What Does God Really Want?

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” 

Psalm 51:16-17

To be honest, these words are one of those passages that I read and my mind says “Huh?”  When David penned these words, they were still under the Old Covenant.  Jesus had not yet come, bringing in the New Covenant.  So sacrifices and burned offerings were still very much the order of the day when David wrote this.  As a younger child I wondered why God required things that did not bring him pleasure.

I feel now that David was operating through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.  He probably did not understand why these things did not bring God pleasure.  But under the New Covenant we can clearly see what David was speaking of.  God desired to have open communion with His people, just as he had done when he communed in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  He did not take pleasure in the burned offerings, but they were necessary until the fullness could come under the New Covenant.  Once Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice once and for all, we can now pretty much enjoy the same type of relationship Adam and Eve did. We can freely pray to God, talk to Him, and enjoy His presence.  We do not need to run out a kill a sacrificial lamb.

But the part of this that particularly speaks to us today is verse 17.  The sacrifice that He really, really wants, is your broken spirit.  Your broken and contrite heart.  These are the things He can take pleasure in.  These are the things he will not despise.

What exactly is a broken and contrite spirit and heart? It is one that recognizes a need for God. It is a person who knows they cannot do it on their own without Him.  This is a person in sorrowful repentance for their sins.  One who has poured themselves out freely before God.  Because the Bible is clear that in our weakness, he is made strong.  (II Cor. 12:9) 

What do I have to give to God?  Really, nothing.  But at the same time, everything.  I have nothing of consequence to bring to the one who has done so much for me.  But everything that I am, I bring back to Him in surrender.  “Take me I’m Yours.”  This is a sacrifice that pleases the Father because all he has every really wanted is the heart of mankind.  The devotion of mankind.  When we are most broken, we are most useful to him and in the best place to give to Him and receive from Him.

If you are feeling broken today, give that brokenness to Him.  People who have walked with the Lord for a long time will admit that in their seasons of brokenness, is when they have most enjoyed the presence and comforting power of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord, I come before you, bringing all that I have, all that I am.  Take me and do what you will in my life.  Rid me of all that is evil and all that defiles.  Make me a dwelling in which your Spirit can reside.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri