Psalm 86:11: “Teach me Your way, O LORD; / I will walk in Your truth; / Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

April 1st, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

When David went through difficulties in his life, he desired to remain teachable, flexible, and adaptable to God’s plans. We notice that in this prayer David reminded himself not to be too wise in his own eyes. The opposite of a united heart is a divided heart, which is a heart caught between 2 possibilities. Could David be admitting that one part of his heart really did seek to honor God while the other part sought to rebel? We believe that is why David prayed for God to unite and give him an undivided, single-hearted loyalty to his God. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He replied, “You shall love the LORD your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind” (Matt. 2:37). Total love and devotion is exactly what God desires and looks for in us.

Wealthy and successful, Alfred Nobel was an engineer, businessman, and inventor. One morning, Nobel picked up a newspaper, and to his great surprise, read of his own death. The editor of the paper had obviously made a mistake. However, as Nobel read his own epitaph, he was appalled to see his life summed up with the phrase: “merchant of death.” At that point in his life, Alfred Nobel was known as the inventor of dynamite. He determined that day that he would work to be remembered differently. He devoted his energies to the creation of an annual prize to be given to those “who during the preceding year, [had] conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.” We know that award today as the Nobel Prize. Nobel later wrote, “Every person ought to have the opportunity to correct his or her epitaph in midstream.” If we let Him, God will also use whatever hardship we are going through for His greater purposes in our lives.

“LORD, please use us to write a good epitaph for our own life this day.”