"The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart,
O God, Thou
wilt not despise."
-Psalm
51:17 [KJV]
The
heart that feels the burden of sin, that suffers under temptation,
that groans beneath satan's fiery assaults, that bleeds under the
wounds inflicted by committed evil, is broken and contrite. This
brokenness of heart and contrition of spirit is a thing which a child
of God alone can feel.
However
hard his heart at times may seem to be, there will be reasons of
spiritual reviving; however he may seem steeled against any sense of
love and mercy, or even of misery and guilt, from time to time when
he is least expecting and looking for it, there will be a breaking
down of his soul before the Lord; there will be a bewailing of
himself, a turning from the world to seek the Lord's favour, and a
casting himself as a sinner once more on undeserved mercy, tears will
flow down his cheeks, sighs burst from his bosom, and he will lie
humble at the Saviour's feet.
If
your soul has ever felt this, you have a better thing than any gift;
for this brokenness of spirit is a thing that accompanies salvation,
and is a sacrifice that God will not despise.
-Gospel
report from preacher J.C. Philpot (1802 – 1869 A.D.)
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