I wanna be just like you!

I’m sure at some point every kid has said those words to every dad.  I certainly did.  There was so much my dad was able to do–I  wanted to emulate that.  He was able to fix cars, build stuff, train dogs and—as far as I was concerned—hang the moon.  I wanted to be just like him.

There were several times I asked him to teach me to do what he could do.  My admiration of him caused me to want to learn his methods so I could succeed in being just like him.  And why wouldn’t I?  He’s my dad.

In our walk with the Lord, this is just as natural of a process.  Our closeness to the Creator of Heaven and Earth produces a longing in our hearts to be more like Him.  This is the heart of King David as we continue Psalm 86 in verses eight through thirteen.

Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;

no deeds can compare with yours.

All the nations you have made

will come and worship before you, Lord;

they will bring glory to your name.

For you are great and do marvelous deeds;

you alone are God.

Teach me your way, Lord,

that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever.

For great is your love toward me;

you have delivered me from the depths,

from the realm of the dead.

 

When you read these words, can you hear the heart of the author, King David?  He has walked with the Lord enough and seen the way He works to confidently say, “there is none like you, Lord.” 

There is confidence in those words.  But the author isn’t certain only because of what’s heard.  David has experienced the Lord’s “marvelous deeds.”  He has walked with the Lord long enough to know the Lord’s faithfulness is absolute.  There is no darkness nor doubt in the Lord whatsoever.

Because of this confidence, David asks the Lord to educate him in His ways.  He wants to experience more of the Lord.   However, to know more of Him, David would have to have an “undivided heart.”  Only whole-hearted devotion is pleasing to God.

Think back on your journey with the Lord—however long or short.  Can you sing of the mighty deeds of God in your life?  And as result of that grace to you, the only choice you really have is whole-hearted devotion to Him.  After all, you’re not yours anymore; you are His.

His love is great towards you and you can rest assured that as His child, you have been rescued from death in order to live with Him forever.  Learn more of His ways and walk in the peace of His goodness.