God promises to lead us but are we pulling against the bit? Psalm 32:8
Video Transcription
Katherine Walden: Hi and welcome back to daily Bible promises with a twist. I am going to be reading from the New American Standard Bible and I’m going through a box of daily Bible verses that are all promises, but there is only one Bible verse per card. I’ve decided to put those into context and that’s the quest. As I’ve said, I’m reading from the New American Standard Bible. Today’s verse is Psalm 32:8.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”
That’s a promise from God to David in response to David turning back to God in repentance for his grievous sin. During the time before he repented, David went through some real hardship and some real pain because of his decision to turn away from God and to go his own way and get what he wanted. That’s where this promise is in context, but I’d like to go on to verse 9.
I’m going to read verse 8 again and then go on to verse 9 because this is a response from God to David. He’s given him some really sage advice so David doesn’t fall into this trap again. “I will instruct and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which has no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check. Otherwise, they won’t come near to you.”
I want you to picture a stubborn mule. We’ve all seen cartoons of a mule sitting on its haunches when its owner is trying to lead them to somewhere. That somewhere could be somewhere good. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the owner is trying to lead them into somewhere that the mule doesn’t want to go. This is what God was saying to David. I must admit I’m not a horse person, but I do understand that a sensitive horse who is willing to obey will have what is called a soft mouth which means that only a very gentle tug of the bit is all that’s needed for that horse to respond in the way that the rider wants it to respond.
The bridle, think of the reins where if you’re trying to lead a horse, you hope that the horse is going to follow behind you as you have a slack line on that rein and as you just walk along the horse or the mule will walk behind you. I would call that leaning in. The horse is taking a step in response to the leading of the owner. However, a horse or a donkey who has gotten used to rebelling and not wanting to do what its owner is telling it to do, they get what is called a hard mouth. That means that the owner or the rider has to give a severe tug in order for that horse to get the hint and to move on to where the owner or rider wants that horse to go.
So if you’re feeling some severe consequences for some decisions that you made or if you’re constantly in the habit of talking back to God, or trying to talk him out of doing things that you don’t want him to do or from you going places that you don’t want to go, I encourage you to not lean on your own understanding, on your stubborn hunches, but lean in to God and take a step in response to every step that He walks before you.
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©2018 Katherine Walden
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