O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Jesus repeats some of these words this way: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:3). This means a believer who is deeply convinced of their own sinfulness in God's sight. He or she finds that sin can only be done away with because each is born with a sinful nature. Its not a case of saying; "sorry, I made a mistake", and carrying on. Our whole being - our flesh - is taited with sin from conception because we are essentially a child of Adam who sinnned. Sin taints all - it has ruined our nature and made us enemies of God (Ephesians 2:13-16); it cannot be removed ony renewed.

So, how is this possible that a person can be cleansed and made holy, an essential characteristic to enter heaven. This is the same question Nicodemus asked (John 3), and Jesus provides the answer: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'" (John 3:5-7). Thus it is not with sacrifice as the psalmist states, or saying sorry, but by being born again, and where a believer is given a totally new nature - one that is spiritual. This is only possible because the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross shedding his blood (Romans 5:8, 9; 1 Peter 1:18, 19).

It is by faith we born again - believing in the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16). And how do we know this? It is by the washing of the Word through the Holy Spirit.