Psalm 51:10–19 (ESV)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Last week and now this week, we are talking about renewing our walk with God. From David’s prayer in Psalm 51, we can learn many things about what it means to renew our walk with God.

Last week, we examined David’s prayer of confession.

This week, we have been looking at the results of renewal.

1. GOD GIVES US A NEW MAKEOVER (10)

2. THE HOLY SPIRIT’S PRESENCE AND EMPOWERMENT RETURNS TO US (11)

3. THE JOY OF GOD’S SALVATION IS RESTORED TO US (12)

4. ABILITY FOR CONSISTENCY IS PROVIDED (10,12)

5. God can use us to teach others how to walk with Him. (13)

6. WE WILL SPEAK FREELY TO GOD AND ABOUT GOD

7. WE WILL BE DELIVERED FROM THE GUILT OF OUR SIN

8. WE WILL OFFER SACRIFICES TO GOD THAT PLEASE HIM (16-19)

16For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

When trying to undo our wrong before God, many people attempt to try to make up for their sins by gestures designed to show sorrow.

David understood that God could not delight and would not be pleased with such gestures. David understood that gestures that are not accompanied with a sincere heart toward God are meaningless to God.

The sacrifice that God is looking for is a broken and contrite heart. The word “broken” describes something that is shattered to pieces.

The word “contrite” describes something like what happens to paper in a paper shredder.

David understood that God would not despise or have contempt for a broken heart. Spoken positively, God would be pleased and have delight for the broken heart.

When we come to God with a broken spirit and heart, then God can delight in the gestures of repentance that we make. You see, in David’s day and especially when Jesus walked upon the earth, many hypocrites would lay the bull on the altar when their hearts were full of bull-baloney.

God says to us, no ministry activity matters if the heart’s not right. No amount of money you give or time you give matters, if it is not done out of a right heart.

David’s heart was fully broken. He had experienced the grace of God and wrote this psalm to teach you and me how to come to God when we sin.

How thankful we are of the broken heart of David that ministers to us still today.