A Better Thing Than Any Gift
"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.
-preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
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