August 19 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

These meditations are on the psalms. All those songs about Zion, the temple, and the Son of David really make sense when they are sung In the New Testament church.

Bible Reading:

Psalm 86

Bible Text:

Teach me your way, O LORD,... give me an undivided heart (Ps. 86:11).

Devotional:

With David, we ask God to teach us the way because by ourselves we cannot find it. Yet even when we know God's way, we have trouble staying on it, since we have wayward hearts. Therefore we also ask for an undivided heart: Our interests and desires flutter, like birds, in all directions. Give us single-mindedness, O God.

God demands undivided loyalty. God is a jealous God who does not tolerate idols. Whatever and whoever competes with God for first place in your and my life must be cut down to size. But if God demands loyalty, he also gives us the ability to be loyal. "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them," God promises in Ezekiel 11:19. Therefore we must ask. Ask and work, so we will not be hypocrites when we pray.

When we serve God with a divided heart, we sin against God and we make ourselves unhappy. In fact, a divided heart in any area of life causes unhappiness---not only in religion. People who are always looking for a new job never find satisfaction in their present position. A married person who is always looking over the fence cannot find happiness with his or her spouse. We have to be single-minded in order to be successful in work, happy in marriage, and blessed in the service of God. But divided loyalty and a distracted heart insult the LORD and cause misery.

"Teach me your way, O LORD," and "give me an undivided heart."

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.