Some time back I intentionally opened my Bible to Psalms, and randomly to 86. As a poet (no poems today, sorry!) I appreciated the variety of structures that enhanced the meaning. But verse 11 touched my soul, “Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name,” because it gave three requirements of connecting to God and the result. All touch on aspects of our typical and fallen human nature. Guess that makes sense, since God made us and best knows how we operate—what we need to address to best know him.
The first request by David to God is “Teach me your ways.” Not many of us can claim to know God’s ways well on our own. Our very nature contradicts godly living—sin comes much too easy to be a stranger. We need an external source of information about good and bad, right and wrong, the best path to take—and that is God. But I’ve taught high school and college, and long ago discovered that giving good information alone to students isn’t enough. The receiver
needs to listen, to absorb, to think to study, to synthesize. Same with us. God’s info is there, our job is to take it in, or to “walk in your truth.”
We can’t follow an unknown path without a map, but the information of a map means little if we don’t move. With a map and action, we can reach our destination. The next step brings in third issue of balance.
David asked God to “Give me an undivided heart,” which counters our nature once again. We have so many voices clamoring for significance in our lives. Family and jobs and culture and self and God all seek preeminence. Our hearts get split and pulled apart and we lack wholeness. So David, assuming he now knew God’s ways, asked for a heart that was ‘hopelessly devoted” to God.
A character in the New Testament prayed, “I believe, help my unbelief.” You’re likely reading this because you’ve either decided to follow Jesus or are interested, so our prayer could easily be, “I love, help my lack of love.”
Only then can we “fear your name.” That’s our destination, knowing God personally. Recognizing his transcendence, his authority. We don’t get that instantly and completely, but we progress on the path to spiritual wholeness.
Now, here’s where the balancing act comes in. Some Christians focus so much on knowing God’s rules that they miss loving God. Others focus on loving so much they miss knowing right paths.
Only when we combine the two: knowing God’s ways so we can act godly with loving God wholly can we sense his transcendence and majesty and overwhelming love.
Kick Starting the Application
Do you lean in one direction—knowing the rules or loving God? What makes you do so? Do you have any questions about both being essential elements to deeply knowing God? If you tend to be light on the knowledge, why have you neglected that? What specific steps can you take to develop your knowledge base?
If you tend to be light on having a pure heart that fears God, what most competes with having an undivided heart? What specific steps can you take to make your heart be more undivided?