The Sacrifices of God…

 

I can’t love these words enough. Our God does not desire sacrifice…He does not delight in burnt offering. 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise.—Psalm 51:17

How beautiful those words are to my heart. My all seeing, all knowing, all powerful God desires what cannot be imitated or faked. God knows our heart.  Our God desires truth in our inward parts. No one gets into heaven by guile. Beloved…The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.  These He WILL NOT despise.  

So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.—Acts 15:8-9

"As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.—1 Chronicles 28:9

Who does the LORD dwell with?  

For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

"I dwell in the high and holy place,

With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

To revive the spirit of the humble,

And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.—Isaiah 57:15

On whom does He look? 

Thus says the LORD:

"Heaven is My throne,

And earth is My footstool.

Where is the house that you will build Me?

And where is the place of My rest?

For all those things My hand has made,

And all those things exist,"

Says the LORD.

"But on this one will I look:

On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,

And who trembles at My word.—Isaiah 66:1-2

The opportunity for salvation, the opportunity for forgiveness and restoration comes not when we are riding high on worldly success. It comes when we have reached the end of ourselves. It comes when we are laid low and are able to see our weaknesses and inability to do good. It is then that the truth of the saying “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” is proved. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence,

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted to You.—Psalm 51:10-13

It is when we have a right view of the heinousness of sin, and a right view of the holiness of God, that we begin to have a right view of the hopelessness of self. It is when you are standing in the ruins of your self-will…when you feel miles away from God, that He is the nearest. That is when conversion occurs…when I have repented of my sin. That is when my joy is full.

Ending with a quote from Alan Redpath:

There is nobody to whom the Lord is nearer than the one who is so weak that he is saying, “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped” (Ps. 73:2). I would that such helplessness might be the attitude of each of us, always, in the presence of our Lord, because conscious weakness is always a prerequisite for heavenly reinforcement. When I am weak, then, and then only, am I strong. The entry of self-confidence into a man’s experience means the departure of heavenly strength.

God doesn’t just want this when we first come to Him to be saved…He wants us to walk in this truth always. He wants us acutely aware of our own need for mercy. Why?  Because He desires to bless us. When we walk humbly before Him acknowledging our need, it is then…in our weakness…that His grace is poured out over our lives.