How can it be both a blessing and a problem? It is a blessing because I can use it to communicate to you what I’m thinking, or feeling; what I see, what happened, what I want to do. It can be a problem when I use a word thinking it means one thing but you hear it thinking it means another thing.
Oh my.
This is the case with the word contrite. This is not a word we hear often. I hear it from time time, as in, “Sometimes you don’t appear very contrite.” I’ve heard it often enough that I decided to do a study of this word in the Bible in order to see what God says about it and to then determine (as far as I am able) if I am contrite or not.
First, I found all the occurrences of contrite in the Bible:
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Isaiah 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
These Scriptures speak of a broken heart, a contrite spirit, a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, a contrite and humble spirit, a contrite spirit. Contrite is applied to both the heart and the spirit. Broken, humble, and poor seem to be synonyms of contrite.
My first conclusion: While contrite doesn’t occur very often, it is a genuine, biblical, and blessed state to be in.
Second, I thought I would take a look at what contrite means in English and Hebrew.
I googled contrite and this is what I found: “feeling or expressing remorse.” This is what people seem to have in mind when they speak of contrite. What do the Hebrew words mean ? And this is where it gets interesting.
Contrite is a translation of dakka, which means crushed, ground to dust. Broken is a translation of shabbar and means, well, broken. Both words are obviously used figuratively: to be broken, brought low.
This brings us back to language. Today, when someone says contrite they mean, Are you sad and sorry? When the Bible speaks of contrite it refers to being brought low. How low? Broken.
“What we've got here is failure to communicate.” The Bible uses a word meaning one thing but we hear it thinking it means something else. I began to wonder, Did the translators use the wrong word? So I looked into the etymology and history of the word contrite. I learned something rather enlightening:
contrite (adj.) c. 1300, from Old French contrit and directly from Latin contritus, literally "worn out, ground to pieces," past participle of conterere "to grind". Used in English in figurative sense of "crushed in spirit by a sense of sin."
Ah, turns out the translators chose a really good word, one that accurately reflects the Hebrew!
Second conclusion: This is not a matter of feelings or emotions; there is something much deeper involved. God is near to, saves, revives, and looks to those who are broken and contrite (in heart and spirit). But what does it mean when it says a broken heart and a crushed spirit? a crushed heart and a broken spirit? and why would God delight in me being ground to dust?
The world loves a rebel, he does what he wants, nobody tells him what to do. This is the flesh – I feel, I want, I desire, and I’m gonna do it. I’ve just described sin: “I’ll do what I want to do, the way I want to do it.” When you mix in self-reliance, “I don’t need no help,” you have a picture of a puffed up person, proud, rebellious, and determined to do this his way. Not only will such a person never seek God’s help, we are told that God resists the proud. The proud, the puffed up, the rebellious will never get help from God.
This is what I think this all means: Broken and contrite refer to the person whose foundation has been broken, the air knocked out of him. He’s not puffed up anymore. The citadel of pride has to be breached, the fortress of rebellion has to be broken down, the stronghold of sin has to be crushed. God is near that person. God does not despise the person who cries out, “Oh God, I’ve made a mess of everything.” He saves such as be of a contrite spirit, “Oh God, I want out, but I can’t get out. Help me!” Surely they feel bad and cry, but that’s not contrite. Contrite is when the pride and rebellion are crushed.
I found an amazing illustration of this in Jeremiah 44:1-10
1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein, 3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers. 4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. 5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. 6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day. 7 Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain; 8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
The Jews had sinned grievously against God. They knew better but they did it anyway. Then he sent prophets, warning them, calling them back (Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate), but they would not listen. So He uprooted them and had them go into exile in Egypt. But this generation, in exile for sins, continued in the same kinds of sins! Verse 10 sums it up quite well, They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
They are not humbled unto this day. They were not broken. They were not contrite. The citadel of rebellion was not broken down. The stronghold of sin was not crushed. They would not turn away from their sin and return to God.
Conclusion: When I fall into sin, what does God want from me? He wants me to be broken and contrite - to turn away from my sin, to call upon Him for help, and to change my course so that I walk in His ways. Of course there will be sadness and tears, but sorrow is no substitute for contrite.
Now for the scariest part, Am I contrite? I’ve confessed my sin. I’ve forsaken it. I’ve returned to God and His ways. Yes. Is the work completely done? No. But I believe I qualify:
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
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