Tiger Woods recently stood before the cameras in a relatively small room and before a group of people made up of family, friends, and a contingent of reporters, to offer an apology for his numerous moral transgressions. At times it seemed as though he was truly broken over his repeated indiscretions and at times as though he was staging for the cameras and possibly his sponsors. Since his confession, people have vocalized very strong opinions as to whether they felt his apology was genuine or not. I know that he hurt a lot of people, but the problem I see with holding such strong opinions is that no one is really capable of knowing the depth of his sincerity. If only God can see the heart, then only God can know the intent of his actions that day. What should be of greater concern to Christians is the fact that Tiger intends on turning to his religion of Buddhism for help when the One he needs is Jesus Christ!

This whole matter started me thinking about what it truly means to be "broken" over our sins. Another high profile celebrity once faced a moral scandal and a similar public relations nightmare. His name was King David. After his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, he tried to cover up his sin with more equally deplorable actions that ultimately led to Bathsheba's husband being killed. It wasn't until about a year later that David was confronted by the Prophet Nathan and his sin finally exposed. Following the logic of some opinions I've heard concerning Tiger Woods, you might assert that David was only sorry because he got caught, since he didn't acknowledge his sin willingly. But, the scripture is clear that God accepted David's confession and forgave him his transgressions.

Why was David's confession acceptable to the Lord? Among several things that could be mentioned, it is notable that he was truly broken over his sins. Listen to what he says: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)

For a long time I had trouble picturing how this "brokenness" was to be applied to the confession of people's personal sins. My problem was that I thought of a "broken and a contrite heart" like you think of a broken vessel of clay that has been shattered into hundreds of little pieces. But, that's not the "brokenness" God intends us to see in this confession.

Instead of a crushed or shattered vessel, the idea is more that of an animal whose wild nature is broken, like what happens in the taming of a horse. When a horse isn't broken, it tries to throw the rider off its back. But when it reaches the place of brokenness, the horse surrenders to the rider and quits fighting against him so he can be guided wherever the rider wishes to lead him. In a similar way, we know the genuineness of our own confessions when we stop fighting God and surrender to His will.

To only be sorry that you got caught is to be like a "bucking bronco" who refuses to surrender to the control of its rider. God wants us to have "a broken and a contrite heart." That's the place where our self-will dies and His controlling will dominates.