DAY 18.
The thought came in the last study of the promise in Psalm 32 v 8 I will guide thee with mine eye' and the intimacy of fellowship that the Creator God desires with His children.
It is overwhelming to me that He should spend so much time and effort to draw such a person as me to Himself in His Calvary love bond.
The deepest love known to human nature is being poured out on the human race day by day and yet is being spurned so easily by the vast majority of folk.
Calvary love does not introduce us to a new religion but it brings us to the Creator God through His beloved Son Jesus Christ.
As we look at the promise today we notice that in His great love towards us our heavenly Father sets out to 'instruct us' in the issues of life, every part of our being is effected with His righteousness.
The word 'instruct' is not for a short period of time but it means to bring us to spiritual maturity and we are never too old to learn fresh truths from His word.
Our divine Tutor is seeking to reveal His will, plans and purposes to us and every succeeding generation He is continually opening up His word to diligent Christians for their spiritual growth.
The promise stands secure today as when David penned this Psalm and the truths that God had revealed to him through it.
'I will' is the guarantee of the promise to any who surrender to Him and become obedient to His word, it is our yielding to His will that becomes the obstacle to us receiving it.
We can say in words that we surrender all to Him but come the moment of truth in testing and we can quickly shy away from Him, Peter was by no means the only one to deny His Saviour.
'I will instruct thee' is a terrific promise for the slow learners like me, we find it hard to take things in and to remember what has been given to us.
Our Father would rather have a slow learner than the religiously well educated who only have the word in their head but not experimentally in their heart.
In the instructing David received it was not just a mental appreciation of God but the experimentally walking and communing with God that counted.
The simple trust of a single stone that killed Goliath led to the agony of the Cave of Adullam
when surrounded by Saul and his army, many years had passed by between these events.
David was still be instructed by the Lord until He took him into the heavenly place, David never lost the desire of seeking the instructions of the Lord and neither should we.
The text then goes on to reveal that in His abundant love towards us He will 'teach' us just as He did David of old, to 'teach' is to lead us in the right way on the right path.
To 'instruct' has the objective of laying the right foundation, but to 'teach' means to impart knowledge by experimental application of the knowledge gained.
'Instruction' can be the theory of scripture but the 'teaching' is the practical outworking of the scripture in our daily life.
Sand and cement need to be blended together with water to make it a good mixture and of true value to the builder, so the 'word of God' needs to be received mentally and practically with the aid of the Holy Spirit bringing the two together in our life.
It is the Holy Spirit breathing on the word and moving in our minds and hearts that enable any one of us to grow into spiritually mature people.
Therefore can know practically that the word of God becomes alive in us as we read, study and seek to apply it, 'wait on the Lord' involves these three facts.
The promise is 'I will' instruct and teach thee' what, 'in the way that thou shalt go' here is the promise opened up to us, it involves our daily walk and work before God and the world.
'The way' can be the journey homeward, it can mean the immediate steps to be taken and it can also mean the right course of action to be taken in any situation.
The first points to the goal that lies in front of us and the word implies that our Father will always guide us on the path that leads us to His presence.
All along the way the situations that face us are allowed to steer us along the path of righteousness so that we become more like Christ Jesus as a result.
The second point reveals the present situation and to the how, what, why and where of our immediate experience, a temptation to avoid, a trap to beware of or a simple problem solution as yet unknown by us.
The third points to our walking a godly course of life, seeking to bring out the characteristics of a godly life where ever we go or whatever we do.
It is the teaching that brings us to the feet of our Saviour to enjoy divine communion as often as we can during the day, it may be a quick fire prayer 'Lord save me' like Peter on Galilee or Elijah's plea on Carmel.
We do not have to drop on to our knees to pray many times t is impractical but a swift word to the Lord in the spirit will bring us immediate response from the Throne of Grace when we are in harmony with Him.
So we come to the loving heart to hear the centre of the promise 'I will guide thee with mine eye' now the experimental aspect is brought to us.
The servants of great master's in the east learn to receive instructions at the meat table by gazing into the eye of the master.
A little twitch can bring the waiter to the table with the bottle of wine or with a piece of fish
without a word being spoken, just guided by the eye.
An empty plate is soon dealt with or an empty glass is filled all by the use of the eye and tat means the person must be close at hand to receive instructions like this.
To be guided away from a situation that can rapidly develop into a very difficult one needs the Holy Spirit to be alert as well as alive in us, in truth He is, it is we are who are slow to respond to Him.
There are many situations in life where the Holy Spirit is blocking our path but we are not diligent to His promptings and we get into all manners of difficulties as a result.
Many conversations run along these lines bringing out the wrong attitude in us because we have not learned to be observant to the Holy Spirit promptings.
We can get into difficulties because we do not let holiness and righteousness dictate our life we still allow the flesh to dominate.
We are afraid of standing firm on our spiritual principles instead we join in the general conversations that break our relationship with the Throne of Grace.
Now we need to become practical in our walk with the Lord so that He can prepare us for the many jolts that we receive on our journey day by day towards our heavenly home.
As we draw near to God we have the bold assurance that He will draw near to us and in the faith that we deploy towards our Father we can look up into His face to receive guidance from Him.
The reality is that the more often we come the more easily it is for us to receive instruction, teaching and guidance from Him.
We can know the reality of His presence with us as we move out from His footstool in the morning and experience His guiding through each moment of the day.
Equally it is possible for us to go through a routine that seeks God in the crisis of life but never know the experimental communion with Him because we do not seek Him.
David learnt that is was absolute folly to go out without first seeking the presence of God going with him, David knew that the right direction and right course of action was to follow in the steps of his Master.
He brings out the thought of the horse that needs reins to guide and lead it in the way that it should go v 9 it cannot make the journey on its own and neither can we.
We can rejoice in the Lord because of His faithful dealings with us children who are still prone to want our own way.
How often our heavenly Father graciously steers us away from dangers and traps set by the enemy of our souls because of our impetuosity and self willed actions.
What a tragedy that is in the light of our promises today that He is willing to instruct, teach and guide us in the right ways for our benefit and for His glory.
Let us heed the instruction of Gods word today and spend more time seeking to learn from our loving Tutor who has only the best in store for us.
May we be observant to His teaching so that we allow the Holy Spirit to apply the word to our life, so that we become living testimonies of the saving and keeping power of the Living God.
Then He will guide us with His eye continually.
