Psalm 51:14-19
Verse 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
Now that the king’s knowledge has grown so much through his repentance, he can’t help but praise the Lord. He now knew it wasn’t about the sacrifices that were being offered up in the temple, true repentance came from offering oneself up as a living sacrifice. It was the giving up of selfish desires for the desires of the Father and finding His desires are our own now.
A funny thing about praise is that we can’t do it very easily without a smile. Have you ever tried to truly praise Him without a smile? The truth is genuine praise will flood us with the joy of our salvation and that will bring a smile to our face. The ripple effects of that smile could surprise us. While the people of God were used to seeing each other bring offerings before God, it was often done out of obligation. There isn’t much joy or praise in obligation.
David makes the point that God isn’t wanting sacrifices, God doesn’t delight in the burnt sacrifices He had instituted generations before. The blood being shed by those animals was only covering the sins of the people, not washing them away. Knowing they could just offer a sacrifice when they sinned didn’t remove their desire to sin. Of course God’s desire is for His people to not want to sin, desiring instead to obey Him willingly in all things.
David knew the sacrificing he needed to do was give God his contrite heart. God doesn’t want sacrifice as much as He desires our true repentance. That is why the blood of animals couldn’t take away the sin of the people, if they could repeatedly make sacrifices, they were less likely to have a change of heart. A contrite heart is not as easily turned back to its sin because the cut is deeper and is more intentional about cleaning out the impurities found in our heart.
A contrite heart is about wanting to be purged by the God who created us, it is about wanting to live the way He intended. Before sin entered the world, God the Creator had a personal relationship with the ones He had created in His image. A regularly scheduled evening walk which apparently ended after sin. A contrite heart is an attempt to repair the relationship, to reopen those lines of communication the Father desires with us.
Making It Personal
Does your praise begin with a contrite heart? How deep do you allow the Lord to cut in your heart? Do you enjoy a daily time with the Lord?
Making It Personal Kids
What does praising Jesus look like? What do you think it means to be contrite? Do you spend one on one time with Jesus?
Closing Prayer
Father, we repent of the times we have thought sacrificing was enough. Give us hearts which desire Your will enough to be contrite in heart and spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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