A United Heart

Teach me thy way, O LORD;

I will walk in thy truth:

unite my heart to fear thy name.

(Psalm 86:11)

Most of this verse is simple in language and easy to understand. I stumbled a little at the word unite. What does it mean here? I looked up the Hebrew equivalent, and it means “unify; join.” Okay, but what is a unified heart or a joined heart? Commentators have several ideas about this word in the context of this verse. It can mean a “completely dedicated” heart or a heart with “undivided loyalty.” I thought of “single-heartedness,” something like single-minded.

In any case, the psalmist profoundly states his desires. This verse is his prayer:

            Teach me Your way.

            I resolve to walk in Your Truth.

            I want a heart that is wholly dedicated to respecting and following You.

Are the psalmist’s desires our desires?

            Do we really want to be taught what God wants us to do?

            Have we ever resolved (promised ourselves) to walk in the Truth (the Bible)?

            Do we have an “undivided” heart to respect and follow God?

In my counseling experience, I have found many women who want to do right. “Oh yes, I want to.” But, they don’t really want to be taught—not by God and not by anyone else either. They have never made a conscious decision to follow and know Truth. They don’t have time for God’s Word, don’t pray, and then they wonder why they’re having such a hard time grasping Truth. They have divided hearts. Part of them wants to do what everyone else does—follow “fun.” And, part of them really wants to follow God, but they’re not fully dedicated (united hearted) to it. Unfortunately, these ladies will always flounder spiritually.

I’ve also counseled women and girls who would say a hearty Amen to the psalmist’s three desires in this short verse. They are growing and changing. And they’re some of the happiest people I know.

May we all have undivided hearts!

Dorky Birds and Turtles

When I was very young, I actually thought Psalm 84:10b went like this, “I’d rather be a dorky bird in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (The real word is “doorkeeper.” You can see why I was confused!)

I also had a problem with the great hymn, “Lead On, O Kinky Turtle.” (King Eternal)

My husband, when he was a little boy, thought the song, “Brighten the Corner Where You Are” was actually “Right In the Corner Where You Are.”

Have you ever played the game, “Gossip”? (At the end of a line of participants, a sentence is whispered to the next in line. He repeats it to the next person, and so on, until the sentence reaches the end of the line. Then, the last person repeats the sentence as he heard it. It’s always different from the beginning!)

Do we sometimes misunderstand God’s Word? Do we think it says dorky bird when it actually says doorkeeper? Do we have preconceived notions about God’s Word that aren’t actually there?

We can certainly laugh at the confusion of little children, but what about us? What about adults who should understand the words of Scripture and their contexts, yet we just listen to what we want to hear. Or we hear what we think we hear, and we don’t quite get it right? Do we need to take more time with God’s Word so that we can rightly divide the word of truth?

Study to shew thyself approved unto God,

a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)