Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. (ESV)

Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. (NIV)

Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. (NLT)

Theme Intro:

When we build our lives on what is true, we find greater flourishing. This month, we will look at what the Bible says about the way of truth, how to know it, its sanctifying nature, who the truth is, and how we ought to speak it in love to our neighbor. The Belt of Truth, cinched securely around our waist, keeps us rooted in the promises and faithfulness of God.

Dive Deeper:

An Undivided Heart

Have you ever met someone who just lived differently? Who spoke with such depth that it felt like each word mattered? And more than how they spoke, their whole life was compelling. They lived with intentionality. They lived without distraction. They lived with one aim in mind. Have you met someone like that? How did they affect you? How did you look at your life in light of theirs?

The Lord was this person for David and should be for us, too. In Psalm 86:11, David is praying to God, and his prayer resembles what goes on in our hearts when we meet someone whom we want to live like. David has this revelation of God. He sees the Lord, and upon seeing Him, David has this deep desire to reorient his whole self around Him. He opens with, “Teach me your way, Lord,” the word teach here doesn’t even grasp the depth of what David is trying to say. He is saying, “Mark out the way”. He’s asking God to clear the path so he may walk in it. This makes it evident that David isn’t out to learn the truth of God just to have knowledge. David isn’t looking to be a scholar or a teacher; he desires to be pure in heart.

The verse ends with David asking God to give him an undivided heart. This is important because we all live with a heart at war. We live disintegrated. We have parts that desire things of the world and parts of us that want what God wants. What made the difference in David's life is he knew where to point his divided heart. He came before the Lord in prayer. He knew only God could transform him.

What is Truth?
Now, the hope is this. Truth isn’t just a list we have to seek out. Truth is a person. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). So we don’t have to try to build our lives on some abstract view of truth. We can come under the way of Jesus and model our whole life after Him . When we spend time with Jesus and devote our lives to do and say the things he would do and say, when we pray and ask for him to empower us, we experience it! We don’t have to be stuck merely longing for a life like Jesus; we can have it in Him.

Written by Ben Hesch

Challenge:

Think of an attribute of God you admire the most—an attribute that comes to mind when you hear, “Teach me your way, O LORD.” Examples include love, strength, gentleness, kindness, etc. Set a recurring phone alarm for a time of day when you usually have some flexible space. When your alarm goes off, pray for God to shape your life in that way! It can be as simple as praying through your memory verse. “Teach me gentleness, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth.”