“Unite my heart to fear Your name”–Psalm 86:11
My Beloved Ones in Christ our Lord,
Have you ever had the feeling that your life and mind were hopelessly fragmented? So many moving parts in life. So many perplexities to deal with, temptations to overcome, challenges to meet, and the unexpected difficulties that greet us often.
Some people experience this as a sense of the loss of control or direction. They might even express this unpleasant sensation by saying something like, ‘I feel like my life is spiraling out of control.’ My guess is that such a thing is common to all of us. There are plenty of days, perhaps even protracted seasons in our lives, when we feel like we are being sliced into many pieces, pulled here and there, thoughts scattered about, way too many concerns to deal with at one time, and simply overwhelmed.
If this should describe you, then let me first encourage you by pointing out that Israel’s greatest king, David, walked down this same road, even as the man who followed the Lord “with all his heart” (1 Kings 14:8). With blunt and often embarrassing detail the Old Testament chronicles the many sorrows, failures, attacks, and tribulations he faced, a good many of which he brought upon himself. And especially from the Psalms, we also learn that David spared no words or emotions in crying out to the Lord about all of it. Frankly, there are times when David sounds like a man who is. . . well . . . terribly disturbed, if not crazy!
But here in Psalm 86, which is categorized as a psalm of lament, David asks the Lord for something rather unusual at first glance; a “heart” that is unified (v. 11).
What he means by this is that in the midst of all of the craziness that was going on in his personal life and in his kingdom, his soul felt fractured, broken like so many shards of glass laying on the road. So, in understandable desperation, he turns to the One he calls “my God” (v. 2) and prays that he might be granted a soul that is put back together again, rather than fragmented, painfully divided, and characterized by a plethora of thoughts and emotions dragging him in all directions at once.
Yet, take care to notice what it is that David believes will bring such a healing unity to his broken heart; it is “to fear Your name.”
Perhaps this sounds odd, that at such a time of profound distress the great king would loft such a passionate supplication for “fear.” Why not ask for peace, for joy, for relief, for comfort, or for any number of other blessings that might bring unity to his disintegrated soul?
Maybe we can better understand David’s spiritual logic if we ponder the nature of this “fear” he is seeking. What is it to “fear” the “name” of the Lord? And how does this “fear” serve as both a unifying and healing force in our hearts?
While the full answer to this question would take us well beyond the scope of this little devotional (and my abilities!), we might consider just a couple of ideas.
First, our Lord’s “name” represents who He is in all of His power, glory, majesty, holiness, wisdom, love, and grace! You can see some of these attributes mentioned here in Psalm 86. For example, look at verse 5 where David reflects upon the Lord’s goodness, forgiveness, and steadfast love. The same may be said of verse 15 as well. In this sense, to “fear” the Lord’s “name” is to recognize and trust who His is, especially in His mercy and grace towards all who belong to Him. That is to say, what gives us a “united heart” and restores our spiritual well-being is our trust in who our God really is! The unifying power of our souls is nothing less than the very One we, like David, may also call “my God.”
To “fear” Him in this way is to place our childlike faith in Him, totally. The opposite of this is to trust in other things, or to look for other ‘unifying themes’ in life. Some might be tempted to trust their own abilities to sort life out, or their wisdom, or strength, or whatever it may be. Yet, David gets his heart ready to revere God by first confessing that he is, despite all illusions of his personal power and wisdom, simply one who is “poor and needy” (v. 1). It’s frankly impossible to “fear” the “name” of our God while basking in the myth of our own ‘attributes’ of glory and strength. To do so will leave one in broken pieces, full of anxiety and even wretched despair.
Then secondly, to “fear” the Lord’s Holy “name” is to seek only one thing in the ultimate sense. When we find ourselves overly desirous of earthly treasures and benefits, whatever they might be and however good and noble they may seem, the result is the fragmentation of our hearts. You see, our Creator never designed us to live this way. This is why, for example, that Jesus warned us about the impossibility of serving God and earthly wealth (Matthew 6:24). There can be but one ultimate desire. All others, by definition, must be secondary at best. For believers in our Savior, that supreme desire is nothing less than our Lord and His glory! David says as much in verse 12: “I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.”
For fractured souls and troubled minds there is only one solution. There is only one unifying power. It is that we might more fully love and trust the Mighty One who has saved us! No other basis for wholeness and spiritual health exists. Fractured, divided, and broken souls can only be healed by a good dose of the “fear” His great “name”!
As we begin this new week, let us join king David in asking our gracious Father in Heaven to bless us, not with worldly treasures or advantages, but with the beautiful, soul-enriching desire for Him alone!
I love you all with an ever-increasing love, and I am so thankful for you!
Mike
PS: Next up, Psalm 89.