Contrite

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
– Psalm 51:17

Some words in the English language get less mileage than others. My guess is that “contrite” is on the low end. With few exceptions, whenever I hear or speak the word it is connected to Psalm 51. The word has many familiar synonyms, like sorry, ashamed and remorseful. It also has a few odd ones (whoever heard of hangdog?). Some Bible translations probably choose one of the “higher mileage” synonyms, but for me, the psalm just isn’t the same without the word contrite.

Psalm 51 is the heart-cry of a mourner. The writer is keenly aware of his sinfulness before God. “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (v. 3). This is not hyperbolic language. The psalm is attributed to David after he is confronted regarding his sin with Bathsheba. Pride, self-determination and our carnal nature can mask or subdue our consciousness of sin. Psalm 51 is what happens with the mask is removed and all is laid bare. The writer’s conviction is not of being a sinner in just a general sense. He knew exactly what he had done, and felt the pain of having to face it.

Contrition is not a bad thing. Sure, no one goes looking for it. Never have I started a day thinking, “I hope I can feel a deep sense of remorse about something today.” And, maybe that is part of the problem. Scripture makes some things pretty clear, one of which being the posture of heart that makes one right with God. Jesus described it by the prayer of a tax collector, who would not even lift his eyes to God while praying, “Have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The psalmist knows he doesn’t have a leg to stand on before God, and he is quite willing to embrace it. “Against You, You only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge” (v. 4).

Contrition requires a clear awareness of sin. If I am not feeling contrition from time to time, it could be for one of three reasons. One might be that I have no reason to be contrite, i.e. no sin. Before you scoff too abruptly, let me just admit that is not the case. Reason number two might be that my consciousness has grown dull. This would not be a good thing. Believe it or not, a dull consciousness toward sin would suggest that my vision of God’s holiness has been lost, or at least severely watered down. If that is the case, I would be in desperate need of an Isaiah 6 moment. The third reason I might not feel contrition is that my human pride is holding me in rebellion against God. This would be the worst possible scenario. My hope would be to have a friend close enough to come in the spirit of the prophet Nathan to confront me (see 2 Samuel 12).

Psalm 51 is the voice of one with an incredibly great need for mercy. It is also the voice of one who knows that God’s desire to be merciful is even greater. When we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We don’t have to wonder about God’s attitude toward contrition. If you need a New Testament picture of God’s attitude toward contrition, visit Luke 15 and behold the attitude of the prodigal father (Luke 15:22-24).

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!