Create In Me An Undivided Heart

AM Psalm [83] or 42, 43 • PM Psalm 85, 86
Jer. 10:11-24 • Rom. 5:12-21 • John 8:21-32

The evening Psalm for today is headlined in some translations a “supplication for help against enemies”. The Psalms of David are filed with pleas to God from David for just such help. For many years I didn’t see the applicability of such laments to my life. I don’t have any enemies to speak of, certainly not those I needed to ask God to smote. Then one day some years ago I was reading Psalm 31 and at verse 8 I referred to my real enemies: my self-centeredness, my selfishness, my addictions, my failure to properly love my “neighbors”, my failure to love God like I should, and on and on they go. Suddenly, all these Psalms asking for God’s help against enemies have real meaning to me. Psalm 86 is no exception.

Like the Psalmist I live with a divided heart. It’s not divided in two. It’s a virtual jigsaw puzzle! I heard this conundrum once referred to as a spiritual Humpty Dumpty. I am torn between the me I want to be and the reality of who I am. I want to be faithful and yet I find myself far from God. I want to be dependable and yet I break commitments. I want to be kind and giving but on my terms. Do you ever feel this way?

What I usually do when the reality of my life hits me on the back of the head (usually that’s actually God slapping me on the back of my head followed by a “get with it Dennis.”) is I work harder. I read a self-help book and double down on my daily meditation. I make lists! Goodness, I have all kinds of ways to try and fix my messiness. In the end none of these are the glue I need for my fractured heart.

Only God can give you and me wholeheartedness. We have to be willing to give God all our heart, without hesitation or reservation, and then God will pull it together for us. Isn’t that wonderful! We don’t have to worry; we don’t have to fret. It is not all up to us. Just be open to God’s miraculous power. Be willing.

Can you name the ways your heart is not knit together? I have a feeling that we are all heart-broken. Let God use His glue on you.

Written by Dennis McKinnie

...who is feeling less and less Humpty Dumpty-ish.