Q4. Psalm 51

[Godswriter]

As the Commentary by Adam Clarke again states, “As my crimes are such as admit of no legal atonement, so thou hast reserved them to be punished by exemplary acts of justice, or to be pardoned by a sovereign act of mercy: but in order to find this mercy the heart and soul should deeply feel the transgression, and should turn to thee with the fullest compunction and remorse. This thou hast enabled me to do. I have the broken spirit, ruach nishbarah; and the broken and contrite heart, leb nishbar venidkeh. These words are very expressive. Shabar signifies the exactly same as our word shiver, to break into piece, to reduce into splinters; and dakah signifies to beat out thin, - to beat out masses of metal, etc., into laminae or into thin plates. The spirit broken all to pieces and the heart beaten all to pieces, stamped and beaten out, are the sacrifices which, in such cases thou requirest; and these “ thou wilt not despise.”  The earmarks of the condition are a proper turning to God over our sin meaning repentance, remorse about the act and a choice to not to do it again. Being sorry for sin leads to death as Paul while having Godly sorrow over your sin leads to true repentance and life. Humility plays into this because only someone who is truly humble can turn to God and say the things that David said in his Psalm to the Lord.

[Lottie]

Q4. (Psalm 51:17) How does one achieve a "broken and contrite heart"? What are the earmarks of this condition? How does this differ from "being sorry" for a sin? How does humility relate to this condition?

I believe that one achieves a broken and contrite heart when one is really sorry for hurting God by what they did. They have to be emotionally and spiritually crushed to get to that point. Just being sorry you are caught is not enough. You have to be repentant and sorrowful that your relationship with God is broken off. You have to feel it in your heart or soul; the loneliness or emptiness. When you feel that He is not as close to you as He was before and you long for it to change. You have to long for restoration more than you want to continue in sin. When you are sorry for a sin you just feel guilty that you were caught, but when you are really sorry you want to ask forgiveness from God.

  Only a person who is really humble will be broken and contrite. When you realize that it was your willfulness and sin that caused you to hurt God and you quit making excuses for what you have done. When you come humbly before God like the tax collector and confess your sins and ask Him to forgive you; then you can be restored. You have to come to the end of yourself before it can happen. God will not accept your confession if you are not really sorry or if you think it is no big deal. You have to be willing to admit that you willfully sinned not only against others but against God. And only a really humble and contrite person can do this; one who has gotten rid of their own pride and self-sufficiency and is relying on God.

[MICHELLE OXLEY]

study of Psalms.docx

[Rosesam]

Q4. (Psalm 51:17) How does one achieve a "broken and contrite heart"? What are the earmarks of this condition? How does this differ from "being sorry" for a sin? How does humility relate to this condition?

Bible says it is the goodness of the Lord that leads to repentance. When we realize that we have grieved a holy God, we become truly repentant. For it will cause a godly sorrow in us and this results in a broken and a contrite heart. We are truly sorrowful for having offended a holy God. Godly sorrow produces a change of mind with a willingness to change ones behavior. This is what repentance is all about and it is caused through humility and realization of one’s sins by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.

The sacrifice that God desires is a humble sacrifice. It should NOT be mixed with the pride of my spirituality or a sense of achievement of my righteousness. So there is no blame game or justifying my actions. It is made with an acute awareness of my need for His mercy. When this happens there will be a renewed intimacy in my relationship with Him and a desire to serve Him.

Being sorry is a sadness of being exposed of our sin. When we see His holiness, we realize that He desires inward holiness rather than outward show of piety. So a contrite and broken heart, is deeply sorrowful of that our sin has grieved God and thus seeks forgiveness from Him. This will result in a change of heart by God when He creates it pure because of His forgiveness.

A humble heart is willing to lay down self with all its pride and seek the face of God in all humility. It is a willing submission to what He says of my condition and accepting that sin requires judgement. But because that judgement was upon our Lord, we can plead for His mercy and seek His forgiveness.

[Krissi]

The difference between "being sorry" and having a "broken and contrite heart" is a matter of degree. Repentance comes on a sliding scale. We can be a little bit sorry or prostrate on the ground sobbing over our deed or word. 

Repentance parallels humility. As a person becomes more humble in life, his/her recognition of the horror of sin proportionally increases.

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Many things in the Christian life seem to increase in intensity as we mature in Him. Prayer, for instance. We've all prayed the "Bless this food to our bodies ..." sort of prayer, the obedient and rote prayer that comes less from the heart than habit, but I'm sure everyone on this blog has prayed the heart-felt, almost numbingly wordless prayers of deep pain and desperation.