FROM BROKEN TO WHOLE
Psalm 51:16-17
“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”
Jonah 3:1-10
“Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.”
King David had just committed grievous sins against Bathsheba, Uriah, himself, and God. The prophet Nathan had masterfully shown David his own sin to him through a parable. David was stricken with remorse, and the words of Psalm 51 record David’s plea to God in the wake of his greatest sins. Verses 16-17 are particularly captivating to me as we enter into the season of Lent. In these verses David recognizes that God isn’t delighted by sacrifices. If He were, David would bring them in abundance. God would rather us have a broken and contrite heart. One of these things would certainly be easier than the other for David; David had access to as many sacrificial animals as he wanted! He could have filled up the temple with the blood of sacrifice if he wanted. But, this would not satisfy God. God is not satisfied with empty religious activity. God is not pleased with people sacrificing to Him while their hearts are stony and hardened. God wants His people to come before him with broken hearts so He can make them whole.
The prophet Jonah was sent on a mission: to proclaim God’s impending judgment on an evil city. Jonah immediately finds a boat and heads in the opposite direction. Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh and preach against it because, in his own words “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” (Jonah 4:2). After preaching in the city, Jonah’s greatest fear came true. The Ninevites repented. The people that he wanted to experience God’s judgment experience mercy. The people of Nineveh turn from their sin and proceed to fast and put on sackcloth. In ancient times it was customary to signify your mourning by wearing coarse garments made out of goat or camel hair. The sackcloth and the ashes were external signs that pointed to the inward reality. The Ninevites heard the message of their sin, and they repented. Their hearts were broken and contrite, and their behavior reflected that. God relented.
The season of Lent is a season of repentance and preparation. In this season of lent we grapple with our own sin and our mortality. The blessing of this season is that we grapple with our sin, turn from it, and face the grace of Jesus. As we prepare for Easter, we can heed David’s cry in Psalm 51:16-17. God is not concerned with the sacrifices we bring to try to atone for our sins, He simply desires a contrite heart. If we come to God with a broken heart over our sin He will treat us gently as He did with the Ninevites. If we come to God humbly He gives us life, which comes through Jesus’ empty tomb.