One of the greatest gifts we can give to God in our worship is
the gift of an undone spirit. Not an unraveled spirit or a
falling-apart-and-in-need-of-repair spirit necessarily, but the recognition
that we are unclean and full of sin; we are an unfinished work, an incomplete tapestry that still needs a lot of weaving. It takes a bit of humility to present ourselves and our hearts in this way — both to God and to the people in our lives. Pride gets the best of us, and we often spoil our worship to God by believing that we've got it all together in a sparkling package.
PAUSE: Take a moment to click and read Psalm 51:1-17.
Psalm 51 is David's pride-shattering turning to God after having committed adultery with Bathsheba. His posture of humility and desire for God's work and cleansing in his life are truly noteworthy for worshipers desiring a transparent heart with God. (If you cheated and skipped ahead without reading the link to Psalm 51, go back and read it.)
After David admits his brokenness and asks God to give him a pure and renewed heart, he offers God the most humble gift in verse 17:
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.David offers God his broken and undone spirit. He recognizes that God does not despise us when we come to him with sin, but loves that we would offer ourselves as we are—sin and all—to be redeemed by his grace.
Consider verses 16-17, but from The Message version of the Bible:
16 Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you.
17 I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice.These verses stopped me in my tracks as I recalled the many times I have gone through the motions of being a musician and worship leader and worried more about bringing a "flawless performance" than I did about bringing my flawed self to the presence of God. God knows our hearts and recognizes when we are ready—and also when we are not ready—to accept grace and rid ourselves of pride. When we bring a sacrifice of a sparkling package, God sees straight through it and has no room to work. When we bring a sacrifice of brokenness and an undone spirit, God begins his work and we become our own pride's worst enemy: a humble, undone worshiper.
What does it look like for you to become undone? What areas of pride have you struggled to give up? What thoughts plague your mind that you don't want anyone to know?
Just now, even as your thoughts started spinning, God knew them...and he knows them. Take a moment to release pride and accept humility. Speak these words aloud from Psalm 139:23-24:
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.Jamie
jrobison@b4church.org
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