Broken Before God

It's been awhile since I heard this sermon, but I've thought about it a lot. I decided that I'd finally stop and post about it. Some of this is my sermon notes from January 6. If anyone wants to hear the sermon, you can go to my church's website and look it up.

Broken Before God

Brokenness is a(n)

• Acute and constant awareness of God's presence
• Devastation from the presence of my sin

For me, I've had to think about this a lot. Am I always aware of God's presence? He is always there. Somehow I find that it's easy to forget that no matter where I am or what I am doing, God is right there with me. It's rather mind-boggling, actually. 'Cause God is always with me - and He's always with you, too!

Getting back to my sermon notes, here are three examples of brokenness that can be found in the Bible.

Brokenness of a King
Psalm 51 says

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

[Emphasis is mine]

David was possibly the most powerful man on earth at this point, but no matter how powerful he was, he was still human. And no human being (except for Jesus) has ever been without sin. David sinned. And what do we see? "Oh, Lord, thou knowest that Thy servant is the most powerful man on earth. I have done what is not right. Do not judge me, O my Lord, for I can do as I please..." Not on your life! David's response was to be broken before his God.

Brokenness of a Prophet

Isaiah 6:

¹In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

²Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

³And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

⁴And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

⁶Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

⁷And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

⁸Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

⁹And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

¹⁰Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

¹¹Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

¹²And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

¹³But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

[Again, the emphasis is mine]
Isaiah was one of the holiest people on earth, but was he perfect? Nope. And he knew it. Isaiah was also broken before God because of his sins and the sins of God's people.

Brokenness of a Businessman
Luke 18: 9-14

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Look at the contrast between these two men! Remarkable! You know, I think that I'm somewhere in between them. I'm not (quite) as proud as the Pharisee, but I am no where near as humble and broken as the publican. That's something that I've been praying about. Because I want to be used by God. I want to be broken before God. Maybe I can tweak that quote of John Piper's. You know, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." How about

God is most glorified in us when we are most broken before Him.