A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART ,,,

 

A broken and a contrite heart, O God,
Thou wilt not despise.
Psalm 51:17

 
NOTHING will effectually break a sinner’s heart
  but the love of Christ.
 
No one can produce true contrition in us
  but the Holy Spirit.
 
When our hearts are broken with a sense of sin, and
  we are truly sorry for sin,
  the work of the Holy Spirit is unquestionably
    experienced by us.
 
We have repentance unto life.
 
The foundation of experimental religion is laid.
 
But if I religion does not begin with a broken heart
  and sorrow for sin, it is, to say the least,
  questionable, and ought to be thoroughly examine
  and compared with God's word.
 
The broken hearted sinner has very low views of himself,
  and exalted views of God, so that he fears at times
  that God must despise him.
 
But no, the opposite is true.
 
God looks upon the broken hearted with love.
 
He sent his Son to bind up such, and
   he sent the Holy Spirit to heal the heart
   that he has broken.
 
God will visit, revive, and honor the contract in spirit.
 
O for a broken and contrite heart!
 

Jesus, Giver of contrition,

Giver thou of pardon art:

Wound me,  O my kind Physician,

Break, and then bind up my heart:

Who a broken hearted sinner

Never, never wilt despise:

Cast me down, my faith’s beginners,

Lift me up to paradise.

 
James Smith 1849