Psalm 86:11-13 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“11Teach me Your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in Your truth.
Give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear Your name.
12I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify Your name forever.
13For great is Your loving devotion to me;
You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.”

If our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine biblical faith in the Lord, we should desire to have the Lord teach us His ways that we may walk (in conduct) in His truth. We should want to have undivided hearts. We should want our lives to be surrendered to the Lord to doing His will for our lives, and we should no longer desire to live according to the flesh. So we should not be those who look for “loop holes” to wiggle our way out of having to obey God. But we should long to obey our Lord and to serve Him in submission to Him.

And our praise to God will not be empty praise, just going through the motions of religious practice. We will praise our Lord with our whole hearts sincerely from hearts of thankfulness and joy because of all that He has done for us in providing us with salvation from our addiction to sin and in giving us new lives in Him to be lived for His glory, all in His power, wisdom, and strength. For we glorify our Lord, not with words only, but by our submission to Him in doing what He requires of us who profess His name.

Psalm 86:14-15 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“14The arrogant rise against me, O God;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life;
they have no regard for You.
15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.”

Who are the arrogant? They are the prideful, the proud who are lacking in humility and in submission to God. They are those who are living separate from God because they are still walking in sin and not in obedience to the Lord. They are the selfish and the self-indulgent who want things their way, and not God’s way, who do what pleases their flesh without regard for God or for who they hurt in the process. And they are liars and deceivers who speak lies to the people in order to slander others or to lead others astray.

Not all prideful people seek to do harm to others, though, but some or many of them do. For in their pride and in their stubbornness they are not willing to submit to God and therefore they may also be against those who do. And so they plot evil against the righteous to take them down, perhaps out of bitterness and resentment or because they don’t like what they are teaching. Or it could be because they are of Satan, working for him, doing his bidding, taking down the nations of the world to create a one world government.

But God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Our Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness. So He has delayed His judgment on all human kind to give everyone time to repent and to submit to Him as Lord. So evil people will continue to do evil unless they truly repent of their sins and they surrender their lives to the Lord to now obey Him and His commands. So we should pray for their salvation.

Psalm 86:16-17 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“16Turn to me and have mercy;
grant Your strength to Your servant;
save the son of Your maidservant.
17Show me a sign of Your goodness,
that my enemies may see and be ashamed;
for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.”

I like this prayer! The Psalmist was not calling on God to kill his enemies, but he prayed that his enemies may see a sign of the goodness of God and be ashamed. And if they are truly ashamed, this might then lead them to genuine repentance and changed lives. So, praying to the Lord for mercy on ourselves, because of our enemies, and for Him to grant us strength, and to deliver us, does not have to include praying for judgment on our enemies. We should be praying for the salvation of our enemies from their sins.

Give Me an Undivided Heart
An Original Work / August 1, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Recording Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.