Day 21
Read Psalm 86
“Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you” (vs. 2).
“Give me an undivided heart to revere your name” (vs. 11).
Psalm 86 continues the theme of asking for God’s mercy. Anne Lamott has a book called “Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers.” I haven’t read the book but I like the idea - when we pray we are either asking God for help, thanking God for help already given, or overwhelmed with wonder and awe at the glory of God. Help. Thanks. Wow.
The Psalms have examples of all three prayers. But, certainly the most common prayer in the Psalms is the cry for help. “Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy” (86:1). Kyrie Eleison is the Latin prayer - Lord, have mercy. Three simple words. But, these three words are the theme prayer of Lent. This prayer is the heart of the Christian faith - mercy. Lord, have mercy. It is all mercy.
I was struck by how Psalm 86 describes the faith of the Psalm writer. In verse 2, the Psalmist confidently declares his devotion to God. Then, in verse 11, he asks for an undivided heart. Which is it? Is he devoted to God or is his heart divided? And the answer seems to be, “Yes.” The Psalmist is devoted to God - that is why he writes this prayer in the first place. But, he also recognizes that his devotion wavers. And so he asks for help.
This is similar to the man who encounters Jesus in Mark 9. The man’s son had been stricken by an evil spirit for his entire life. The father asked Jesus to heal him and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” I think we understand what he meant. We believe but faith is also a life-long process. Jeff Vanderstelt defines discipleship as the life-long process of learning to “allow Jesus to be Lord over every aspect of our lives.” C.S. Lewis used the metaphor of understanding our life as a house and slowly but surely we allow Jesus into every room of our life.
May this be our prayer too: Lord we are devoted to you but we recognize we need you to continue to give us an undivided heart to revere your name.
Prayer
Pray through Psalm 86. It is a great Psalm just to pray through each verse and make them your own.
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