A contrite spirit is a penitent one; one sorely grieved, and deeply sorrowful, for the sins it has committed against God, and to the damage of the soul; and so it is to be taken in all those places where a contrite spirit is made mention of (see Psa. 34:18; Isa. 57:15; 66:2)
As a man that has by his folly procured a broken leg or arm is heartily sorry that ever he was so foolish as to be engaged in such ways of idleness and vanity, so he whose heart is broken with a sense of God's wrath due to his sin hath deep sorrow in his soul, and is greatly repentant that ever he should be such a fool as, by rebellious doings, to bring himself and his soul to so much sharp affliction. Hence, while others are sporting themselves in vanity, such a one doth call his sin his greatest folly. "My wounds stink, and are corrupt," saith David, "because of my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee." (Psa 38:5; 69:5)
Men, whatever they say with their lips, cannot conclude, if yet their hearts want breaking, that sin is a foolish thing. Hence it says, "The foolishness of fools is folly" (Prov 14:24). That is, the foolishness of some men is that they take pleasure in their sins; for their sins are their foolishness, and the folly of their soul lies in their countenancing of this foolishness. But the man whose heart is broken, he is none of these, he cannot be one of these, any more than he that has his bones broken can rejoice that he is desired to play a match at football. [John Bunyan]
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