Daily Scripture

The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

Daily Reflection

King David – one of God’s faithful servants – had committed adultery with Bathsheba. (We all get things wrong.) The prophet Nathan had torn a strip off him! David pleads before God that his transgressions be washed away, and that he be cleansed. “Give me again the joy of your salvation,” he cries in another part of the psalm. Then he speaks these seemingly strange words. This does not mean that God wants a crushed spirit; he does not want us to be broken people. What he wants is for each of us to recognise within ourselves the things that separate us from God, the wrong actions, the wrong thoughts. He wants us to reach a point where we genuinely want to stop doing what is wrong, and seek his help. God is pleased with that kind of humility (brokenness) in us. “Deliver me from my guilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.” (v.14)

Revd David