Psalm 51:9–19
Everybody loves demolition day on a renovation show. Sledgehammers swing, cabinets come down, somebody punches through the drywall. But nobody hires a contractor just to live in the rubble. Demo day only makes sense because of what comes after it.
Last week we watched God do some demolition in David's life. David tried to manage his sin, God sent Nathan, and David finally stopped defending himself. He even said God had broken his bones. If the psalm stopped there, it would be a sad song. But verse 8 asks for more: "that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice."
Here are three things God does with a broken heart.
He rebuilds it. "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (v. 10). Create is the same word as Genesis 1:1, and only God does it. David isn't asking for a fresh coat of paint on the same old heart. He wants a rebuild from the foundation up. That prayer reaches past forgiveness to cleansing, and God has promised to answer it: "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
He uses it. "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee" (v. 13). The man who needed a Nathan becomes a Nathan for others. Three thousand years later, David is still teaching sinners the way home. Restored people restore people.
He treasures it. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (v. 17). Broken in verse 8 and contrite in verse 17 share a Hebrew root that means "crushed." The crushing God did becomes the offering God receives.
At a dinner in Bethany, a woman "brake the box, and poured it on his head" (Mark 14:3), and "the house was filled with the odour of the ointment" (John 12:3). Some called it waste. Jesus called it a good work. The fragrance was in the jar all along. No one could smell it until it broke.
If God has been doing some demolition in your life, it isn't because He's finished with you. He's building something. Brokenness is a doorway, not a dwelling.
One Step Today
Bring God your broken heart, and ask Him for a clean one.
Pray verse 10 out loud today, slowly, and mean every word. Then think of one person who needs to hear what God has done for you, and tell them this week.
Prayer
Father, thank You that You will not despise a broken heart. Where You have broken, build. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation, and open my lips so I can tell others what You have done. In Jesus' name, amen.
