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Psalm 32 reads as follows from the NIV version of the Bible: 1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." And you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. 10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. 11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart! This psalm highlights the Lord's guidance to the individual person in verses 8 and 9 which says: 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you This passage could be interpreted as meaning that you should stay the course and be good so you don't have to be so closely guarded and watched that you are like the horse that needs the bit. It is less likely this is the best interpretation of this passage but some reviewers of this psalm have this take on the meaning of these verses. To start with it is pretty clear that the idea of the bit is factoring out right at the outset the idea of miracles, supernatural interventions at any point, and angelic visits at any point, things that we cannot control or self generate even in the age of high technology today. The praying person needs to be loose, out of the grip of narrow expectations and ready for a miracle or two at the least. Verse 8 says, 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. It is the eye of the Lord you are looking for and following, while the horse in the bit is looking ahead and not up and yonder to the eye of anything. The Lord wants you praying per verse 6 but also while praying out of the grip of the bit or restrictions that have been there, whatever they are so that you are focused on his guidance and loving eye for you personally. If someone meets a friend for lunch, and they usually have their nose in the paper when they are eating lunch alone, they do not do that while in the presence of a friend who is now in their presence for lunch. They are out of the grip of the paper and dealing with their friend eye to eye. In the same way the Lord might want someone out of the grip of whatever focused on his loving eye and expectations with the belief and trust that the Lord is not going to withdraw his loving eye, his loving council and guidance and mainly wants you to come into his presence without self imposed restrictions that amount to a diversion. The meaning is more to the image of the individual putting themselves into a type of a vise, probably a well intentioned vise that in this day and age would amount to a theory that one might hope would hold and get you from point A to point B. This would involve assumptions and presumptions, probably tight set goals where the person involved is setting up strict protocol with the expections of certain results happening. An example of this found in the gospels is the story of the relatively weathly man who went overboard in storing up his barns for the future, where even living another day was a generouis gift of the Lord and he should have had that take. He as relating to this psalm tightened the grip by focusing on a future that wasn't guaranted and he needed to back up and focus on whatever the Lord's present guidance instead. It says in this psalm in verse 6 6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. This man in this parable should have focused on praying for the Lord's council early and start the race that way all the way to the finish. If somehow the guidance came to fill his barns to the excess, then it would have been okay to do that. Joseph as overseer of Egypt did store up grain for a coming famine but this was from revealed instrucions from the Lord and from the Lord's guidance. Absent of the guidance to do something like that, the focus should always be on the Lord and what he is saying presently. Lots of people would operate in this way not only spiritually but in many other areas of their lives, hoping to find the straight and narrow and take that path to the hilt with expectations those certain results might be forthcoming. And while goals are good and often worthy goals, how they are persued and thought about can be suffocating and like the bit for the horse as per the symbolism in this psalm. The Lord's guidance will not be a suffocating presence at all. There may be a lot of work and effort involved in what the Lord is guiding you for, but if a goal and pursuit is becoming overhwleming and stifling, it is highly unlikely that you are on the direct path of guidance that the Lord is giving. What this can amount to is a form of probability theory and if I follow this course or proceed in this way, theoretically, I will probably get this outcome. Even known variables are uncertain and you also do not know of all the existing variables. There can and will be some partial truth to this idea of input and possible outcomes or output... Training for a marathon does logically involve covering the pavement with x amount of miles and there is no getting around that. The goal has to involve more or less a good amount of training, but it is not precision training for most participants. Even the top runners are running and training at various locations throughout the world at varied altitudes. But following strict protocol in the spiritual sense is not the way to go according to this psalm either. While you want to be in and at the forefront spiritually in prayer, there is no precise formula for doing this, while there are general principles such as spending quality time in prayer and balancing your prayer life with an outward view towards intercessions for the many, there is no precise instructions for the individual and who and what to pray for aside from generalities given in say Paul's letter to Timothy where it gives instructions to prayer for all people especially leaders with the expectation that such prayers will help lead to living conditions that are peaceable for all... This psalm is admonishing the believer not to be overly involved in strict protocol, and the overt championing of personal plans and ideas to the maximum while not checking and rechecking with the guidance of the Holy Spirit But there is also the idea of setting up plans as an idol, even good plans where indeed the Lord might have other plans and does have other plans... The Lord has his loving eye for you and the Bible does speak of the jealousy of the Lord and part of his loving eye is the guidance and counsel he does have for you and as you drift away from that, there will arise the jealousy of the Lord. Setting up a plan and just staying with it no matter what is another example of putting the plan into the bit and not having the Lord as the overseer and possible changer of the plans. Don't sign up for anything lock stop and barrel and keep everything subject to the Lord's guidance. The call and direction of this psalm is to be more open minded to the movements of the Spirit and to resist making the call as to what to do so etched in stone to where there is a lack of flexibility to the ways of the Lord for you The guidance that the Lord will have for you is to be trusted as the better and best guidance and to be stern and stubborn about the path you are weighing as the most desirable and the one to take may have to be amended to what the Lord is doing or what the Lord is reconfiguring for you based on what is happening out there.. I might be so determined to take a vacation to some exotic land, but if something is currently erupting that is dangerous for you the guidance of the Lord will take you off that trip for your own safety and protection. While this may have been the right choice and the good place to visit, at the moment prudence with the help of the good guidance of the Lord says no. It might be good to get to the beach and you just about always enjoy it, but this day there are very treacherous currents and the good guidance for today is to stay out of the surf. The jealousy of the Lord, mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, is also factor. The Lord might have as you better tap into his guidance a litany of good things for you that as you meander away into the tight restrictions of your own set in stone plans; you miss out on all the good the Lord did have for you. The Lord will have his plans and ideas for the individual and it is important to stay close to the Lord but also free flowing and not overly entranced with one path, or overly enamored with personal beliefs about what is best. The jealously of the Lord is for the guidance, ways and pathways he has for you and if you are on some personal walk that is quite sectioned off and firm that you can out of free will refuse the better and best ways of the Lord, and miss out. The relationship of prayer has back and forth elements that the Lord wants and wants preserved, he wants to give that guidance but also wants hyou do get the guidance as well and the tight grip of any and all other ideas needs at time to be thrown off like the horse might throw off the bit and run wild in on plains. There are lots of distractions out there as always and they might only be intensified by the constant stream of information that can be tapped into from many sources. For even the more spiritually astute person, difficulties in discernment do arise, but in conjunction with prayer and meditation it is important to realize that the guidance of the Lord will almost never have the feel of a tight grip, like the horse must feel with the bit. But the answer is to draw closer to the Lord in prayer and meditation but not to seek to wholly subscribe to just about anything else as there might be continually adjustments to make with ongoing changing realities and the best guidance is always from the presence of the Lord and all efforts in all directions need to have a continual question mark as to whether as good as these efforts might be, they can represent a straying from the better guidance of the Lord. There is something to be said for being independent and self guided but there are so many variables to contend with, so much fragility in everything of course we need and want the best guidance we can get. There are just so many ways we can subvert the guidance of the Lord even under the heading of this is good so I can tap this running well further and exponentially. For example, you heard people playing and hoping to win the lottery. One of the instructions given for this recently on the radio for office pools for this is to maybe draw up a contract in case there is a win. But the presupposition with this is that with winning a massive amount of money that whoever wins will be all set which it has been found in not the case with most lottery winners for a variety of subsequent reasons and not matter what you get your hands on materially is never guaranteed as far as holding on to it. If anything this psalm opens up a lot of doors that might have been just about sealed and no longer considered by the individual, an individual that might be just about running empty of plans anyway but who are so determined that effort alone matters that they are continuing on a vacant road If I am waiting for a horse and buggy to pick me up at the bus stop, I am being stubborn and putting my plans in the bit... I might not have to stay in this place that is now maybe representing the bit for the horse. How can we represent the bit in the horse? Likely it can be the best intentioned plans that are withering but it could also be something that is going quite well that I have in the bit. I have to be ready to change course with the Lord's guidance and keep away from the bit altogether and it all matters... If I travel or relocate elsewhere, the free flowing guidance of the Lord will be available there and the good news of this psalm is wherever I go and whatever I do the guidance and help of the Lord and his angels, outside of the bit, will be there. As you take the bit off and go without it, the Lord is not going to ditch you as you through off those training wheels, Great, vast and abundant and far reaching guidance is found outside the bit and if this or that goes wrong, there is still not reason to put the bit and the restrictions of the bit back in place.. If I choose to change careers, leave a lucrative position maybe, the free flowing guidance of the Lord still remains for good things irregardless of this move. You can get from any turn or change right on track with this best guidance from the Lord. Moving into the position that the psalmist David is citing, is having superior trust to your own guidance as opposed to the Lord's guidance and in this sense it is a type of idolatry and this tendency to be overly enthralled with your own personal theory's is to be checked as we consider and reconsider the ways of the Lord, which don't always match up with the general theory which has become very personalized. A lot of people are driving for example by money making considerations but there are lot's of considerations that might have fallen by the wayside if that idea is followed to the hilt. Having your own insights, ideas and guidance is great but you don't want to be overly encumbered by your own stuff. With this psalm, there can and should be greater trust in the turns and changes that you make that the Lord guidance will appear there and anywhere. There isn't just one trustworthy channel but the trust is that the Lord's guidance as best and most supportive of your personal good. Trying to narrow the pathways artificially for some wanted result isn't the way to go, the way to go is look at any restrictions that are self imposed and ultimately unnecessary as the strong trust the guidance of the Lord is there and maintained in the whole conglomerate of possibilities. Of course there are people that are not in the slightest looking for guidance from the Lord or believing that guidance is available and real and even a faulty seeking of his guidance would be an upgrade from that. But they can jumpstart to a fuller trust that doesn't involve heavy restrictions at the outset of the now new approach of seeking the Lord and his personal guidance. There is no need to put on training wheels. This psalm is more so speaking to people that are already looking for guidance in the Lord and are to a degree seeking it, but they are not trusting fully in this guidance but are taking measures to follow some specific pathway to seemingly conjure up this guidance. They more so believe that the resources of this guidance are limited and in fact they are not. Indeed, they are artificially restricting the guidance by putting situations and plans into the bit of their own making, which tends to factor out things that the Lord may have that are indeed supernatural, miraculous and coming from that mysterious world of angels among others things. Having to precise plans does not take those possibilities into account. This psalm is cautioning against that, and saying that the guidance of the Lord is available on a less restrictive basis, and there is no need to be superstitious about it. There could be all sorts of ideas out there that mark as restrictive and really unrelated, like I would have to wear certain clothes to get the guidance of the Lord. I have to speak in a certain language to get the guidance of the Lord. I have to know certain people to get the guidance of the Lord. I have to have achieved this to get the good guidance of the Lord. All ideas along these lines represent the bit of the horse. The list of made up restrictions can be endless. To set up artificially dividing lines and saying the Lord's guidance is here but not there, is probably a mistake one need not make at any time... There is no need for the believer to be desperate for the Lord's guidance, it is liberally given and mending to restrictions to find it might actually have the opposite effect, A surfer doesn't put a wet suit on if the water is quite warm and in fact the wet suit may be inhibitive in the warmer surf. You don't put on 2 winter coats in the tropics while trying to run down the highway. The Lord's guidance is like that warmer surf and warmer running conditions that don't call for coast and wet suits. If you were to look at the Lord's guidance as a party, the call and invitation is to come to the party as you are and forget the accessories. The conditions for guidance do not require putting yourself into the bit like the horse that needs guidance and the guidance is based on that good intelligent knowing relationship with the Lord that calls for not more but less restrictions and great trust in his awesome guidance which is the best.
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