Monday
Psalm 86.11 “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth.”
Many of the saints pray that they might have a teachable heart. To be teachable is to be humble. You can’t be both teachable and a know all. The Psalm-poet has his priorities right. To be open to the teaching of the Spirit, receptive to the word of God, obedient to the Holy Spirit; these are the dispositions of a teachable heart and a mind attuned to the will of God. This verse is a prayer that we will listen, learn and love the truth of God, and then be willing to walk in that truth as our way of life.
Tuesday
Psalm 86.11b “Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”
I love the Scottish word for a divided heart – ‘swithering’! Those moments or even hours when we can’t make up our minds one way or the other. An undivided heart is one that knows its own mind! Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard wrote, “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” That’s just another way of saying “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” To fear God’s name is to pray for the grace of undivided loyalty to the God whose love to us is faithful, and whose promises are to be trusted.
Wednesday
Psalm 86.12 “I will praise you, O Lord with all my heart. I will glorify your name for ever”
The Psalm poet knows his spiritual psychology. Praise that is heartfelt, unqualified, and arising from gratitude, is the way we express our love to God. No half measures – with all my heart, and for ever. I know. None of us can manage full intensity all the time. We sleep, eat, work, play, meet friends, and do all the things that life requires of us just to make it work. But when it comes to praise, nothing is to be held back. No matter how long we live, praising and thanking God, and uplifting God’s name will always be the goal of worship and the theme tune of our living.
Thursday
Psalm 86.5 “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.”
This is the God we praise and thank, whose name we never tire of glorifying. The older phrase “abounding in steadfast love” conveys clearly the utter reliability of the love of God. The lovely Hebrew word ‘hesed’, contains a cluster of meanings; faithful in love, dependable like a friend, merciful to the needy and forgiving to the penitent. It’s one of the favourite Hebrew words used to describe the heart of God. In the gift of God’s only Son, we have been shown what ‘hesed’ looks like in a fully human life.
Friday
Psalm 86.4 “Bring joy to your servant, for to you O Lord, I lift up my soul.”
Prayer is never occasional in the Psalms. They are full of it – petition and complaint, praise and thanksgiving, confession and penitence – it’s all poured out. The psalm-poet is never embarrassed to be asking, pleading, or arguing with God. Never slow to open up about whatever concerns him – enemies, his own depression, anger, shame, his despair about the state of his world. But again and again, as he lifts up his soul in all the turmoil, he comes back to the reason for joy – the steadfast love of the Lord. Joy is God’s gift, kindled in the heart, then taking hold of the mind in renewed trust.
Saturday
Psalm 86.15 “But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.”
This verse is like a revision exercise. If the exam questions was: “Give examples of the characteristics of God that the Psalm-poet thinks important?” Well, then, you could be quite confident of a secure A grade if your answer was based around verse 15. Memorise this verse and you will have internalised a robust theology of the enduring faithfulness of God to all his people. Slow to anger is an important balancing corrective – God’s love is not indulgence overdosing on sentiment. All the gifts of God’s grace in Christ are freighted with the demands of holy love, including the call to holiness of heart and life.
Sunday
Psalm 86.17 “Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.”
When did you last mention your enemies in your prayers? I guess like me, you don’t want to think you have any enemies – not really. Maybe so. But most of us have to deal with difficult people, workplace tensions, family fall-outs. Few of us can claim that we are universally popular and liked. What this verse does is bring all the wrong relationships into the presence of God to be honestly faced. When Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who give you a hard time”, he wasn’t speaking hypothetically. One reliable sign of God’s goodness is the grace to forgive those who wrong us, and the help and comfort of God is best experienced in a heart that seeks to mirror to others, God’s ways with us – ‘compassionate and gracious.’ The Psalm-poet isn’t always right in what he asks – but God can always be trusted to adjust the answer to serve God’s ways of justice, compassion, peace and yes, goodness!
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