An Undivided Heart

Scripture Reading: Psalm 86

In the 11th verse of Psalm, 86 David acknowledges a problem we all face to one degree or another. He prays, “unite my heart to fear your name.” That is the way most English translations say it. A few translate it as “Give me an undivided heart..” Both are fine. The second might be more clear to some readers.

The problem David is confronting is division and distraction. It is not that he feels he is in danger of apostasy. He loves the Lord, but he knows that the command is to love the Lord with our whole heart. David is tacitly admitting that other things are pulling at his heart. He is struggling with a divided devotion.

It is easy to succumb to distractions. So many voices are coming at us, vying for our attention, clamoring for our ear. They can end up drowning out the most important voice of all. We can end up reading God’s word and finish a text and realize we haven’t heard a thing it said. We can listen to a sermon and be unable to tell someone what it was about or even what Scripture it was exegeting. Our minds can wander here and there while our heads are bowed in prayer. We get distracted.

We need God’s grace. We need God to work and give us undivided and undistracted hearts. When our heart is united in its devotion to God we can rightly worship Him.

You may have noticed that in verse 12 David proclaims, “I give thanks to you, O God, with my whole heart…” In this verse, David praises God and declares he has what he prayed for in the previous verse. There is wisdom here. David was, I believe, acting in faith that God has answered his prayer. He was doing what he had prayed God would do in him.

Pray for an undivided heart and begin to live an undivided life of devotion to the Lord.