Over the past couple of months I’ve occasionally been sharing one of my daily devotions from the YouVersion Bible App.
I’ve been journeying through the Book of Psalms, drawing inspiration and encouragement for my own life from the poems, prayers, hymns and meditations contained within these writings.
I’m just over half the way through them and as I’ve said before, I’ve come to appreciate that the Psalms are in essence an intricately designed collection of poetry that recounts Israel’s history and God’s covenant promises, and poetically retells the entire biblical story.
In Psalm 86 we see David sharing from his heart and his words we can all take on board personally, as in many ways he sounds just like us in this day and age.
He is expressing emotions that we all feel and often struggle through.
We live in a world full of distractions and difficult life choices. There are times when it seems so difficult to choose God’s way, and we feel just like David does in verse one: we are poor and needy, broken and humbled, helpless and afflicted.
In this David’s desire is to have an undivided heart, which is something I’m sure we can all relate to.
You see, we are all often pulled in so many different directions, and our lives can feel like a huge jigsaw puzzle. There are so many things, people, hobbies, and choices which try to take pieces of our hearts away from loving God first.
We need Him to teach us His ways!
We need to rely on His faithfulness. To put the heart-shaped jigsaw puzzle back together, we need God! We need His wisdom, strength, and guidance!
When we find ourselves with a heart and mind that is only focused on Him, we find the greatest source of joy and peace in life.
David understood the writings of Ezekiel and the fact that the Spirit of the Lord fell upon the prophet Ezekiel, and God said through him that He “will give [the people] an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; [God] will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19
(New International Version)
So, may the following words which I’ve adapted slightly from Leslie F. Brandt’s Psalms / Now (Psalm #86) be our prayer in these days as we ask God to show us any areas of our heart that aren’t fully His:
O Lord, my prayer to You is always
out of life that is full of need.
I am Your servant;
I am trying to represent You.
I need Your support for every step I take.
How gracious You are to hear my plea
and respond to my cry
and pour out Your forgiving love upon me!
We are so foolish
in the things that we love and worship.
You alone are God,
and You alone possess the healing grace
that can succor and sustain our fickle hearts.
Continue to lead me in Your course for my life.
Enable me to walk in the way of truth.
Draw together in loving obedience to You
all the members and senses
of my body and being.
Then I shall glorify You forever,
and my life shall be
a perpetual thankoffering to You.
I find the daily journey
not only difficult but painful.
There are forces within me and about me
that are much too strong for me.
But You are a loving and patient God.
Continue to have mercy upon me,
to stir me from the doldrums of sin,
to deliver me from my selfish involvements,
to forgive me my sins and failures,
to shore up the weak places in my life.
Help me
to feel something of Your loving acceptance
and to reflect to others
the joy of being Your Son or Daughter and Your servant.
The things is, it’s OK to express our emotions and to write them down – in fact God longs to help us work through them in a safe way and to bring about a sense of healing.
So, here are a couple more questions to ponder over the coming days:
What would it look like for you to submit that part of your heart or life to Him?
And, what would you say the Lord has delivered you from?
Blessings ’til next time 🙂
The life and times of Perry... 