Three Steps ~ Psalm 86

“Teach me your ways O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” Psalm 86:11 ESV

              All of us, throughout our years, have been taught and thus learned much.  In our primary years we learned to read and write.  Skills that, if used well, catapulted us into future realms of  learning.  In our junior years we learned more abstract skills such as algebra, physics, geometry, and philosophy, the mind being opened to process and learn in new and different ways.  And in our university years we learned how to put them all together, seeing that one subject is not its own island, but they all blend together to form a tightly knit archipelago of thought procession.  But the question that must resound as you cruise around your own personal archipelago of life-learning is, what did you do with what you learned?  For example, the majority of the advanced mathematical prowess I once possessed is now mostly gone.  Skills lost to the years because I learned them yet never, through regular exercise, committed them to the muscle memory of the mind.  Yet, to contrast my example, I recall a high school classmate that so loved the intricacies and complexities of math that she took what she learned and built a career of it, eventually becoming a college professor in advanced mathematics.  The only difference between her and me is what was done with what was learned.  And my good friends, I am here to tell you, there is no difference between math and the Word of God. Read on.

              Psalm 86 sees us revisited with the good words of King David after an absence of 16 Psalms.  And his reappearance is noteworthy.  There is just something about how deeply and passionately King David laments for the presence of the Lord in his life.  Possibly it was because of the dire situations in which the Lord placed him.  A life lived on the run from enemies, assassins, and evil doers that sought to end his life with the quick plunge of a dagger in the night. Or possibly it was the anguish David held for the people of God.  That is, for them to seek the Lord the way David knew was necessary, laying down their sin and idolatry and repenting of both.  (Oh, to see a king and leader in our day that would hold anguish for the souls of their people to be revived in God Almighty.)  But I think most of all, the beautiful heart-felt laments and cries of David to the Lord were because of the heart that beat within his chest.  You see, the very life force of David’s existence was a heart that beat in rhythm with the Lord’s own. (Acts 13:22) And because of this, we can in David’s words, see a glimmer of God’s desire for all those that seek to receive and then care for a heart modeled after God’s own.  And for those truly seeking the same, David drops a simplistic yet mighty set of instructions on us in verse 11 of Psalm 86.

“Teach me your ways O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” Psalm 86:11 ESV

              David lets loose three steps here that will be guaranteed to radically change any life that chooses to undergo them with a sincere God-seeking heart.  1) be ready to learn the ways of the Lord, 2) be ready to do what the way of the Lord calls for, and 3) do it with a heart that first and foremost calls God Lord of that life.  Folks, any life that does these three steps wholeheartedly, will leave a mark on this planet in the name of Christ and for the kingdom of Christ.  The question is, just as with our opening math example above, is what will you do with what the Lord teaches you?

              The first step is rather obvious to the point of being absurd.  I mean if you want to learn about math, you read and study math.  If you want to learn about photography, you read and study about the process of taking good photos. If you want to learn about the migration tendencies of the white-throated magpie in southwestern Mexico, well, you read and study about that.  And folks, in a wonder of miraculous goodness, if you want to know more about God, He left us His very Words so that we can better know Him, His ways, and His plan for His creation.  And He has protected those Words from thousands of years of attack and threat and saw them bound into the best-selling book the world has ever witnessed.  If you want to be taught the ways of the Lord, pick up the nearest Bible and as David says in Psalm 1, take delight in it and meditate upon it day and night.

              The second step, however, is where I think most get lost.  And for the majority, getting lost in the second step really comes to getting lost in the third step.  You see, you cannot simply take David’s complex statement as three simple independent steps, like solving an equation.  Walking closely with the Lord is a bit more complex than trigonometry.  You see, millions in the world today possess a Bible.  And almost as many know what the Bible says, with many even being able to quote some verses or parts of it from memory.  Yet woefully, few actually do what it says.  Why?  Well, it normally has to do with sin. Hear this carefully…the Word of God will keep you from sin, but your sin will keep you from the Word of God.  When it actually comes to doing the Word of God, there will be spiritual opposition.  And folks, normally that spiritual opposition comes from within ourselves.  To successfully achieve this second step, the doing of the Word of God, you need to jump forward to step three and analyze the most complex muscular organ that God ever created…the human heart.

              Step three talks about a united heart.  Be careful to note that there is no need for unification unless there is first division.  And that is a great way to define the human heart in its natural, unaltered condition…divided.  Ever since that forbidden fruit was disobediently consumed in Genesis 3, all humans have taken their first breaths upon this planet with a divided heart.  A heart that instead of seeking its Maker, seeks its own way.  A heart that preaches pride in self instead of submission to God.  A heart that speaks of self-seeking instead of God-seeking.  Yes, without a heart unified to God, there can be little learning and walking in His ways.

              If today you are desperately yearning to be taught God’s ways and walk in them, you must first take a long look at your heart.  Ask yourself this question, if your heart is a throne room, who is sitting on the throne of it?  For if it is anyone but God, the Creator of that heart, your life will run amok in its own sinful desires.  And to truly change the king of a heart is, and can only be, the work of the Lord.  Only God can redeem a sinful heart and, in its place, create a heart that can truly learn of Him, and through the power of His Holy Spirt, effectually walk in His ways.  Yes, only God can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

              The good news is that because of the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross, if you truly desire a new heart, you can have one.  It is free, it is instant, and it is eternal.  But the process starts with you.  Do you want a new heart or are you satisfied with the one you have?  You see, God will not force you to love, praise, and worship Him, the human heart was not built to be forced into false love but only freely offer up true love.  And when the heart’s true, undivided, unified love is genuinely given to God, the miracle moment of salvation occurs.  And salvation in Christ can be yours today…if your heart is ready.  I pray it is.

Blessings to you as you pray for the Lord to teach you in this day, do what He teaches you, and do it with a beautiful heart unified with God’s own ~ Dan

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 ESV

“I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.” Jeremiah 24:7

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30

Dis de Muertos, Oaxaca, Mexico