The Blessing of Brokenness
Psalm 51
Message #3
In our message last week titled “Brokenness,” we said that brokenness was a condition of the heart, and because it’s a condition of the heart, it can be defined in a number of ways. And we defined it in a universal, all-encompassing way last week. This week we want to focus on our brokenness over sin.
Of this type of brokenness, one writer said, “Brokenness is the onramp to the road to repentance.” Brokenness begins that path to true repentance. Another writer said, “Brokenness is coming to the end of our self-life and recognizing that our only hope is in the grace and mercy of our God alone.”
Jesus reserved the first Beatitude for those who are broken. For the blessing of brokenness. He begins the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, verse 3.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit (broken over their sin), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
That’s how Jesus begins the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. That’s the blessing of brokenness that we want to talk about today. That’s all we’re doing, but we are going to blaze through the entire 51st Psalm to do it.
All of Psalm 51. There are other things that can be studied in Psalm 51, and they should be studied, but today the focus is on brokenness. You do need to know the backdrop a little, so I’ll tell you, I’ll remind you.
At least a year prior to David writing Psalm 51, he had committed two sins (adultery and murder) for which there was no atonement in the law. And for a year, David had been living under the weight of his guilt while he was covering his sin with his pride. Until one day, the Holy Spirit, through a prophet named Nathan, called David on his sin, in a very powerful way. Finally… finally… Psalm 51 is David’s breaking before the Lord. His repentance and his restoration to God. Psalm 51 was written out of David knowing his only hope was in his brokenness before the Lord and in the merciful love of a graceful God. There was nothing in the law that could fix what he had done. There was no way out for him. He had to throw himself upon the mercy of God and either be saved or judged, but it was his only hope. I want you to know it’s our only hope as well.
We’re going to go through almost all of Psalm 51, and again, I’m roughly using Damian Kyle’s outline (his approach) with my own expressions and illustrations. And I do that really as an acknowledgment of how much Damian Kyle has taught me on this subject. Damian Kyle, Calvary Chapel Modesto, is probably the greatest example of brokenness in the Calvary Chapel movement.
So, let’s look at the blessings that brokenness brings into our lives through Psalm 51. In verse 1, brokenness brings us back to a full reliance on God’s grace and mercy alone.
Psalm 51:1 (ESV)
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Brokenness brings us back to a full reliance on God’s grace and mercy alone.
David had committed sins for which there was no atonement. There was no provision in the law to cover over (atone) for these sins. That means there was nothing David could do on his own to be made right with God. No religious effort. No cleaning up of his life. No making himself “worthy.”
His only hope was to throw himself completely on God’s mercy and God’s steadfast love (His Hesed) by covenant. It is so easy for us to move away from a real acknowledgment of our constant need for God’s grace and mercy. We start thinking we’re alright, that we’re doing pretty good. We begin to say, “I think God’s pretty happy with me.” Religious pride looks like spirituality, sometimes. Spiritual pride is you thinking you’re doing pretty good; you’re “all that.”
And we so easily begin to forget that without God’s constant grace, we would be helpless, hopeless, and only under God’s judgment. The only thing we justly deserve is God’s judgment. That’s what we’ve earned. That’s what we deserve. The blessing of brokenness brings us back to a full reliance on God’s grace and mercy alone.
In verse 2, brokenness gives us a constant desire to live a purified life.
Psalm 51:2 (ESV)
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
It’s so easy for us to begin to accept unholy thinking, unholy attitudes, and unholy actions. But the blessing of brokenness gives us a constant desire to be washed from our iniquity and to be cleansed from our sin. And please hear me, pride is the opposite of brokenness, and pride keeps us blind to the unholy areas of our life. Pride gives you the reason and the method to hide those sins in your life. The unholy thoughts, the unholy attitudes.
Brokenness gives us a constant desire to live a purified life cleansed from sin. Pride gives us a reason and a method to cover up (hide) and deny the unholy areas of our lives, leading to our destruction. Brokenness keeps us in the transformation process because it gives us a constant desire to live a purified life.
In verse 3, brokenness brings a humility that allows me to admit when I am wrong.
Psalm 51:3 (ESV)
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Have you ever had the difficult experience of interacting with someone who is always right (in their own eyes)? That comes from high pride and low brokenness. But brokenness allows me to quickly admit when I’m wrong. In fact, brokenness causes me to admit I may very well be wrong and not even know it. It is so freeing to be a sinner saved by grace and to have the humility to know at any given moment I may be wrong and may even be operating in a sinful state. And if that sounds wrong to you, you may want to take my number one pride test.
My number one pride test is a simple question – “How often are you right?” And the more often you’re right, the more you may truly need the blessing of brokenness in your life.
In verse 4, brokenness allows us to understand and admit the true and full impact of our sin.
Psalm 51:4 (ESV)
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Brokenness brings a deep remorse for what I’ve done to God and what I’ve done to his name. God, this is against YOU, that I’ve done this I’ve belittled your name - I’ve sinned against YOU.
Brokenness is not regretting the consequences of your sin; it’s understanding the true impact of your sin. Eternally.
It’s interesting to compare how David got taken down by his sin with Bathsheba to how Joseph handled a similar situation with Potiphar’s wife in Genesis Chapter 39. David had plenty of warnings as he plowed forward into his sin. But David justified, rationalized, schemed, and covered up his sin – all signs of self-centered pride.
Joseph (on the other hand) said to Potiphar’s wife when she was trying to get Joseph to commit the same sin. In Genesis 39, Joseph told Potiphar’s wife:
Genesis 39:9 (ESV)
9 . . . How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
How can I do this to GOD? And drag God’s name through the mud like that? Brokenness allows us to understand and admit the true impact of our sin.
In verse 5, brokenness gives us a correct view of our own sin nature.
Psalm 51:5 (ESV)
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
I was born a sinner. I lived as a sinner before I was saved. I’ve been at war with sin since I’ve been saved. We understand who we are, where we’ve come from, and what battle we’re fighting. We have to understand that our nature is actually sinful.
Paul had this same understanding in Romans 7.
Romans 7:18 (NLT)
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature . . .
Paul goes on to say in Romans 7:24 (ESV), Oh, wretched man that I am - who will Deliver me from this body of Death?
Brokenness gives us a correct view of our own sin nature, and it is ugly. Brokenness is the answer to the constant war inside.
But notice in Psalm 51, verse 6, brokenness brings us back to truth and wisdom from God.
Psalm 51:6 (ESV)
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
True brokenness keeps us honest and truthful with God enabling him to teach us and transform us. David had been living this crazy lie for a year before God. In his pride, David thought he could continue living with God without dealing with his sin. But brokenness freed him from that crazy lie. Brokenness keeps short accounts with God. But pride causes us to try to sweep sin under the rug, thinking maybe God won’t look there.
Hebrews 4:13 says we are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
In fact, just like there are tests for pride, there are similar tests for brokenness. One sure-fire test is the amount of time between your sin and your repentance, both to God and to another person if necessary. The longer we struggle with confessing our sin and repenting of it, the further away from brokenness we are. Brokenness lives in truth at the core of who we are, and because of living in that truth (verse six also says), brokenness brings the wisdom of God alive in my heart again. In brokenness, God can teach you; in pride, you are a very poor student. Brokenness brings us back to truth and wisdom from God.
Then in verses 7-8, brokenness brings a return of joy and gladness to our lives.
Psalm 51:7–8 (ESV)
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
David says, “Purge me with hyssop” which was the branch used to sprinkle the blood of atonement on the mercy seat. David is saying, “Purge me with the blood and I shall be clean, wash me (again implying blood) and I shall be whiter than snow.”
In brokenness, David wanted so badly to be returned into the joy and gladness of his salvation in the Lord. His life had been so dry, separated from the Lord by his sin; he had lost all his joy. When we are carrying the weight of our sin, we are crushed under it; it is constantly suffocating us.
After David’s confession and repentance in Psalm 51. Looking back on the crushing burden of his unrepentant sin, he wrote Psalm 32, and it’s called a “Psalm of Instruction.”
Psalm 32:1–5 (NLT)
1 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
That is such a great five verses! May we all be able to say exactly that with David, “When I confessed my sin to you, Lord, and stopped trying to hide my guilt - You FORGAVE me! And all my guilt is GONE!!”
Augustine said of this Psalm: “The beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner. Brokenness does that. Through brokenness, God forgives, and God brings a return of joy and gladness to our lives.”
Back in Psalm 51, verse 9 closes David’s acknowledgment and shame of his sin.
Psalm 51:9 (ESV)
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
David was ashamed to have God look upon his sin. His brokenness allowed him to confess that to God. The word iniquity means guilt, and to blot out his guilt is to remove it from the legal record. David has been crying out to be cleansed from his sin.
But more importantly, in verse 10, David cries out for God to create in him a clean heart and renew in him a right spirit.
Psalm 51:10 (ESV)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Brokenness is what leads us to make this cry to God. God, please forgive me of my sin, and please create in me a clean heart and renew a right (steadfast, loyal) spirit within me. It is brokenness that gets us to this place.
A place where we recognize our life and death NEED for
1) Forgiveness of our sin
2) And for God to create a clean heart in us
3) And renew a right spirit in us
And make a note of this, the Hebrew word for “create” (in me a clean heart), is the famous word BA-RA, which means “to create out of nothing.” Brokenness causes us to cry out to God to create in us a clean heart and renew in us a right spirit.
In Verse 11, brokenness brings an earnest desire for what is most important in our lives.
Brokenness clears the fog of wrong thinking and allows us to see truly Lord, what I need is YOU – Personally – I need your PRESENCE Lord – I need YOU with me.
Psalm 51:11 (ESV)
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
The most wonderful and joyful time for a Christian is to sense the ‘tangible” presence of God. To know that you are really, truly in his presence and to know his Holy Spirit is strengthening you. To know God is the wind in your sails, the foundation beneath your feet, your guide, source, provision, safety, and peace. All that God is to you comes in his presence, and it comes through his Holy Spirit.
It’s the most important thing in the Christian life. “Lord, God, I need YOU! I don’t need you to fix my stuff; I need you personally. I need you with me. I need to know your hand is on me. I need to know you’re leading and guiding, and going before me and setting my path and hemming me in from the enemy. All I need is YOU! And if I have you, everything is going to be okay! And if I don’t have you, it doesn’t matter what else I have because I’m sitting in a pile of kindling wood!”
Listen, the most wonderful, joyful time for a Christian is in the presence of God. It’s that knowledge that God is with you and you are filled with his Spirit. You can sense him on you. All that God is in your life comes from his presence in your life. So, stop asking for stuff, and start asking for God’s presence. “I need you God!” With God, all things are possible. Without God, nothing is possible. So, get God.
David knew what he truly needed was to be back in God’s presence with the Holy Spirit falling upon him again, and David knew that his prideful unrepentant sin had separated him from the presence of God and from God’s Holy Spirit.
David knew what Isaiah later wrote in Isaiah 59.
Isaiah 59:1–2 (NLT)
1 Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
Un-confessed and un-repented sin separates you from God’s presence. Sometimes we think (in our pride) that God has just arbitrarily turned away from us. But Isaiah 59, verses 1-2 says that is not what has happened.
Brokenness allows us to
SEE our own sin
CONFESS it to God and repent of it
and be RESTORED to God’s presence and power of his Holy Spirit
That is why we call it “The Blessing of Brokenness.”
And in verse 12 of Psalm 51, brings a fresh joy of our salvation.
Psalm 51:12 (ESV)
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
We tend to think we need this from God or we need that from God, even questioning God if he doesn’t give us what we expect. But brokenness fixes all that. Brokenness brings us back to being joyful that we’re saved. “God, I’m just so thankful that you saved me, adopted me, and are caring for me – thank you for that joy, Lord.”
David didn’t lose his salvation, he lost the joy of his salvation, and you and I can easily do the same thing. The number one culprit for losing the joy of our salvation is sin in our lives, covered up by the pride in our hearts. That sin, covered by that pride, causes us to lose the joy of our salvation. Brokenness causes us to pray: Lord, Restore me to the JOY of your Salvation . . . and uphold me with a willing spirit... Meaning, give me a willing spirit to do what’s right before you, to obey you, to be in right fellowship with you.
Then... then… then…
Then I can get back in the hunt
Then I can get back in the battle
Then I can get back to serving you.
Psalm 51:13 (ESV)
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
Brokenness brings a fresh joy of just being in the service of the Lord.
Bring me back, Lord. Make my heart right again, and then I’ll be able to be used by you again for YOUR glory. THEN I can teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Lord, I can’t be used by you in my pride. I can’t be used by you if I’m harboring sin in my heart. And so, Lord, I come in brokenness desiring to be made right, so I can get back into the battle for souls, so I can be used by you again, Lord.
Brokenness gets us back into the service of the Lord.
In verses 14 and 15, brokenness brings us true praise and worship.
Psalm 51:14–15 (ESV)
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Charles Spurgeon said:
“A great sinner pardoned, makes a great singer.”
And man, that is the truth. You can easily see a direct connection between brokenness and worship. Broken people worship God for who he is and what he’s done for them. I don’t mean how expressive or non-expressive they are. I mean, whether or not they’re worshipping in any way. It’s very hard for a person locked up in pride to really worship. Brokenness fixes this problem. Coming to God as a sinner saved by his grace and mercy alone, unworthy and undeserving. Yet coming boldly to worship him for all he’s done for us. Brokenness brings us into true praise and worship.
And then finally, in verses 16-17 are the famous summary verses of brokenness.
Psalm 51:16–17 (ESV)
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
There was nothing David could “do” to make himself “right” with God. Nothing in the law. No Sacrifice. No offering could atone for his sin. And David realized those “actions” (in and of themselves) aren’t really what God wants anyway.
The true sacrifice to be given to God is the sacrifice of a broken spirit (opposite of prideful spirit). A broken and contrite heart God will not despise. God will not reject a broken and repentant heart.
God will and does reject just going through the motions of religious offerings, but God will never reject a truly broken, contrite, repentant heart. If you come to him with that heart, he will never reject you, never. What God wanted from David was his heart, broken and contrite over sin.
God wanted David to be broken by his sin so he could be restored to the joy of his salvation. That was what God wanted. That is all God ever wants from every one of us who is just as big a sinner as David. God doesn’t want you going through the motion. God wants your heart. Nothing else will do. He wants you to be broke over sin so he can restore you.
God wants us broken over the sin and spiritual apathy in our lives and then mourning that condition. God wants us to humbly and passionately see his mercy and grace to revive us and restore us to the joy of our salvation. That is the Blessing of Brokenness.
Of this type of brokenness, one writer said, “Brokenness is the onramp to the road to repentance.” Brokenness begins that path to true repentance. Another writer said, “Brokenness is coming to the end of our self-life and recognizing that our only hope is in the grace and mercy of our God alone.”
Jesus reserved the first Beatitude for those who are broken. For the blessing of brokenness. He begins the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, verse 3.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit (broken over their sin), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
That’s how Jesus begins the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. That’s the blessing of brokenness that we want to talk about today. That’s all we’re doing, but we are going to blaze through the entire 51st Psalm to do it.
All of Psalm 51. There are other things that can be studied in Psalm 51, and they should be studied, but today the focus is on brokenness. You do need to know the backdrop a little, so I’ll tell you, I’ll remind you.
At least a year prior to David writing Psalm 51, he had committed two sins (adultery and murder) for which there was no atonement in the law. And for a year, David had been living under the weight of his guilt while he was covering his sin with his pride. Until one day, the Holy Spirit, through a prophet named Nathan, called David on his sin, in a very powerful way. Finally… finally… Psalm 51 is David’s breaking before the Lord. His repentance and his restoration to God. Psalm 51 was written out of David knowing his only hope was in his brokenness before the Lord and in the merciful love of a graceful God. There was nothing in the law that could fix what he had done. There was no way out for him. He had to throw himself upon the mercy of God and either be saved or judged, but it was his only hope. I want you to know it’s our only hope as well.
We’re going to go through almost all of Psalm 51, and again, I’m roughly using Damian Kyle’s outline (his approach) with my own expressions and illustrations. And I do that really as an acknowledgment of how much Damian Kyle has taught me on this subject. Damian Kyle, Calvary Chapel Modesto, is probably the greatest example of brokenness in the Calvary Chapel movement.
So, let’s look at the blessings that brokenness brings into our lives through Psalm 51. In verse 1, brokenness brings us back to a full reliance on God’s grace and mercy alone.
Psalm 51:1 (ESV)
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Brokenness brings us back to a full reliance on God’s grace and mercy alone.
David had committed sins for which there was no atonement. There was no provision in the law to cover over (atone) for these sins. That means there was nothing David could do on his own to be made right with God. No religious effort. No cleaning up of his life. No making himself “worthy.”
His only hope was to throw himself completely on God’s mercy and God’s steadfast love (His Hesed) by covenant. It is so easy for us to move away from a real acknowledgment of our constant need for God’s grace and mercy. We start thinking we’re alright, that we’re doing pretty good. We begin to say, “I think God’s pretty happy with me.” Religious pride looks like spirituality, sometimes. Spiritual pride is you thinking you’re doing pretty good; you’re “all that.”
And we so easily begin to forget that without God’s constant grace, we would be helpless, hopeless, and only under God’s judgment. The only thing we justly deserve is God’s judgment. That’s what we’ve earned. That’s what we deserve. The blessing of brokenness brings us back to a full reliance on God’s grace and mercy alone.
In verse 2, brokenness gives us a constant desire to live a purified life.
Psalm 51:2 (ESV)
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
It’s so easy for us to begin to accept unholy thinking, unholy attitudes, and unholy actions. But the blessing of brokenness gives us a constant desire to be washed from our iniquity and to be cleansed from our sin. And please hear me, pride is the opposite of brokenness, and pride keeps us blind to the unholy areas of our life. Pride gives you the reason and the method to hide those sins in your life. The unholy thoughts, the unholy attitudes.
Brokenness gives us a constant desire to live a purified life cleansed from sin. Pride gives us a reason and a method to cover up (hide) and deny the unholy areas of our lives, leading to our destruction. Brokenness keeps us in the transformation process because it gives us a constant desire to live a purified life.
In verse 3, brokenness brings a humility that allows me to admit when I am wrong.
Psalm 51:3 (ESV)
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Have you ever had the difficult experience of interacting with someone who is always right (in their own eyes)? That comes from high pride and low brokenness. But brokenness allows me to quickly admit when I’m wrong. In fact, brokenness causes me to admit I may very well be wrong and not even know it. It is so freeing to be a sinner saved by grace and to have the humility to know at any given moment I may be wrong and may even be operating in a sinful state. And if that sounds wrong to you, you may want to take my number one pride test.
My number one pride test is a simple question – “How often are you right?” And the more often you’re right, the more you may truly need the blessing of brokenness in your life.
In verse 4, brokenness allows us to understand and admit the true and full impact of our sin.
Psalm 51:4 (ESV)
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Brokenness brings a deep remorse for what I’ve done to God and what I’ve done to his name. God, this is against YOU, that I’ve done this I’ve belittled your name - I’ve sinned against YOU.
Brokenness is not regretting the consequences of your sin; it’s understanding the true impact of your sin. Eternally.
It’s interesting to compare how David got taken down by his sin with Bathsheba to how Joseph handled a similar situation with Potiphar’s wife in Genesis Chapter 39. David had plenty of warnings as he plowed forward into his sin. But David justified, rationalized, schemed, and covered up his sin – all signs of self-centered pride.
Joseph (on the other hand) said to Potiphar’s wife when she was trying to get Joseph to commit the same sin. In Genesis 39, Joseph told Potiphar’s wife:
Genesis 39:9 (ESV)
9 . . . How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
How can I do this to GOD? And drag God’s name through the mud like that? Brokenness allows us to understand and admit the true impact of our sin.
In verse 5, brokenness gives us a correct view of our own sin nature.
Psalm 51:5 (ESV)
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
I was born a sinner. I lived as a sinner before I was saved. I’ve been at war with sin since I’ve been saved. We understand who we are, where we’ve come from, and what battle we’re fighting. We have to understand that our nature is actually sinful.
Paul had this same understanding in Romans 7.
Romans 7:18 (NLT)
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature . . .
Paul goes on to say in Romans 7:24 (ESV), Oh, wretched man that I am - who will Deliver me from this body of Death?
Brokenness gives us a correct view of our own sin nature, and it is ugly. Brokenness is the answer to the constant war inside.
But notice in Psalm 51, verse 6, brokenness brings us back to truth and wisdom from God.
Psalm 51:6 (ESV)
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
True brokenness keeps us honest and truthful with God enabling him to teach us and transform us. David had been living this crazy lie for a year before God. In his pride, David thought he could continue living with God without dealing with his sin. But brokenness freed him from that crazy lie. Brokenness keeps short accounts with God. But pride causes us to try to sweep sin under the rug, thinking maybe God won’t look there.
Hebrews 4:13 says we are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
In fact, just like there are tests for pride, there are similar tests for brokenness. One sure-fire test is the amount of time between your sin and your repentance, both to God and to another person if necessary. The longer we struggle with confessing our sin and repenting of it, the further away from brokenness we are. Brokenness lives in truth at the core of who we are, and because of living in that truth (verse six also says), brokenness brings the wisdom of God alive in my heart again. In brokenness, God can teach you; in pride, you are a very poor student. Brokenness brings us back to truth and wisdom from God.
Then in verses 7-8, brokenness brings a return of joy and gladness to our lives.
Psalm 51:7–8 (ESV)
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
David says, “Purge me with hyssop” which was the branch used to sprinkle the blood of atonement on the mercy seat. David is saying, “Purge me with the blood and I shall be clean, wash me (again implying blood) and I shall be whiter than snow.”
In brokenness, David wanted so badly to be returned into the joy and gladness of his salvation in the Lord. His life had been so dry, separated from the Lord by his sin; he had lost all his joy. When we are carrying the weight of our sin, we are crushed under it; it is constantly suffocating us.
After David’s confession and repentance in Psalm 51. Looking back on the crushing burden of his unrepentant sin, he wrote Psalm 32, and it’s called a “Psalm of Instruction.”
Psalm 32:1–5 (NLT)
1 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
That is such a great five verses! May we all be able to say exactly that with David, “When I confessed my sin to you, Lord, and stopped trying to hide my guilt - You FORGAVE me! And all my guilt is GONE!!”
Augustine said of this Psalm: “The beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner. Brokenness does that. Through brokenness, God forgives, and God brings a return of joy and gladness to our lives.”
Back in Psalm 51, verse 9 closes David’s acknowledgment and shame of his sin.
Psalm 51:9 (ESV)
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
David was ashamed to have God look upon his sin. His brokenness allowed him to confess that to God. The word iniquity means guilt, and to blot out his guilt is to remove it from the legal record. David has been crying out to be cleansed from his sin.
But more importantly, in verse 10, David cries out for God to create in him a clean heart and renew in him a right spirit.
Psalm 51:10 (ESV)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Brokenness is what leads us to make this cry to God. God, please forgive me of my sin, and please create in me a clean heart and renew a right (steadfast, loyal) spirit within me. It is brokenness that gets us to this place.
A place where we recognize our life and death NEED for
1) Forgiveness of our sin
2) And for God to create a clean heart in us
3) And renew a right spirit in us
And make a note of this, the Hebrew word for “create” (in me a clean heart), is the famous word BA-RA, which means “to create out of nothing.” Brokenness causes us to cry out to God to create in us a clean heart and renew in us a right spirit.
In Verse 11, brokenness brings an earnest desire for what is most important in our lives.
Brokenness clears the fog of wrong thinking and allows us to see truly Lord, what I need is YOU – Personally – I need your PRESENCE Lord – I need YOU with me.
Psalm 51:11 (ESV)
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
The most wonderful and joyful time for a Christian is to sense the ‘tangible” presence of God. To know that you are really, truly in his presence and to know his Holy Spirit is strengthening you. To know God is the wind in your sails, the foundation beneath your feet, your guide, source, provision, safety, and peace. All that God is to you comes in his presence, and it comes through his Holy Spirit.
It’s the most important thing in the Christian life. “Lord, God, I need YOU! I don’t need you to fix my stuff; I need you personally. I need you with me. I need to know your hand is on me. I need to know you’re leading and guiding, and going before me and setting my path and hemming me in from the enemy. All I need is YOU! And if I have you, everything is going to be okay! And if I don’t have you, it doesn’t matter what else I have because I’m sitting in a pile of kindling wood!”
Listen, the most wonderful, joyful time for a Christian is in the presence of God. It’s that knowledge that God is with you and you are filled with his Spirit. You can sense him on you. All that God is in your life comes from his presence in your life. So, stop asking for stuff, and start asking for God’s presence. “I need you God!” With God, all things are possible. Without God, nothing is possible. So, get God.
David knew what he truly needed was to be back in God’s presence with the Holy Spirit falling upon him again, and David knew that his prideful unrepentant sin had separated him from the presence of God and from God’s Holy Spirit.
David knew what Isaiah later wrote in Isaiah 59.
Isaiah 59:1–2 (NLT)
1 Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
Un-confessed and un-repented sin separates you from God’s presence. Sometimes we think (in our pride) that God has just arbitrarily turned away from us. But Isaiah 59, verses 1-2 says that is not what has happened.
Brokenness allows us to
SEE our own sin
CONFESS it to God and repent of it
and be RESTORED to God’s presence and power of his Holy Spirit
That is why we call it “The Blessing of Brokenness.”
And in verse 12 of Psalm 51, brings a fresh joy of our salvation.
Psalm 51:12 (ESV)
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
We tend to think we need this from God or we need that from God, even questioning God if he doesn’t give us what we expect. But brokenness fixes all that. Brokenness brings us back to being joyful that we’re saved. “God, I’m just so thankful that you saved me, adopted me, and are caring for me – thank you for that joy, Lord.”
David didn’t lose his salvation, he lost the joy of his salvation, and you and I can easily do the same thing. The number one culprit for losing the joy of our salvation is sin in our lives, covered up by the pride in our hearts. That sin, covered by that pride, causes us to lose the joy of our salvation. Brokenness causes us to pray: Lord, Restore me to the JOY of your Salvation . . . and uphold me with a willing spirit... Meaning, give me a willing spirit to do what’s right before you, to obey you, to be in right fellowship with you.
Then... then… then…
Then I can get back in the hunt
Then I can get back in the battle
Then I can get back to serving you.
Psalm 51:13 (ESV)
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
Brokenness brings a fresh joy of just being in the service of the Lord.
Bring me back, Lord. Make my heart right again, and then I’ll be able to be used by you again for YOUR glory. THEN I can teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Lord, I can’t be used by you in my pride. I can’t be used by you if I’m harboring sin in my heart. And so, Lord, I come in brokenness desiring to be made right, so I can get back into the battle for souls, so I can be used by you again, Lord.
Brokenness gets us back into the service of the Lord.
In verses 14 and 15, brokenness brings us true praise and worship.
Psalm 51:14–15 (ESV)
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Charles Spurgeon said:
“A great sinner pardoned, makes a great singer.”
And man, that is the truth. You can easily see a direct connection between brokenness and worship. Broken people worship God for who he is and what he’s done for them. I don’t mean how expressive or non-expressive they are. I mean, whether or not they’re worshipping in any way. It’s very hard for a person locked up in pride to really worship. Brokenness fixes this problem. Coming to God as a sinner saved by his grace and mercy alone, unworthy and undeserving. Yet coming boldly to worship him for all he’s done for us. Brokenness brings us into true praise and worship.
And then finally, in verses 16-17 are the famous summary verses of brokenness.
Psalm 51:16–17 (ESV)
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
There was nothing David could “do” to make himself “right” with God. Nothing in the law. No Sacrifice. No offering could atone for his sin. And David realized those “actions” (in and of themselves) aren’t really what God wants anyway.
The true sacrifice to be given to God is the sacrifice of a broken spirit (opposite of prideful spirit). A broken and contrite heart God will not despise. God will not reject a broken and repentant heart.
God will and does reject just going through the motions of religious offerings, but God will never reject a truly broken, contrite, repentant heart. If you come to him with that heart, he will never reject you, never. What God wanted from David was his heart, broken and contrite over sin.
God wanted David to be broken by his sin so he could be restored to the joy of his salvation. That was what God wanted. That is all God ever wants from every one of us who is just as big a sinner as David. God doesn’t want you going through the motion. God wants your heart. Nothing else will do. He wants you to be broke over sin so he can restore you.
God wants us broken over the sin and spiritual apathy in our lives and then mourning that condition. God wants us to humbly and passionately see his mercy and grace to revive us and restore us to the joy of our salvation. That is the Blessing of Brokenness.