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A UNITED HEART (I)
MONDAY, MAY 10
Psalm 86:1-17

Psalm 25:1-22

 

“Unite my heart to fear

thy name.”

 

A UNITED HEART (I)
 
Psalm 86 is a prayer of David, earnestly seeking help from the Lord. He faces great difficulty and opposition ‒ “the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul” (Ps 86:14) ‒ yet he is continually trusting in God (v 2). He confides in God’s goodness, forgiveness, and mercy (v 5); he gratefully acknowledges God’s almighty power, exclaiming, “there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works” (v 8).
 
Significantly, however, David does more than plead for God’s deliverance from the immediate threats he faces. That same confession of God’s absolute uniqueness “among the gods” (v 8) prompts David to ask, “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name” (v 11).
 
Here is a key recognition for the Christian. The fact that there is but one living and true God has a clear implication: it means that there is only one right way to live. If there is only one God, then there is only one proper object of worship, fear, reverence, and obedience. Thus in his response to the present trial, and in all of his life, David desires to know only the Lord’s way, and to walk only in His truth. He does not want his heart to be divided, or his loyalties to be split! He asks for a united heart, to seek after God alone, without deviation or distraction. This, after all, is what distinguishes God’s faithful servants from their enemies, who “have not set [God] before them” (v 14).
 
Dear reader, let us pay heed to David’s example here. When in distress we ask for the Lord’s deliverance, let it not be with the thought that once delivered, we will embark on a course of our own design! Let us rather commit ourselves to walking in God’s truth with a united heart. Only then can we, with full assurance, plead, “O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant” (v 16).
 
THOUGHT: A divided heart cannot please God.
PRAYER: “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.” (Ps 86:11)

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