Guidance

Narrator: Chris Genthree

Duration: 3min

Psalm 32:8‑9 • 3 min. read • grade level: 7

"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee." Psalm 32:8, 9⁸I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. ⁹Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. (Psalm 32:8‑9).

Now we are often like the horse, or mule, every one of us -and this because our souls have not been plowed up. When there is anything in which the will of man is at work, the Lord deals with us, as with the horse, or the mule, holding us in. When every part of the heart is in contact with Himself, He guides us with His "eye." "The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no dark part, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." Luke 11:34-36³⁴The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. ³⁵Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. ³⁶If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. (Luke 11:34‑36).

When there is anything wherein the eye is not single, so long as this is the case, there is not free intercourse in heart and affections with God; and the consequence is, our will not being subdued, we are not simply of God. When the heart is in the right state, the whole body is "full of light," and there is quick perception of the will of God. He just teaches us by His "eye" all He wishes, and produces in us quickness of understanding in His fear! (Isa. 11:3³And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: (Isaiah 11:3)). This is our portion, as having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, quickness of understanding in the fear of Jehovah, hearts without any object save the will and glory of God. And that is just what Christ was: "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." See Psalm 40:7, 8⁷Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, ⁸I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalm 40:7‑8); Heb. 10:7⁷Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7). Where there is this, it may be bitter and painful as to the circumstances of the pathway, but there is in it the joy of obedience as obedience -God guiding us by His eye.... Many speak of providence as a guide. Providence does sometime control, but it never, properly speaking, guides us: it guides things. If I am going to a place to preach, and I find, when I get to the terminus, that the train has started, God has ordered things about me (and I may have to be thankful for the overruling); but it is not God's guiding me; for I should surely have gone had the train not left; my will was to go... but it is not guidance of the Spirit of God, not guidance by the "eye," but rather by the "bit" of God. Though providence overrules, it does not, properly speaking, guide.

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