Psalm 86
A Prayer of David.
1 Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: For I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: For I cry unto thee daily. 4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6 Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: For thou wilt answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; Neither are there any works like unto thy works. 9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come And worship before thee, O Lord; And shall glorify thy name. 10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone. 11 Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name. 12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: And I will glorify thy name for evermore. 13 For great is thy mercy toward me: And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. 14 O God, the proud are risen against me, And the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; And have not set thee before them. 15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. 16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; Give thy strength unto thy servant, And save the son of thine handmaid. 17 Shew me a token for good; That they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: Because thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me.
For what do you pray in difficult times?
If you are anything like me then you pray for the crisis to cease and I believe there ain't nothin' wrong with that!
In this Psalm, David teaches us to add something else to our prayer list.
Many of the Psalms of David were prayers concerning his enemies, asking for rescue from their attacks and this one is no different.
Psalm 86:14 O God, the proud are risen against me, And the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; And have not set thee before them.
Proud, violent, ungodly men seek to harm the Psalmist's soul.
David, desperately needs Divine help, so he continually prays for mercy.
In the midst of a prayer for mercy, in a time of great need, David asks for God to give him a united heart, that is a heart that is undivided.
Psalm 86:11 Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name.
In difficult times, pray for an undivided heart
My tendency in times of difficulty is to only seek help for the immediate need, to focus entirely on my present circumstance. In bad times, it is as though the crisis has taken the complete attention of my heart.
Isn’t that the enemies plan, to find some way to steal our hearts away from God?
The Devil will distract us with possessions and pleasures for sure, but problems are another tool in his big bag of tricks.
Sickness, concerns about cash, a wayward child, discord at church, woes at work, dealing with difficulty at home or even a painful divorce, these are just a few of the possible thieves of our spiritual devotion and dividers of our heart.
Like the Apostle Peter on the sea of Galilee, the storm can steal our eyes away from the Lord. Like poor Peter, we're prone to turn away from our only hope of keeping our heads above water.
Do you see why we must pray for an undivided heart especially when it is hurting?
I intend on following this example from David’s prayer. I don't want difficulties to divide my heart, do you?
Today's Readings - 7/23/20
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