Stepping Out on Solid Ground
Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. (NRSV)
Because we’re all human, our hearts are regularly torn between doing what’s right and succumbing to what’s wrong. It’s not just you or me. Everyone who sets their hearts to follow Jesus has this same problem.
Good and evil play tug-a-war with your heart. You want to do what’s right, but that one thing that’s tempting is just so seductive. And you can’t live with a divided heart forever. Eventually you’ll fall to temptation. Knowing that, King David makes this plea to God:
Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. (NRSV)
Back in my army days, we would train for war. They were called “war games” although there was nothing game-ish about them. It was hard work fighting mock battles in rain, hail, snow and shine, over and over again until we got it right.
Our instructors taught us the theory of fire and movement in the classroom, but we practiced it ad nauseum in the field to get it right. And that’s the sense of this word “teach” that David uses in His prayer. It alludes to an archer shooting at a target – something you can talk about in the classroom until the cows come home, but a skill that only develops by picking up a bow and arrow and practicing it over and over again.
So when we allow God to teach us His ways over and over again out there in the field of life … well, that’s how we end up walking in His truth. And before you know it, your divided heart is healed and your life is a life that reveres His name.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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