After David has his moment with Bathsheba, and Nathan calls him out on it, he writes Psalms 51. This is him taking his broken heart to God, that the healer may heal. One of the biggest lines that sticks out to me in this Psalm is “a broken and contrite heart … you will not despise.”
Psa 51:16-17 ESV 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
David understands that God wants us to be righteous to start with. Sacrifices are only a way to get us over the hump when we fall short (“sin”). Repentance is what God truly seeks and is the only way for us to be truly forgiven.
Links:
Manasseh Types of offerings God does not want sacrifice
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