From the Desk of Toby Powers
Truth Baptist Church
Bremen, GA
The Glory of Broken Things
Psalms 51 (Note 17)
Intro: This is a Psalm of David written with a broken heart after the sinful act he had performed with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. In brokenness David writes this Psalm of repentance and restoration. He acknowledges his guilt (v. 2-4). He begs for the cleansing of God (v. 7). He requests restoration of his broken life (v. 8). He understands that the Lord will not be satisfied with a ceremoniously offered sacrifice, but he is looking for more (v. 16-17). His brokenness will season his sacrifice with a sweet smelling savor that is pleasing to the Lord (v. 19). I am interested, however, in verses 8 & 17. I want to preach on the Glory of Broken Things. David speaks of his bones being broken in judgment and his heart being broken in repentance. He understands that God is interested in hearts, and unlike others, he does not want one that is perfect, but he wants one that is broken. The songwriter said right:
People keep so many things, collections of all kinds,
Some store treasures in their hearts, others in their minds.
But there is one collection that has the greatest price,
Jesus paid the highest cost, when he laid down his life.
Unlike most collectors, perfection they seek to find,
He is very different, Broken ones are his favorite kind.
You may think you are too far gone, way beyond repair,
But wherever there’s a broken heart, you will find him there.
He’s a heart collector, and I’m a chosen one.
He’s a heart collector who refuses no one.
All you have to do is come to him, and he will make you a part.
The one who is faithful and true, this collector of hearts.
We see this theme throughout the Bible of God receiving glory not from things that are whole but from things that are broken. Some things can not give him glory until they are broken. Notice:
I. The Glory of a Broken Leg: Jacob and God wrestling in Genesis 33. Jacob ended up with a broken leg, but he also ended up with a blessing. Sometimes God has to afflict our flesh in order to break our will. It is a blessing to us in the end, for his will is better for us.
II. The Glory of Broken Bread: Matthew 14:19, Jesus took the loaves, blessed them, and broke them, and gave them to the disciples for distribution. The Bread was broken for multiplication. It was broken and distributed, but the supply was not thereby diminished. The bread is a type of the Word of God. Its value multiplies as it is blessed by the God of heaven, and broken in his hand, that it might be distributed amongst the congregation. God blesses the written word to make it alive in the minister’s heart. He breaks into pieces our doctrinal theses turning them into spiritual pieces of bread with which to feed his people. Then he gives them to his men to distribute in broken pieces multiplied by his blessings in brokenness. Until you get bread from heaven broken and blessed by the master, your sermons will be theological spatterings of religious slop that does not nourish the congregation.
III. The Glory of Broken Box: Mark 14:3, As Jesus sat in Simon the Leper’s house a woman came with an alabaster box of spikenard ointment, and she broke the box pouring the ointment on Jesus’ head. She proceeded to wash his feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. We know from the account in Luke 7 that this woman was an ungodly sinner. She had come to worship her Savior. This box was made of stone slate and sealed with wax. When it says that she broke it, it means that she broke the seal releasing the contents. The box is her will, and the spikenard ointment is an oil-based, sweet-smelling, strong-odored ointment that was usually only used to cover the smell of a decaying body. She poured it on the head of Christ, and then she fell at his feet. The only way to ever be able to get at his feet in worship or prayer is to break your will, goals, or ambitions at the very seal of your selfish determination, and allow his Holy Ghost to spill from you in worship. She felt as though she had to do whatever it took to have the chance to get at the master’s feet to worship. This was her only box, but it was worth spilling out for one trip to the Master’s feet. She had to thank him for what he had done. (Luke 7:40-48)
IV. The Glory of the Broken Body of Christ: Matthew 26:26, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take ye and eat, for this is my body” which is broken for you. It represented the broken body of our Lord. John 21:19 “Thus spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.” Christ glorified the Father in life, but in no other manner could he have glorified the Father more than to have glorified him with a broken body on the tree. The broken body of Christ was not a waste or a shame unto God; he gets glory from broken things. He could have never risen from the dead without dying!
V. The Glory of a Broken Believer: Jeremiah was commanded in chapter 18 to go to the Potter’s house. There he saw the way that the potter held the clay in his hand. Some vessels were marred in the hand of the potter, however. The clay had collapsed or developed a hole due to a contaminant of some kind in the clay. The only way for the clay to be profitable was then to smash it and start over. Some of you may feel that you are more broken and helpless today than ever before, and that is great, for it is when you are truly broken that God can mold you, use you, and make you into what you need to be.
Conclusion: We will close with this illustration: An old time preacher left his family on Philadelphia to go west and preach to the cowboys who were greatly under-evangelized. Many of these rough-riding cowboys were converted under the powerful preaching of this great man of God. But when he left town, these poor men had nothing to give to him for his labor among them. The man of God did not even consider this, but the men that had been redeemed sought to give him a gift. They knew what to do. They would "russle" up a heard of wild horses, untamed broncos and put them on a train to Philadelphia to be sold at auction. The proceeds would be given to the man of God. When they arrived in Philadelphia, the preacher met them at the train station according to the instructions of their letter. Before he would let them auction the horses off, he told one of the cowboys to pick out a horse for him to keep. The cowboy picked out the brightest eyed, bushiest tailed horse among them and brought him to the minister. The preacher promptly began to get up on the horse, but he was quickly warned by the cowboy, “You can’t do that. He ain’t been broke yet! He kill you!”
The minister replied to the young cowboy, “He’s no good to me unbroken.” So, the cowboy agreed to break him for the preacher. Upon returning him to the man of God, the preacher began to get up on the horse from the right side. The young cowboy once more warned the preacher, “He’ll kill you. You have to get up on the left side. He’s only broke to mount from one side.” The preacher explained to the cowboy that he had children and a wife that would ride this horse. It was no good for his use without it was broken on both sides.
So it is with the Lord. He can not use those who are only half-broken. We need him to break us on both sides. We must yield totally to his will. God uses broken things for his honor and glory. Are you broken in the hands of God for service?
Brother Toby Powers
Truth Baptist Church
