Psalms 51:17

The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit,.... That is humbled under a sense of sin; has true repentance for it; is smitten, wounded, and broken with it, by the word of God in the hand of the Spirit, which is a hammer to break the rock in pieces; and that not merely in a legal, but in an evangelical way; grieving for sin as committed against a God of love; broken and melted down under a sense of it, in a view of pardoning grace; and mourning for it, while beholding a pierced and wounded Saviour: the sacrifices of such a broken heart and contrite spirit are the sacrifices God desires, approves, accepts of, and delights in;

a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise; but regard, and receive with pleasure; see Psalms 102:17; the Lord binds up and heals such broken hearts and spirits, Psalms 147:3; he is nigh to such persons, looks upon them, has respect unto them, and comes and dwells among them, Psalms 34:18.