A Contrite Heart

[Marsha Gupton]

Psalm 51
A broken and contrite heart

"Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, And blameless when Thou dost judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which Thou hast broken rejoice. 9 Hide Thy face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Thy presence, And do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, And sinners will be converted to Thee. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Thy righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Thy praise. 16 For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.18 By Thy favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then Thou wilt delight in righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then young bulls will be offered on Thine altar.




Any discussion on what a contrite heart is? How do we come to the point where we are broken and contrite?

[Judy Hamilton]

Psalm 51
A broken and contrite heart

"Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.




Any discussion on what a contrite heart is? How do we come to the point where we are broken and contrite?

Marsha

Your question of what is a contrite heart has caused me to question my own life. To define for myself (alone) what is the godly meaning of a contrite heart? It means to me, a glimpse of the depravity of my heart without the grace of the Lord on my life and a desparate need for God to touch anew His purifying coals to my heart.

On my grass, I spotted rounded mounds of sandy loam on what had recently been a smooth lawn. A family of moles has taken up residence beneath my yard. The little creatures were wreaking havoc with my lawn by burrowing into the soil and disrupting the beautiful turf.
Can the activity of the moles of pride in my heart and holding onto any offense from years ago, or recent offense, illustrate a dark side of this naznetter’s human heart? On the surface I may appear polished and in control. However is pride doing a work of inner destruction? Sooner or later moles become apparent and as with the destruction on my yard,will wreak destruction in and on my heart and with the intimacy I long for with the Lord.
God's remedy for pride is confession and a contrite heart. If in some way the need to be always right has harmed and offended others of you in this community of ladies. I stand before you and ask forgiveness.

Here is a grateful heart, that the Lord in His mercy calls His daughter to come to Him with a contrite heart with my weakness (shall I call pride a weakness, or a sin??)


“Change My Heart Oh Lord!
Make it ever new
Change my heart oh Lord!
May I look like You!

I have this poem as one of the coordinates on
the compass for my life. I learned it in
my high school literature class and have spent almost
five decades trying to live by the premisies encouraged
by classic poem


Myself

by Edgar A. Guest

I have to live with myself and so
I want to be fit for myself to know,
I want to be able as days go by,
To look at myself straight in the eye.
I don't want to stand with the setting sun
And hate myself for the things I've done.

I don't want to hide on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself as I come and go
Into thinking that nobody else will know
What kind of man I really am;
I don't want to dress myself in sham.

I want to go with my head erect,
I want to deserve all men's respect
And in this struggle for fame and pelf
I want to be able to like myself.
I don't want to look at myself and know
That I am a bluster and empty show.

I cannot hide myself from me;
I can see what others can never see;
I know what others can never know,
I cannot fool myself, and so

Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.

a PS to this classic poem

I feel that one cannot be self respecting and
conscience free
without bending hearts and knees to the Lord

this is to me a contrite heart defined


Judy

[Sara Sheppard]

Judy,

I LOVE that poem!

Thank you.

Sara

[Anita F. Henck]

Thanks for posting this thoughtful question, Marsha. I read it earlier today and have been thinking about it in the back of my mind throughout a series of research meetings this afternoon. So, while I was in research mode, I went to the Merriam Webster dictionary online to get the definition of "contrite". It says, "feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming."

I fear that in today's world, contrition is rare. More likely, we are willing to review ourselves, feel justified for our actions, and feel self-satisfied for having stopped to review ourselves. In our "no fault" or "your fault" world, we are less practiced in finding our sins and shortcomings, let alone acknowledging them to others through feeling or showing sorrow or remorse.

One of the times of spiritual deepening in my life was a 2-3 year period when I hosted a Moms in Touch group in my home. To meet weekly with area women from many denominational backgrounds to pray specifically for our children, our school, and our neighborhood was a powerful time. But, it was a learning time for me, as I saw the power of accountability through regular confession of sins to the group. That is not a part of our tradition. Nonetheless, to see people thoughtfully be aware of the accountability of their actions to God, their spiritual community, and themselves was humbling. To pray for forgiveness for things done and things left undone meant that I began to be more reflective of my own actions. To hear moms pray for forgiveness for times when they had been hurried in their devotional life, so busy that they became frustrated with their family, or too unaware of needs in their community was a time of learning for me. Too often we excuse our rudeness, shortness, or busy-ness.

Even in the best of times, there are things we can do better. This question is a good reminder of that.

[Marsha Gupton]

Anita,

Welcome back to W2W! It has been a while.

The subject of a contrite heart has been in my mind all day. Thank you Judy and Anita for sharing your thoughts and sharing your heart.

Create In Me a Clean Heart, O God! Those are powerful words.

[Barbara Moulton]

For me....

Over the years a "contrite heart" has come to mean living in humilty before God so that conviction of sin results in showing remorse by my words and actions. If I am sensitive and responsive to God's spirit, then I don't need to spend as much time feeling remorseful.

In fact, I really don't spend much time feeling sorry for my sins. I confess before God and then ask for His direction to make things right where I need to make them right.

A contrite heart seems to be a humble heart, a heart that is willing to be corrected and taught.

Is a healthy spirituality less about feeling remorse then being continually open to the convicting and correcting power of the spirit?