A Broken and Contrite Heart

We find broken and contrite heart is mentioned two times in the book of Psalms. First, in Psalms 34:18, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." and second time it's mentioned in Psalm 51:17, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

What do these two words mean?

Broken: having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or in working order
Contrite: feeling or expressing remorse (deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed); affected by guilt.

While I was meditating on this I had a picture of a heart and in this heart there are many channels. Lets bring out hearts into this picture now. We have a heart that has channels that are closed and we consider this to be our old nature. Our old nature is what we did before we came to Christ. Now, we come to Christ, but we still have closed channels in our heart. This is where brokenness comes in to play. We want to submit to the work of God's hands upon our lives so that He can break those channels and make the way for more of His Spirit to flow through us. I don't see brokenness so much to be a rip or tear in our heart, but an opening up. Brokenness also refers to humbleness and we must have a humble heart when we come to the Lord. When we come with a heart that is humble it will hurt less when God opens this channel. If we are stubborn and resistant, then it will be more hurt to us than what God had planned for us. 

Now to the contrite heart, the definition above is very interesting to me because this is what links our minds to our hearts. When we have guilt in our heart it generally is because we have been thinking and re-thinking about those things that we regret doing. It is necessary to feel guilt; that is the alarm that goes off in our minds that tells our heart that something is not right. However, the speak after feeling guilt is confessing what you have done before the Lord. This is what the enemy does not want to happen and so he tries to stop us and keep us in the mode of guilt. The enemy plants just one thought and the human mind just goes off on it's own. Learn and practice girding up the loins of your mind so that you do not allow that seed thought to come in and grow and choke out the truth. 

Brokenness and contrition work together. We do not know when something is wrong until we have guilt in our hearts. Once we have that guilt we must come to the Father with a humble spirit and allow Him to break open that channel. Once that channel is broken we no longer have that blockage and the Holy Spirit is now free to expand more in our lives. 

By God's grace we are able to do this. May we be placed on the right path and remain on this path so that we continue to be made more beautiful in the sight of our Lord.

God bless!