A broken and a contrite heart

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise, Psalm 17. But we must always remember these three things about all our spiritual sacrifices: 1. That as they must be all of his requiring, so they must be of his providing. We have nothing to offer to God that he will accept, till he give it to us, and till he first work it in us. David's broken heart was first given to him. Dreadful sins first lay quiet in his hard heart, till God broke it. 2. That a broken heart is always a humble heart. It begins to grow whole again (and quickly it will, unless the breaker of it keep it broken) when it begins to be proud. Such as have a good opinion of their own hearts, know not what a broken heart means. He that hath a broken heart, is broken with his vile heart; as the Lord speaks of his grief at mend whole hearts, Eek. vi. 9. 3. That all our spiritual sacrifices, and a broken heart, must be offered to God for acceptance on the right altar, and by the right High priest, Jesus Christ. As he, in dealing with God for our redemption, was both altar, and priest, and sacrifice; so, in all our dealings with God by him, we must be furnished with our sacrifice out of his store; we must offer up all to God by him as our Priest, Heb. xiii. 15.; for they are only acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. ii. 5. And we must have and use Christ as our altar to sanctify our gifts, Matth. xxiii. 19. Robert Traill

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