How Can We Attain a Broken Heart ?

This may sound strange, but how do we come to understand what a broken heart truly is?

“A broken and contrite heart—

O God, You will not despise.”

(Psalm 51:17)

A broken and repentant heart—that is, a heart deeply distressed and grieved over sin, humbled under the awareness of God’s displeasure, and sincerely willing to accept reconciliation with God at any cost (Isaiah 57:15; 61:1; 66:2; Matthew 11:28). This stands in contrast to the hardened or stony heart we read about so often—a heart insensitive to the burden of sin, stubborn, rebellious toward God, complacent, and resistant to correction.

The more clearly we glimpse the glory of God, the more deeply we mourn having despised that glory. This is true repentance.

When we sin, we assume the role of an adulterer—seeking satisfaction in something other than the One who alone truly satisfies. That is why David said to the LORD, “Against You, You only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). David rightly recognized his failure in the context of relationship, and as a result, his heart was grieved—for such sorrow is possible only when we have sinned against the One whom we deeply love.

In Joel 2:12–13, the LORD calls Israel, saying, “Return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Rend your heart, and not your garments.”

In the Old Testament, people commonly expressed intense grief and anguish by tearing their garments. However, more than outward signs of repentance, God was concerned with whether their hearts were truly broken—broken to the point of weeping and lamentation.

Is your heart like a torn garment—ripped open, broken, and trembling before God? Most expressions of repentance lack this posture, and this is precisely what God seeks to teach us.