Verse 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ] As my crimes are such as admit of no legal atonement, so thou hast reserved them to be punished by exemplary acts of justice, or to be pardoned by a sovereign act of mercy: but in order to find this mercy, thou requirest that the heart and soul should deeply feel the transgression, and turn to thee with the fullest compunction and remorse. This thou hast enabled me to do. I have the broken spirit, hrbn jwr ruach nishbarah; and the broken and contrite heart, hkdnw rbn bl leb nishbar venidkeh. These words are very expressive. rb shabar signifies exactly the same as our word shiver, to break into pieces, to reduce into splinters; and hkd dakah, signifies to beat out thin, - to beat out masses of metal, &c., into laminae or thin plates. The spirit broken all to pieces, and the heart broken all to pieces, stamped and beaten out, are the sacrifices which, in such cases, thou requirest; and these "thou wilt not despise." We may now suppose that God had shone upon his soul, healed his broken spirit, and renewed and removed his broken and distracted heart; and that he had now received the answer to the preceding prayers. And here the Psalm properly ends; as, in the two following verses, there is nothing similar to what we find in the rest of this very nervous and most important composition.
Verses 16-19 - Those who are thoroughly convinced of their misery and danger by sin would spare no cost to obtain the remission of it. But as they cannot make satisfaction for sin, so God cannot take any satisfaction in them otherwise than as expressing love and duty to him. The good wor wrought in every true penitent, is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, and sorrow for sin. It is a heart that is tender, an pliable to God's word. Oh that there were such a heart in every one of us! God is graciously pleased to accept this; it is instead of all burnt-offering and sacrifice. The broken heart is acceptable to God only through JesusChrist; there is no true repentance without faith in him. Men despise that which is broken, but God will not. He will no overlook it, he will not refuse or reject it; though it makes God n satisfaction for the wrong done to him by sin. Those who have been in spiritualtroubles, know how to pity and pray for others afflicted i like manner. David was afraid lest his sin should bring judgements upo the city and kingdom. No personal fears or troubles of conscience can make the soul, which has received grace, careless about the interest of the church of God. And let this be the continued joy of all the redeemed, that they have redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace __________________________________________________________________
