GUIDE THEE WITH MINE EYE

Psalm 32:8,9

Phil Wainright

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 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.” Notice the “I will’s,” they give us much assurance.

By way of introduction, read Luke 22:31-34, Jesus told Peter that he would soon deny Him. In verses 54-60 we read that he did in fact deny Jesus. In verse 61, “...the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He said unto him, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” V. 62, “...Peter went out and wept bitterly.” Notice Jesus did not say anything, the Lord simply made eye contact with Peter and he knew in his heart exactly what he needed to do. I believe Jesus guided Peter with His eye.

For God to guide us with his eye, we must learn to look to Him

Isaiah 8:17, “... I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.” This is one of the first steps on getting guidance from the Lord. Wait means to adhere to, hence to wait, long, tarry. To paraphrase Isaiah; I will stick close to the Lord, I will adhere to the Lord (and His Word); I will keep looking to Him, and keep my eyes on Him.

Remember the story in Matthew 14:22-33; Jesus had sent the disciples ahead. As they crossed the sea, it became very stormy and they were afraid. They were even more afraid when they saw Jesus walking on the sea toward them, supposing that it was a spirit. Peter said, “If it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. Jesus said, Come.” Peter “walked on the water, to go to Jesus, but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid;” Peter did not keep looking to Jesus who had bid him to come. He looked at the situation, the potential problems. I believe that if God is to guide us with His eye we need to continually look to Him, no matter what the situations may be. Not off and on again, not hit and miss, but continually waiting on the Lord.

“I will look for Him.” We can look at so many things, or sources, or people. God may at times lead us to do this, but ultimately we have a responsibility to get the mind of the Lord ourselves. It is so very important to learn to “Look for Him.”

Isaiah 40:28-31, “...they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;” The word Wait here means to expect, patiently, tarry. When we are waiting upon Him, we can expect Him to meet our needs, to instruct, lead and direct our steps. These are some of the things that we can expect from God. When we learn to wait upon the Lord, we find renewed strength, we are able to rise above situations, we are able to run and not be weary, walk and not faint.

Psalm 123:1,2, “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the Heavens. Behold, as the eyes of the servants look unto the hand of their master, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us.” As we look to our employer to provide us with a paycheck, we look to God to meet our needs. He has taken this charge upon Himself.

Isaiah 45:21,22 “Look unto me, and be ye saved...for I am God, and there is none else.” Where else can we look? Where else should we look? There is no better one or place to look than God. For He is a just God, and merciful. He continually delivers His people.

Isaiah 51:1 “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock (the rock of ages, Jesus the chief corner stone) whence ye are hewn.” A rock is something that is steadfast, not easily moved. Therefore, we look to the Lord who is steadfast, and never moved. He is reliable.

Hebrews 12:1,2, “Looking (Let us fix our eyes on) unto Jesus the author and finisher (the perfecter) of our faith.” We have a race to run. We need to lay aside all sin and anything else that may be unnecessary. Anything that might hinder us in any way. Doing this enables us to look to Him alone, which makes it possible for us to run the race that is set before us.

God’s leading, instruction and protection

Deut. 32:9-12, “For the Lord’s portion is His people: Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found Him in a desert land, and in the waste-howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.” Notice that God instructed, led and kept Jacob. These are wonderful promises to the child of God. Zech. 2:8, “...he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.” We have a natural reflex when it comes to protecting our eyes. So does God, and He is just as naturally protective of us as we would be of our eyes. Our well being is important to Him. The eagles lead, teach, and protect their young. I would not want to try to take one of their young from them. The consequences could be painful. So the Lord alone did lead him; is He alone leading us? Can this be said of us? We are not to be guided by emotions, polls, and opinions of others, but by the Lord.

Job 28:10 Job said: (God’s) “eye seeth every precious thing.” Sometimes we wonder, does God really know what is happening to us. We can rest assured that God does see everything, we are precious in His sight. Psalm 33:18-22, “Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him...that hope in His mercy. To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.”

Deut. 34:1-7,10, Moses “eye was not dim.” It is wonderful to have good vision in the natural, but even more important to have good vision spiritually. The Lord knew Moses “face to face,” what a privilege. I believe also that God was able to lead Moses by His eye.

Job 42:5, “now my eye seeth thee.” Through this trial it seems that he learned to look to the Lord like never before. I have learned in my work when the supervisor walks through the shop and stops to look things over he may be seeing a need. If things are not put away, I know to put them away. If something needs to be straightened up, he does not need to tell, with words, I know by his eyes to clean things up. In close relationships, we can often tell by a look, if something is pleasing or displeasing to the other person.

God does not choose to lead us with bit and bridle

Psalm 32:9, “Be not as the horse, or...mule...whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle...” James put it this way: “Behold, we put bits and bridles in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body” James 3:3. God does not choose to lead us this way. How then does He lead us?

John 16:13, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.” One of the ways He guides us is by His Spirit. He will show us what we need to know, when we need to know it, and He will prepare us for what lies ahead.

Psalm 32:8, I believe that it is God’s delight, His pleasure, to guide His people. Again notice the “I will’s: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” When I was a teenager I was reading in I Kings 3:9 where Solomon asked God for an understanding heart. God of course granted it. I began to think, if I had one request of God what would it be? I asked God at that time to teach me to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. I feel that he has been granting that request. I have more to learn, but Thank God He is patient.

“In the way that thou shalt go,” (Psa. 32:8): Following Christ is an individual matter. See John 21:18-22 Jesus was telling Peter about some things that he would be going through. (It is reassuring to know that God knows the future.) But Peter “turning about” asked about John “What shall this man do?” Jesus said it is none of your business, follow me. We are responsible to get the mind of the Lord for our lives; God’s will for others is between them and God.

Psalm 48:14: we will always need God’s guidance; we will never become so smart, wise, experienced or even so spiritual that we won’t need God’s leading and direction in our lives. Israel at times failed to seek the Lord for direction when going to battle and they always failed, but when they did seek the Lord He brought them forth victorious.

Rev. 1:7: “...every eye shall see Him.” It is good to Look to Him now, to see His will and purpose for our lives. Rev. 4:8-11, “...full of eyes within.” may we also have eyes to discern the will of God.