Nathan discerned that the king was really sorry and said, “The LORD has forgiven you” (2 Samuel 12:13).
Being repentant means you allow God to speak to you about sin. You don’t argue; you listen! God is our Judge. David acknowledged that fact: “You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just” (Psalm 51:4).
Being repentant means you agree with your own conscience. “You desire honesty from the heart” (Psalm 51:6). Let’s face it, we know when we have sinned. We can also know that he will forgive us if we want him to. With whom are you angry? Why? Shouldn’t you rather be angry with yourself for sinning? Wouldn’t you like to hear God say to you, “The LORD has forgiven you”? You’ll hear him say it, if you are truly sorry.
For Further Study: Psalm 51:10-19
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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