Praying to Find Guidance

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Transcript:

We’re going to be in Psalm chapter 32 this evening. Psalm chapter 32. Tell me if any of the rest of you have ever done this or had this done to you.

Probably both at some point or another. You’re in a situation that’s difficult to know what to do. And you know what you want to do, but you don’t know if it’s what you ought to do or not.

So you think, maybe I should ask somebody. Well, who do I go to and ask? And so you go to one person and you say, well, what do you think I should do with this situation?

And they give you some really good advice. That’s not what you want to hear. So you go on to the next person and say, what should I do?

And they give you some really good advice. Same as the first one, maybe. But it’s not what you want to do.

They can’t possibly be right. You go ask somebody else and say, what do you think I ought to do? They give you the same advice.

And you keep going and you keep going and keep going until you find that one person who tells you what you want to do in the first place, and then, good, I’m glad we’re in agreement. You go ahead and do what you were going to anyway. A lot of us have done that.

I would guess probably most of us have done that at some point or another. We know what we want to do, and we go and ask advice, but we disregard all the advice that’s not what we wanted to do in the first place. Or it’s been done to us.

Maybe our family members, our kids say, what do you think I ought to do? And we tell them, and they completely disregard what we tell them. In my case, it’s little stuff like, can I stick this fork in the light socket?

No, you can’t. Now, they’ve not done that specifically, but they’ll ask stuff. No, you can’t do that.

That’s a bad idea. Do it anyway. People are prone to do that.

Problem is we do that with God as well. We will ask God, God, what is it I’m supposed to do in this situation? Well, first of all, we’ll go talk to everybody else but God, when ultimately God should be the first one we go to, because he sees things from a different perspective, obviously, just by virtue of being God.

I mean, that’s who he is and what he does. Now, that’s not to discount the ability of others to give wise counsel. The Bible says that in the multitude of counselors, there’s safety.

There’s some wisdom to that. But we shouldn’t treat God as though he’s our last resort, as we do so many times in so many areas of prayer. Well, nothing else has worked, so I’ll go to God.

Well, nobody else has been able to tell me what to do, so I’ll go to God. A lot of times we will go to God as a last resort and we’ll say, God, I really don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. And we get a clear answer and say, no, I don’t want to do that.

That can’t possibly be right. I can’t be hearing God right. Well, one of the reasons that we should go to God in prayer, one of the reasons that is taught in Scripture, is this idea of going to God to find guidance.

Do you realize that there is guidance for the questions of our lives in the pages of this book? God has answers, and he will reveal those answers. I’ve tried to make clear before in teaching on this subject and others like it, that God primarily speaks to us today through this book.

I believe God also reveals things to us in times of prayer and by his Holy Spirit. but I don’t want to go so far in that as some others do, as though God is just giving new revelation all the time today. Normally, God speaks primarily through this book.

And if we do hear anything from the Holy Spirit, we need to check it against this book and make sure it is the Holy Spirit, because God is not going to reveal something to me that is contrary to what he’s already revealed. Does that make sense? That’s why you’ll hear some people say, well, I thought it was okay.

I mean, you may not have ever heard this. I’ve heard things like this. Well, I thought it was okay to cheat on my spouse in this situation.

And I’m not saying I did. I’m just saying I’ve heard things like this. Well, I thought it was okay to cheat on my spouse in this situation because I felt like God said, Okay, let’s go back to the book.

And what did he say about it? And so you’re telling me that God is saying this when he’s already said this. And my Bible says he’s not a God of contradiction.

So one of you is wrong, either the Bible or your perception. Okay, I believe God speaks to us. But when we believe we’re hearing his voice, we need to check it against what he’s already revealed.

But God does have answers for us, whether he speaks to us by his Holy Spirit, whether he speaks in the Bible. And I know there are some who will say, well, surely the answer to my question is not in the Bible. Well, you know, the world was a lot different in the day the Bible was written.

But in many ways, it’s not that much different. People are still the same. People are still doing the same stupid things, if I can put it that way.

People are still dealing with the same pains and hurts and joys and triumphs and all these things. The human condition hasn’t really changed all that much. Our environment might have.

I mean, there’s nothing in the Bible that would tell us, you know, what we need to do as far as whether we go get a new iPhone or stick with the old phone with the big buttons. But you go to the Bible, and there are principles that apply to every aspect of our lives. We can find something that applies to whatever the question may be.

I heard somebody preaching a pre-election sermon once before and talking about how people used to, there weren’t biblical issues and non-biblical issues 150 years ago. And referring back to back in the 1880s, a sermon that a preacher had preached, and he said back in the 1880s he was preaching a sermon on what God said about railroad subsidies. I’d like to get my hands on that and see what verses he used for that.

But there was a time when people looked at it and said, no, the Bible applies to everything. And I think that’s still good advice for us today. God has wisdom for us today.

I mean, God’s wisdom tells us how to run a household, how to train our children. You know, I’m reading through Deuteronomy and find stuff that could apply very nicely to our trade policy as a country. You know, there are answers and principles in there that apply to every aspect.

if not the specific situation, then there are principles that will apply. And God’s guidance is there to be found if we’ll just look for it, if we’re just willing to find it. And a lot of times we will consider God’s will this riddle that he sort of throws out there and says, we’ll figure it out if you can, brings his hands and laughs.

Folks, God tells us things to do, and God reveals his will to us because he wants us to do those things. If God wants us to do something, he tells us. And from the years I spent working with teenagers as a youth worker, you know, what’s God’s will for me to go to college?

Who’s it God’s will for me to marry? How will I know these things? Okay, you need to look at God’s will and apply biblical principles to your life.

But let’s not act like God’s will is completely indiscernible. It’s in there if we’re just willing to live. And we can go to God and ask his guidance, And that’s one of the reasons for prayer that we really should take advantage of.

God, what should I do in this situation? God, what should I do about my family? God, what should I do regarding my job?

God, what should I? I’ve got a choice coming up. What is the right direction here?

And you know what? If we will pray and we will seek answers from God’s word and pray for his wisdom, I believe he’ll tell us. I could give you an example.

I’m not going to. But I could give you examples from my own life just in the last couple of weeks thought completely one way and yet prayed and said, God, give me your wisdom about something. And next thing I know, I wake up the next morning and he has changed my mind completely the opposite direction.

I go, okay, that is a better plan than what I have. That is a better option than what I was going to pick. And so God can reveal things to us and God can guide us.

The only thing is a lot times we’re not willing to heed the advice. So let’s look at Psalm chapter 32 in an instance where David has been praying and seeks God’s guidance. We’ve looked at chapter 32 earlier.

I was looking at it again this afternoon thinking, my goodness, this passage looks familiar. It’s because I preached a different message on the beginning of chapter 32 just a couple weeks ago on this prayer series. But we’re going to pick up in verse 7 and go through the end of the chapter.

He’s already been praying during a time of difficulty, and he says to God in verse 7, thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. If you remember, I don’t even remember how many weeks ago it’s been, but I do remember talking about the idea of compassing about, meaning God was encircling him with these songs of deliverance, and the idea that you could be in a time of great difficulty, in a time of great trouble, and call out to God, and suddenly it’s not the enemy that’s got you encircled. It’s not the troubles and cares of this world that have us surrounded.

Suddenly it’s God and he’s singing songs about how he’s set us free, how he has redeemed us, how he’s delivered us. And what a great answer to prayer that was for David and what a great answer to prayer it is for us today. God is our hiding place.

He’s talking to God, says, God, you’re my hiding place. You preserve me in times of trouble and you surround me with these songs of deliverance. Say love.

As a result of this, he says in verse 8, he’s here quoting God. It’s almost like I can’t remember any specific, my mind has just gone blank, I can’t remember any specific examples, but I remember being a kid in music class, a younger kid, elementary school age, when we had music class in school, and they would talk about these call and response songs where you’d sing a line, maybe they’d have the boys and girls on opposite ends of the room, and somebody would sing a line of the song and then the other side would answer back. You may be somewhat familiar with those.

This Psalm of David is something like that. And there are some of these found in here where it’s a lot like a conversation. You know, the Psalms are sort of prayer and poetry and songs all rolled into one.

And so David talks about his crying out to God and then starting in verse 8, we see God’s response to David because it would sound very strange if we’re looking at verse 8 David speaking, saying, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. Really? See how well that worked out for Job.

At the end of the book of Job, God basically turns and asks Job and says, I’ve got some questions for you. Who are you to instruct me? Where were you when I did?

So this is clearly God responding to David and David quoting him back in verse 8. God says to David, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye.

He says, well, there’s a promise here that he’s going to guide David, that he’s going to direct his steps. Now, David did not always listen to God. But we see even in the times when David didn’t listen to God, God’s direction was still there.

I think in particular of the instance with Bathsheba, when David entered into an inappropriate relationship with Bathsheba. He clearly was not following God’s direction for his life. And yet we can read between the lines and see that God’s direction was still there in David’s heart and David’s life.

Otherwise, David wouldn’t have known it was wrong what he’d done. And David clearly knew what he had done was wrong when he tried to hide it. See, if we don’t have some pain of conviction and know that what we’ve done is wrong, we don’t try to hide things.

And so by David calling Uriah back from the battle and trying to send him home and all these things that he did, you’re probably familiar with the story. David was trying to hide what he knew was wrong. It’s because he heard the voice of God, either audibly or through what he knew of the scriptures.

God’s direction, God’s guidance was there saying, this is wrong, this is not the course you’re supposed to be following. Unfortunately, David didn’t listen. And we still see God’s guidance when the prophet Nathan came and told him the story about stealing the sheep and said, You’re the man to tell him what he had done with Bathsheba was wrong.

And so God promises here, I will instruct thee, and I will teach you the way which you should go, and I’ll guide you with my eye. So there’s this promise that he has that when we’re willing to listen, when we’re willing to be taught, his guidance is right there. His direction is right there.

It’s not even something we have to beg or twist God’s arm for, if I can phrase it that way. God’s guidance is there and available because God wants us to follow him and do the right thing. So he says in verse 9, and I love this imagery in verse 9, 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.

And so he says, you know, don’t be like a horse or a mule. And as I read across this, I remember how people used to say, maybe still say, that somebody is as stubborn as a mule. You know, I’ve not spent a great deal of time on farms. I’m sure all of you have spent more time than I have.

But in what little experience I’ve had being around these animals, when they decide they don’t want to go, you can’t just convince them to go. There’s a reason somebody is said to be as stubborn as a mule. And you can encourage it, you can ask it, you can call it.

It’s not like a dog when you can call it and say, come here, girl, and it comes running to you. If that mule, I don’t even know the terminology, but basically when that mule decides it doesn’t want to go, it’s not going to go. And the horse, the same way at times.

When they decide, I’m staying right here, you have difficulty in getting them to move. And he says, they have no understanding. Well, they may be in the middle of a dangerous spot.

I’ve heard stories where these animals seem to understand dangers better than we do and will help people avoid them. But, you know, the horse and the mule don’t think hours down the road. They don’t think years into the future.

They go on instinct, and they perceive the here and now. And he’s saying they’re devoid of understanding. And sometimes the master tries to lead them in the way they need to go, and they’re stubborn, and they dig in their heels.

I know they don’t have heels, but their hooves. I’m just using the human phrase here. They dig in their heels or their hooves, as the case may be, and they’re just not moving.

And he says, and so they have to be led around with a bit and bridle. otherwise you can’t get them to go where they need to be. And it says here, lest they come near unto thee.

And I thought, well that, I read that and I thought, that doesn’t make sense to me because you would want them to follow you, wouldn’t you? But it’s a difference in the way we use the English language, how it’s changed over the last 400 years. I had to consult some other sources.

And I think what that means is if you want them to come with you, this makes it sound the opposite, but if you want them to follow you, you want them to stay near you. Because they have no understanding and because they’re stubborn animals, they have to be led with a bitten bridle. And there were so many times in the Bible that God spoke to the people of Israel, especially, and said, call them stiff-necked because they had just gotten stubborn and they had dug their heels in and said, we’re staying right here.

We’re not looking this way. We’re not looking that way. This is the way we want to go.

And God says, no, you need to go over here. No, we’re going this way, like a stubborn animal that couldn’t be moved. and God would have to force them sometimes to go where they needed to go.

And there’s this idea here that we can become like these animals if we’re not careful. And we can be stubborn to the point that we can hear God’s voice. We can see God’s direction and still say, no, I am staying right here.

I’m doing exactly what I want to do. I’m going this way, and you can’t make me move. And God says, don’t be like the horse or the mule.

Don’t be like the horse or the mule that has to be. don’t make me, basically don’t make me come down there. I’m not a big fan of those billboards you see on the highway that have a quote up there, something that God supposedly said when it says God underneath, only it’s not something he said.

Don’t make me come down there, God. Okay, I get the point they’re trying to make, but can’t we put up there a quote of something God actually said? My philosophy on it.

But I do understand the point. Don’t make me have to come down there and move you. Don’t be like this animal. Don’t make me have to come down there and drag you by all this equipment to get you to go where you’re supposed to go.

My guidance is there. You know it’s good for you. Basically, soften your heart toward my word and be easily led.

Because, he says in verse 10, many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord mercy shall compass him about. And this is not a promise here that we will never have trouble, because we could look at this very easily and say, well, many sorrows compass about God’s people too. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.

You notice it doesn’t say many sorrows shall be to the wicked, and then happiness all the time to those that trust in the Lord. When he gives this contrast between sorrows and mercy, what he’s talking about by sorrows are judgment and punishment, not just bad circumstances, because we know that God says in his word that he causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. And depending on what season of life you’re in, the rain can be a good thing or a bad thing. And it basically, that passage, I understand it to mean in one application that, you know, good things happen to good and bad people, and bad things happen to good and bad people.

So what he’s, he’s not telling us here that the will have sorrow all the time, and those who trust in the Lord will just be happy all the time. He’s talking here about his judgment, and he’s talking about mercy and being spared from judgment. And he’s saying, don’t be stubborn, and don’t be set in your ways and unwilling to hearken to what God says, because he said to those who persistently reject God, he says, there is sorrow, there is judgment, and judgment will be a sorrowful thing.

But to those who trust in him, They’re surrounded by his mercy. And so he reminds the people of Israel and he reminds David, don’t be stubborn against what God says. Instead, trust in him.

Let him lead you. Let him guide you. Because he says, those who trust in the Lord, mercy will compass him about.

Be glad in the Lord, he says in verse 11, and rejoice ye righteous and shout for joy all you that are upright in heart. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice ye righteous and shout for joy all you that are upright in heart. Yes, we will have sorrows as God’s people.

Yes, we’ll have troubles. Yes, we’ll have tribulation. I would be a liar not worthy of this pulpit or any other if I told you that was not the case.

And that’s just the long and the short of it. We will have sorrows and we will have trouble. But that’s not mutually exclusive with joy.

There is a joy that we are able to have in God despite our circumstances. Happiness is entirely dependent on our circumstances. Things may be going out of control in my life, and I am not happy.

I have experienced that. Many of y’all have experienced that too. And yet, even in the midst of that, everything being chaotic and out of control and just bad, there’s a sense of joy in God that is not dependent on my circumstances.

And yes, everything may be crumbling around me, and yet there still is God who upholds me. And you know, I know that not only is he going to take care of things in this world, But even if he doesn’t take care of them in the way I think he ought to, there’s still something better waiting for me. There’s only so much bad that can happen here.

And there’s a joy that is not subject to our circumstances that we have when we’re in God. When we have completely trusted him, when we’ve said, you know what, I’m not in control of the animal here. I’m not the animal in control here.

He’s leading me, and I know that his plans are better than my plans. We’re able to step back and just enjoy, just rejoice in being with God regardless of the circumstances. And there was a time, there was a time years ago when I would have said the exact same thing and said it without the conviction or the knowledge that I have today.

But, you know, in the last four or five years, I’ve been through a lot of tragedies. I mean, y’all know about the most recent one. Before that, there were difficulties in ministry.

There was the loss of two children. I mean, just a lot of bad stuff has happened in the last five years. When you’re in the midst of it, you think, I don’t know how I will ever get through this.

I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next hour, let alone the rest of my life. And yet, there’s always that glimmer of joy in there to realize that God is walking with me through this. And God surrounds me, and God upholds me, and God gives me the grace that I need for that moment.

Folks, our joy is not dependent on our circumstances. Our happiness may be, but our joy is not. And that’s why even though he’s not promising them in verse 10, a life without sorrow, a life without sadness, he can tell them in verse 11, be glad in the Lord and rejoice and shout for joy, ye that are upright in heart.

Because there’s cause for joy and there’s cause for celebration when we know who holds our today and our tomorrow. So having gone through the passage and seen some of the things that God says to David in response to what he’s already prayed in his time of trouble, And God says here, these things are available to you. And God promises this guidance.

I want to hit on just three brief things that we can learn from this passage about God’s guidance and why we’re to pray in order to receive it. First of all, God’s guidance is available to his children when we seek it. As I’ve already mentioned, he says in verse 8, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way thou shalt go.

He doesn’t even say when you beg me, I’ll show you the way to go. He says I will teach you and show you the way you’re supposed to go. Now, the teaching is there, the guidance is there for us to find.

We just have to be willing to look at it. As I’ve said already, God is not, I’m convinced, God is not in the business of hiding his will like a where’s Waldo, as though it’s some game to God, and he just wants to see if we can figure it out. God has a will because he wants us to follow it.

And he says, I’ll guide you, I’ll teach you, I’ll instruct you. And so that guidance is there for us, and we just have to be willing to seek it. We just have to be willing to open our eyes and look, basically, and God is willing to guide us.

And so we come to these difficult times in life and say, God, what should I do? What do you want me to do? And I’m not saying we’re going to immediately find everything we want to know.

God, unfortunately, has not told me what the next 15 years down the road hold. A lot of times he tells me this is what I want you to do today. And you know what?

As much as I want to know everything, it makes me mad that I don’t know everything sometimes. As much as I want to know everything, I have to be okay with the guidance for right now because that may be all I need. But he gives us the guidance for right now if we’re willing to look for it.

And he talks about giving this knowledge and giving this wisdom. He says in Proverbs chapter 2, Yea, if thou criest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding, if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as hid treasures, then thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Again, he doesn’t promise to give it to us all at once. Sometimes we have to continue seeking, but that guidance is there to be found. His will, his wisdom is there to be found.

And we come to these difficult circumstances, and we can go to God and pray and say, Would you show me what you want me to do? I’ll do what you want me to do if you’ll just show me with the confidence, ladies and gentlemen, that he has a will because he wants us to do it. And because he wants us to do it, he’s going to show us what it is.

Second of all tonight, God’s guidance includes God’s providence and protection. He says here, I will guide thee with mine eye in verse 8. I will guide thee with mine eye.

He guides us and he leads us and he also watches over us in the process. Now again, following God is no guarantee that you’re going to have a carefree life. It’s no guarantee that you’re always going to be safe from an earthly standpoint.

I used to hear and agree with the phrase that being in the center of God’s will is the safest place for you. That sounds really good. And if you’ve said that before, I’m not criticizing you because I’ve said it before too.

But I read through Fox’s book of martyrs and I can’t really come to that conclusion anymore. Because some of the people who’ve died for the sake of the gospel, some of the people who are still dying for the sake of the gospel in places all around this world are exactly where God has told them to be. And yet they’re in very dangerous situations.

But we know that God watches out for us and God keeps us safe and God is in control over us. And that promise of his providence and protection is a promise that nothing can happen to us outside of what he wills or allows. That God is in control of things.

And I have to, I’m not always completely on board with this thought. I need to be. But I have to remind myself of what Paul expressed at one point.

that when talking about his future, he said, if they let me free, I’m paraphrasing here, of course, but if they let me go free, I get to go tell more people about Jesus. If they keep me in prison, I get to tell people about Jesus in prison. If they kill me, I get to go be with Jesus.

And basically, what’s it to me? What they do. Now, as I said, that’s a very admirable sentiment.

I’m not always completely on board with it, because I do care about what happens to me. But other times, I think, you know what? He’s right.

As long as I know God’s in control of it, and nothing happens that he doesn’t either cause or allow, I’m not saying God causes all the bad things in the world, but nothing happens that he doesn’t allow for a reason, then what’s it to me? As long as it’s being done for God’s glory and for the furtherance of his kingdom, what’s it to me what he does with me? Again, please don’t think I’m setting myself up here to be super spiritual because I’m not always right there.

If that’s someplace I desperately want to be. God has this way of watching over us and this promise that no matter what happens to us, good or bad, he’s with us, his hand is on us, and he protects us and guides his people. That’s why David was able to say in Psalm chapter 7, my defense is of God, who saveth the upright in heart.

My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. That doesn’t mean he always spares us from the sword, or from peril, or from tribulation. Sometimes those things get us.

But you know what, nevertheless, God saves the upright in heart. He may save me from today’s calamity only to fall to the next one. But you know what?

When I get to go be with him, he saved me again. So God’s guidance is available to his children when we seek it. Second of all, God’s guidance includes God’s providence and protection.

He watches over his children when we follow him. And on that thought also, there is also something to be said for the fact that God’s principles and God’s guidance lead us into better situations. There are some things and some consequences I don’t have to worry about when I follow God’s principles.

The example I always gave when working with the teenagers was, without going into anything graphic, you know, there were certain circumstances, certain diseases, and certain, well, just bad things that can happen, that you don’t have to worry about when you’re not involved in relationships that God says don’t do. There are certain things like I don’t have to worry about drinking myself to death, for example, because I don’t go out and get drunk as God’s word says not to do. By the way, I don’t drink, period, and never have, just so you know.

But because I don’t go out and get drunk like God’s word says not to, I don’t have to worry about that. There are a lot of consequences and a lot of things that God protects us from if we just do what his word says. So there’s this providence and protection that’s included with God’s guidance.

And third of all, this evening, God’s guidance is intended to be followed willingly. God’s guidance is intended to be followed willingly. Now, there are some times that God will take us as the mule or the horse by the harness, by all the equipment, and drag us where we need to be.

But God, in the way that he’s speaking to David, makes it clear that’s not how he wants this to go. God would rather be followed willingly. And we can be made by God to do what he wants to, and we can ask forgiveness later because we’ve messed up, but that’s not what God wants.

God told the people of Israel several times that he desired obedience and not sacrifice. Now, God doesn’t want us to be forced into doing his will and then make it up to him later. God just wants our obedience.

God just wants us to love and trust him enough to do things his way. And so he tells David, 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. He tells them, don’t be like those stubborn animals.

Just be easily led. You know, God, contrary to what some people have said about God in the Old Testament,

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