PSALM 86

Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.

PSALM 86:11-12

SINGLE MINDED DEVOTION

When I was in my early twenties I had a friend who had a hard time making up his mind. He liked a girl at college, but he also liked a girl from back home. He led them both on for a while. They both liked him and thought they had a future with him, but when they individually realized he had been seeing the other one they both dropped him. Neither one wanted to share his affections with another.

My friend had issues. He was two timing because he was indecisive. His indecisiveness brought him to a place where he was living a lie trying to carry on two shallow relationships instead of a real committed one. He was divided in his allegiances and because of that he was never really committed to anyone.

In Psalm 86 the psalmist prays, “unite my heart to your name.” He is aware of the two timing nature of his heart. He knows that when he is in a worship service he is all about the LORD, but when the service is over and he walks out into the world he is tempted to wander. So he prays for the Lord to unite his heart.

The Apostle Paul will later write about this spiritual battle that takes place in our hearts: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17).

So the psalmist prays in weakness and confidence. In his weakness he calls out for help and in confidence He know the Lord can and will answer. This reminds me of a verse in one of my favorite hymns, “prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, here is my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.”

My takeaway today was to ask and reflect on the question, “Am I singularity focused on the Lord or do I have a divided heart?”

PRAYER

Father, I confess that far too often my heart is divided. Today I ask along with the Psalmist that you would unite my heart to fear your name. Let me be singularly focused on you. I worship you with my whole heart. Lord keep me from temptation and keep me from idols. Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.