Prayer for Guidance

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” —Psalm 32:8

Sometimes, Lord, it’s so hard to see. We squint and struggle to make sense of what you’re showing us. Help us know when you are guiding us, Lord, and when we are clutching at the wrong answers. Help us know, as this peace process unfolds, how to best follow your voice, how to love each other with your perfect love, and how to continue to turn to you and, when it’s your will, to wait until the time you choose to answer our prayers. Thank you for teaching us how to live in your care and respond to your voice. ~ Practical faith ~ http://www.revisionsplus.com/guidance.html

This beautiful verse brings hope and comfort today as much as I imagine it brought comfort to the psalmist, David. The verse assures us that our God will take care of us, will teach us and will provide counsel.

This is the protection offered to children of the Most High God. David gave us more than just the peace of God’s protection; he gave us insight into our responsibility in this relationship with God.

David entreats us to not be silent in our transgressions, to actively acknowledge our sins to God and seek His forgiveness. Then, when we come to God with a sincere and contrite heart, He will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go.

Psalm 32 (New King James Version)A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
7 You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.

10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Our pastor reminds us that “transgressions” mean that we have erred by commission or omission and that forgiveness does not mean that we will escape the consequences of our actions. Many times we act as if God should follow behind us with a broom and dustpan as proof of His forgiveness.

It is painful to grow through our faults. It is painful to clean up some of the messes we have made. But it would be more painful if we did not walk in the assurance of God’s forgiveness and love.

I thank God for “gentle reprimands”, those times when He not only warns me of the pit ahead, but puts a bridge over it. I also thank God for the assurance of His love during those times when He helps me to climb out of the pit when I refuse to use the bridge.

It is reassuring to have the Psalms of hope and encouragement. I believe we have opportunities for growth through the Psalms of instruction.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!