Ps. 86.11 (uniting nations and the heart)

Teach me / O Yhwh / your way
that I may walk / in your faithfulness
unite my heart / to fear your name. 

These lines deserve a good deal of attention. From a formal perspective these lines are in the middle of the psalm, not by way of numbered lines but by way of a chiasmus; the poem folds on these lines such that what comes after it mirrors what came before. It is no surprise, then, that “the name” stands at this ‘heart of the psalm’. Without going into all the details we can see this simply by reference to ‘the name’. Prior to this verse the nations came to Yhwh and bowed down before him, “glorifying your name”. Here, after mentioning the name in this verse, the psalmist says he promises to thank Yhwh and “glorify your name forever”. These are the only three mentions of ‘the name’.  The point to this is not merely literary; the psalmist is using this literary technique in order to draw attention to complete centrality of the name and to the centrality of glorifying that name. The form is the substance. 

As such, we need to look more closely at how this verse ‘swings’ in relation to the previous verse. There, we saw that nations (the world) came to organize itself around the centrality of Yhwh. It was, in a very real sense, a vision of the ‘kingdom of God’ (not just the kingdom of David). That which drew the nations to the Yhwh, importantly, were his ‘works’, works that were utterly unfathomable and unpredictable in their display of deliverance-power. Here, the psalmist focuses on a different ‘attraction’: Yhwh’s ‘way’. His ‘way’ is related to what came before: Yhwh’s actions in history are his ‘way’. They reveal his character and his desire. His way is, characteristically, justice and righteousness. Likewise, Yhwh’s ‘way’ is revealed in and through the Torah (law). When his way is revealed and understood it is perceived to be one of ‘steadfastness’ and of assurance; Yhwh is, in a way, his own commitment to himself (he ‘swears by himself’). This commitment on Yhwh’s part calls for a similar, utter commitment from his people. Their ‘faithfulness’ is to be a type of mirror to his commitment and faithfulness to them. As such, the ‘unity’ and singleness of Yhwh calls for a “uniting of heart” and a “fear” of Yhwh. 

This brings us to an important resemblance between the nations and the psalmist: when Yhwh reveals himself (when he acts), all of creation moves toward unity. From the nations to the heart, all unites itself to Yhwh. From the epic to the most personal, from the high to the low, everything is now marked as a liturgical assembly (a church) around Yhwh (it is a type of Pentecost). To bring this insight together: Yhwh’s “works” and Yhwh’s “way” are, both, displays of his incomparable nature. This ‘incomparability’ is, likewise, a display of persuasive power: it is beautiful. It unites not only the nations, but the heart of his people. Their ‘uniting’ has content, however: it is liturgical. Both the nations and the heart, when they are united and unified, give ‘glory to the name’. This is both the “source and summit” of their unity, that which draws them, maintains them and nourishes them.