Psalm 51:1-19 (BBE)
1 Have pity on me, O God, in your mercy; out of a full heart, take away my sin.
2 Let all my wrongdoing be washed away, and make me clean from evil.
3 For I am conscious of my error; my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I done wrong, working that which is evil in your eyes; so that your words may be seen to be right, and you may be clear when you are judging.
5 Truly, I was formed in evil, and in sin did my mother give me birth.
6 Your desire is for what is true in the inner parts: in the secrets of my soul you will give me knowledge of wisdom.
7 Make me free from sin with hyssop: let me be washed whiter than snow.
8 Make me full of joy and rapture; so that the bones which have been broken may be glad.
9 Let your face be turned from my wrongdoing, and take away all my sins.
10 Make a clean heart in me, O God; give me a right spirit again.
11 Do not put me away from before you, or take your holy spirit from me.
12 Give me back the joy of your salvation; let a free spirit be my support.
13 Then will I make your ways clear to wrongdoers; and sinners will be turned to you.
14 Be my saviour from violent death, O God, the God of my salvation; and my tongue will give praise to your righteousness.
15 O Lord, let my lips be open, so that my mouth may make clear your praise.
16 You have no desire for an offering or I would give it; you have no delight in burned offerings.
17 The offerings of God are a broken spirit; a broken and sorrowing heart, O God, you will not put from you.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure, building up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will have delight in the offerings of righteousness, in burned offerings and offerings of beasts; then they will make offerings of oxen on your altar.

God loves us and wants us to change from following the way that leads to death but to following His way that leads to life.
God wants us to be humble in spirit, as well as to reverence and love of His word, containing the truth.
A contrite heart means recognizing our sinfulness and brokenness, to be humble and teachable. Contriteness is the sorrowful and repentant state of a person, it’s hitting rock bottom and realizing that only God can turn things around for us.
Being crushed, bruised, and broken is a prerequisite for needing healing, forgiveness and transformation.
When David recognized the enormity of his sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11,12:1-15, and his attempted cover-up that ended with her husband’s death, he cried out to God in deep repentance. Verse 17 records his heartfelt prayers and what he had learned about how God wants to be approached.
Why does God value a contrite heart of sacrifice more than the burnt offerings He had commanded under the Old Covenant? Because the place of contrition is a blessed place to be. God says in Isaiah 57:15 that He is with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit. The contrite are promised a dwelling place with God. Their broken hearts will be revitalised.
A contrite heart does not take the forgiveness of God for granted. It is grieved over its sin and what it cost the Son of God, in 2 Corinthians 5:21. Without it a contrite heart, we are like the proud Pharisees, going through the motions of religion but harbouring arrogance in our hearts. Contrition agrees that a heart intent on following Christ must reject evil in all its forms. A contrite heart seeks the strength of God to overcome sin and move on toward holiness says 1 Peter 1:15–16.
We must understand that God does not deal with the proud and lofty but the humble declared in 1 Peter 5:5, He wants us to be repentant.
A hard heart, like Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites and wouldn’t let them go. Exodus tells us six times that Pharaoh had a “hard” heart. Even in the face of the evidence of God’s great power through the 10 plagues, again and again, Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, Exodus 7:13.
Ezekiel 11:19 tells us that God wants to remove our stony hearts and give us a fleshy, repentant one.
Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17 warns of self-sufficiency and pride, the hallmarks of a heart that’s lifted.
Nebuchadnezzar is an example of one whose “heart was lifted, and his spirit was hardened in pride in Daniel 5:20.
Is your heart lifted, hardened and too stony to acknowledge your sin and need for repentance and dependence on God?
Are you proud of your achievements and taking credit without honouring the Father for His mercy, favour, and grace?
God does not want us to have what:
Psalm 101:4 calls a perverse heart.
A proud heart. Psalm 101:5.
A wicked heart. Proverbs 26:23.
A defiant and rebellious heart Jeremiah 5:23.
A sinful heart. Jeremiah 17:1
A deceitful heart. Proverbs 17:20.
A desperately wicked heart. Jeremiah 17:9.
An adulterous heart Ezekiel 6:9.
A hard and impenitent heart. Romans 2:5.
A veiled heart. 2 Corinthians 3:15.
An evil and unbelieving heart. Hebrews 3:12.
God’s gift of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit cleanse our hearts and begins the process of changing them spiritually.
If we approach God contritely, He can create in us pure, and sound hearts that will rejoice evermore.
Shalom