January 24: An Undivided Heart
Scripture
Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.
– Psalm 86:11-13 NIV
Psalm 86 is deeply personal. It is filled with David’s prayer, praise, and honest petition before the Lord. He cries out for mercy, protection, and help in the face of real opposition. But as the psalm unfolds, David’s focus turns inward. He recognizes that while he desires to follow the Lord, his faithfulness is fragile. He is a flawed man who needs God’s help not only for deliverance, but even for devotion itself.
David prays, “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness.” Notice what he says. He understands that his ability to walk faithfully flows from God’s faithfulness to him. David knows that without the Lord’s guidance and grace, even his best intentions fall short. It is a prayer many of us can relate to. We want to follow God, but we are keenly aware of how easily our hearts wander.
That awareness leads David to ask for something specific: “Give me an undivided heart.” Like us, David knows his loyalty is often pulled in different directions. He wants to fear the Lord rightly, to live with reverence and trust, but he also knows his own failures. A heart split between God and the world cannot fully praise God with freedom or joy. Søren Kierkegaard captured this longing simply and powerfully when he wrote, “Purity of heart is to will one thing.”¹ David is not pretending this away. He asks God to do what he cannot do on his own, to reshape his heart from the inside out.
The psalm closes with gratitude and praise. David remembers how the Lord has delivered him from desperate situations, even from the depths of death itself. He does not forget God’s rescuing love, and that memory fuels his worship. “Great is your love toward me,” he declares, vowing to praise the Lord forever. The invitation for us is the same: to remember God’s faithfulness, to respond with gratitude, and to ask for an undivided heart that loves and worships Him fully.
Reflection
1. Where do you sense your heart being pulled in different directions, making it difficult to remain fully devoted to the Lord?
2. How does relying on God’s faithfulness, rather than your own consistency, change the way you approach following Him?
3. What past deliverances or moments of God’s faithfulness can you remember today that might fuel deeper gratitude and worship?
Prayer
Ask the Lord to teach you His ways and to form in you an undivided heart. Confess the areas where your loyalty has been divided or your devotion has grown weary. Thank Him for His unfailing love and for the ways He has delivered you in the past.
Footnote
¹ Søren Kierkegaard, Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing (1847).