Psalm 51:14-19

14Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
18Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
-Psalm 51:14-19

We come to a very humbling reality in today's devotion. Should sin enter our lives, so frequently the response is to mourn, beat our backs, and sit ourselves on the bench until we are ready to go back in and fight again. This, in our own way, is the sacrifice we try to bring before the Lord. However, it proves continually ineffective when we decide it is time for us to go back in. David absolutely can do his best and offer his best before the Lord, yet he recognizes that is not what God desires. What God instead desires is someone who yields entirely to Him.

This is a huge necessity for the Christian to master: humility. We must have such a great humility before the Lord that we realize the best we have to offer is not enough. The point is not that we offer all we can, instead that we cannot offer anything. All that we have to offer is that which He has given us: Jesus Christ. Many of us know that we had to die to our flesh when we entered into Christ Jesus yet so few understand that we did not just die to the wickedness in our flesh, but also to the goodness in it. What strength and goodness you possessed in your flesh is tainted by the wickedness of the flesh. We have nothing we can bring before God.

Respond to the Lord today in complete humble surrender. When you know you can offer nothing it makes the sacrifice of Jesus so much greater. Rejoice in the liberty that Christ brings and further humble yourself before the Lord.