Praying the IOU’s, Part 4

March, 2008

by: Brodie McClain

What happens when a country is not united? Our history bears the answer. What happens when a church is not united? Just talk to someone who has gone through a church split. What happens when a marriage is not united? Ask any teenager whose parents have divorced. What happens when a heart is not united? Of all divisions in life this one is perhaps the most devastating and thus it makes sense that David should cry out, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.” – Psalm 86:11

David’s circumstances in Psalm 86 made him a beggar before God, afflicted and needy, suffering the pursuit of arrogant and godless men, caught up in a day of trouble in which his heart and soul were torn apart. You can almost hear the trembling sobs as he pours out his heart before God, begging to be heard, acknowledging God’s character, reminding Himself of truth and yet battling a divided heart. It is in the midst of this turmoil that David cries to God, “Teach me Your way,” and follows up with the request, “unite my heart to fear Your name.”

Perhaps you have felt like David before. Perhaps you have gone through similar times of longing in which you can recall the truth of God’s sovereignty and mercy and lovingkindness while at the same time battling the overwhelming circumstances all around you; fearing man, fearing disaster, and yet concurrently fearing God to some degree as well. Perhaps there have been days or weeks or moments where Psalm 86 was your testimony.

If so then notice one important facet of Ps 86:11: The cry for God to “unite your heart” comes after the petition for God to “teach me Your way.” This order is vital because asking God to teach you postures you correctly before the Almighty. You are the needy one and He is the provider. You are the infant and He is the tender parent. You are the chirpling and He has dug up the worms. You are the widow at Zarephath and He is the prophet Elijah. You are the slave and He is the Master. You are the sinner and He is the Savior. The fundamental nature of your relationship with God is one of NEED. You need Him. This realization of need stems from an attitude of humility and lays the foundation for a heart that can be united to fear God. So David acknowledges His need to be taught, recognizing that indeed He does not know as He ought and has great need for the Teacher. We must start here as well.

Picture life as a giant maze: You are toward the beginning surrounded by towering walls and blind corners. Each turn you are faced with more choices, dark passage-ways leading who knows where. You enter some rooms where 15 doors call you to make a decision. As you grope about always seeming to make a wrong choice you look up one day and are stunned by two giant eyes peering down on you. You realize they belong to a Man so big that He can see the entire maze. He can see every turn, every door and as you interact with Him He proves to have an intimate knowledge of the maze.

Now you have a choice. You can keep trying to figure it out on your own, or you can ask the Man to teach you the way. David chose the latter which provided the necessary foundation for a united heart. Before God unites a heart there must be a humble acknowledgement that God, and God alone actually can unite our hearts and that His ways are better than ours…