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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

As we work through Psalm 32, we are continuing to reflect on some of the blessings of the ‘saved’ person. We have considered the blessing of prayer (6a), and the blessing of a relationship with God (6,7, 10). Today we are going to think about the blessing of guidance.

What a wonderful promise is contained in these verses! In my mind, I set alongside them Proverbs 3:5,6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

It has been pointed out that we experience God as our “hiding place’ (7) as we live under His guidance and watchful care. The safest (and sweetest) place in all the world in which to live is in the centre of God’s will. He knows what is best for us and where is best for us. May His will always be done!

As God guides us, our response should not be the forced compliance of an animal lacking understanding, but a loving obedience (9).

‘We ought to be as a feather in the wind, wafted readily in the breath of the Holy Spirit…’ C.H.Spurgeon: ‘Treasury of David’.

PRAYER: Lord God, you are the ‘Wonderful Counsellor”, and you are always with me – and in me. Help me to be alert to your voice: even to your faintest whispers; and when I hear you speak may I not be stubborn, but willing to go your way.

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…

…Many are the woes of the wicked,

    but the Lord’s unfailing love

    surrounds the one who trusts in him.

I read about an elderly gentleman who was living in a care home. One day, some visitors insensitively asked him, ‘What’s it like to live in an old folks home?’ Pulling himself to his full height, the man replied with great dignity, ‘I don’t live in an old folks home; I live in God.’

How’s that for perspective?

The second blessing I want to highlight here is that of a personal relationship with God. (This, of course, links with the previous blessing of prayer. To say we believe in God, but not pray to Him, is a form of ‘practical atheism’).

It’s been pointed out that, as believers, we are not necessarily immune from the “rising waters” (6), but even when they come we are surrounded by a love that never fails (10).

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

We need to grasp that we live not so much in these set of circumstances (whether good or bad), but in God. Our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col.3:3). So if something is going to touch us, it has to come through Him, and if He allows it to touch us, He must have a purpose in it.

“Hide yourself in God, so when a man wants to find you he will have to go there first.” Shannon L. Alder

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.

As we work through the remainder of Psalm 32, I want to highlight other blessings in the lives of the blessed! Those who experience the blessing of salvation, sins forgiven, a right relationship with God, experience other blessings too. The first of these is:

The blessing of (answered) prayer.

The word “Therefore” looks back to verses 1-5, and David’s answered prayer for forgiveness of sins. David is sharing his own experience as an encouragement to others.

I was speaking on this psalm recently, and afterwards someone rightly commented that prayer is a blessing in itself, aside from any answers we may receive. It is such a blessing to be able to talk to God about everything. That is true. I agree one hundred per cent. But I would still assert that it is primarily the blessing of answered prayer to which David refers here.

Consider these two excellent quotes on verse 5:

‘If prayer is sufficient to deal with the most serious problem of all – will not prayer solve every problem of life.’ Alec Motyer.

‘Remarkable answers to prayer very much quicken the prayerfulness of other godly persons. Where one man finds a golden nugget others feel inclined to dig.’ C.H. Spurgeon.

No doubt the experience of David, in his personal dealings with God, has encouraged many other people through the years who might otherwise have wallowed in despair.

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.

There is such freedom in confession. It leads to knowing the blessing of full forgiveness.

If we are thinking, in this psalm, about that chapter in David’s life when he sinned with Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 11,12), then verse 5 will correspond to 2 Samuel 12:13, where we see that the prayer of confession led to instantaneous forgiveness.

I just happened to be listening to 2 Samuel 11,12 the other day, and even though I know the story well, I felt shocked by the ruthlessness and brutality David showed in ‘stealing’ another man’s wife, then having this man of integrity – Uriah- killed, in an effort to cover his tracks. Of course, he couldn’t. He found himself hopelessly exposed in God’s searchlights. It is, for us, breathtaking (and encouraging) to realise that he could be instantly forgiven for that. ‘Amazing grace’!

(I just make the point in passing though, that, although David could be forgiven for the guilt of his sin, he still had to face its consequences. That is another story, and beyond the scope of what we are studying here. Still, it should be noted. It is salutary).

It follows that we should be wary of making cheap confession. David’s was anything but cheap. As we have seen, he went through the wringer to get to the place of coming clean.

Proverbs 28:13 says: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

Confessing and renunciation; confession and forsaking, go together. What the Bible envisages is not a trite ‘going to confession’ so you can do it all again quite happily next week, knowing you can go to confession again…and so on, and so forth, ad infinitum. (I realise this may be a bit of a stereotype, but I have reason to believe it really does happen).

Look at 1 John 1:8-10: someone commented that the only way sin can leave the body is ‘through the mouth’, as we confess it.

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.

What a miserable condition it is to find yourself under conviction of sin. If you have ever been there, you will identify with these words. In some cases it can go on for a long time. It may need to, in order to bring about real repentance. (Reading Jonathon Aitken’s story, ‘Pride and Perjury’, you get the sense that it was like this for him. He had a lot to work through. It wasn’t over in five minutes).

Conviction can even affect your body; you may feel the effects physically. Whatever David’s sin was, it ‘ate way at’ his ‘soul like a cancer.’ Tom Hale.

This may well belong to the time of David’s adultery with Bathsheba ( see 2 Samuel 11,12). If so, verse 3,4 may reflect David being burdened with a guilty conscience. It’s such a heavy weight to carry. But if it leads to the “Then” of verse 5, it has done its work.

I think of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 7:8b-11a:

“…I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you…”

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.

We are just past the half way mark in Exodus, and for the next few days we’re going to take a short break, and work our way through Psalm 32.

I have to admit that this psalm has been very much on my mind in recent weeks, because a couple of friends came round to our home to pray with Jilly and myself, and they shared Psalm 32:8 with us. Not only has that verse come to mean a lot, but I’ve felt inspired to take a fresh look at this lovely psalm. I suggest you begin by reading the whole 11 verses, and consider what the Lord is saying to you through it, before you read any thoughts of mine.

Today, though, we will focus on verses 1,2, where we see the blessing of full forgiveness.

I understand that this is the first use of the word “Blessed” in the psalter since Psalm 1. The truly happy life is the totally forgiven life. As someone observed, the prodigal is welcomed home, the singing and dancing begin, a party is thrown.

I am struck by the comprehensive language used here:

• “Transgressions” are ‘rebellions’. This refers to deliberately going against God’s known will; when we do what we know to be wrong. We see a big, unmistakeable sign saying, ‘No trespassing’, but we cross that boundary line anyway;
• “Sins” are specific items of wrongdoing in thought, word and deed;
• “Sin” is what we might call our general fallenness/our sinfulness – our sinful disposition.

I will return to this thought when we come to verse 11, but our greatest cause for happiness is to know that all our sins are fully forgiven through faith in Jesus’ blood – that ‘Calvary covers it all’. (David knew a fully comprehensive forgiveness, but we have a far richer understanding and experience in the light of the Cross and the full revelation of Scripture).

‘My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought,

My sin, not in part but the whole;

Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.’

“These are the laws you are to set before them:

Hebrew Servants

2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

‘The material which comprises this section represents only some of the statutes which formed part of ancient Israel’s law. In all likelihood many of the laws included here have been selected because they corresponded closely with God’s actions in rescuing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.’ T.D.Alexander: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.109.

We are entering into territory, in Exodus, which is not always easy to read or understand. But here are some pointers to help us with this particular passage:

• There is much that relates particularly to the people of Israel at that time, and their context and culture;
• Nothing resembling Caribbean-type slavery is envisaged here. The Christians who fought against the slave trade rightly saw it as a great evil, and did not see any Biblical support for it. It is probably something more akin to indentured apprenticeships and service in an extended family that is in mind here. Compulsory, life-long slavery is forbidden;
• The safeguards are put in place because people, made in the image of God, matter. As we saw in looking at the Ten Commandments, loving God and loving people are indissolubly linked. ‘God always safeguards the rights of those who cannot defend themselves, such as servants, women and children…In the corresponding passage in Deuteronomy 15:12-18, the master of the servant being freed is commanded to treat the servant generously and not send him away empty-handed; the master is to remember that the Israelites were once slaves in Egypt, and that therefore he should treat his servant as he would have wanted to be treated himself (Deuteronomy 15:14-15; Matthew 7:12).’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.246.)

The principle to take away is, I believe, that people matter. We cannot divorce how we treat fellow human-beings from our worship of God. It’s a principle we will see again.

“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

“These are the laws you are to set before them:

Hebrew Servants

2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

Some may remember a song which, I think, came out of the ‘Dales’ movement:

‘Pierce my ear, O Lord my God,

Take me to your throne this day.

I will serve no other god,

Lord I’m here to stay.

For you have paid the price for me,

With your blood you’ve ransomed me.

I will serve you eternally,

A free man I’ll never be.’

It will readily understood that this imagery is drawn from verses 5,6 of this chapter. Hebrew servants were not to be treated as permanent ‘slaves’. They were to be freed after 6 years (2).

But, a servant, out of sheer love, could make a voluntary commitment to become a “servant for life” (6). We Christians, also, have the honour of being servants of Jesus Christ for life (Ps.84:10: Rom.1:1). We love Him. We know it is the utmost privilege to be His slaves. Our commitment is to always love and serve Him, by His grace

This strange (and even painful- sounding) ear-piercing activity, may have had to do with the ear being the organ of hearing, and therefore of obedience. ‘The pierced ear was on the master’s part a claim to obedience; on the servant’s part it was a commitment to obey.’ Alec Motyer: ‘The Message of Exodus’, p.239.

It seems to me that this is the most obvious devotional thought to share from this passage. But I will try to make one or two further comments tomorrow.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

24 “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. 26 And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’

This is the beginning of the Book of the Covenant. It is a long speech given by the Lord to Moses, which the man of God heard alone, and later recorded.It is essentially an exposition of the Ten Commandments, in which the basic laws God has already given, are interpreted and applied to specific life-situations. It continues until the end of chapter 23. God’s people are ever to be a people whose total life is governed and directed by God’s Word: an obedient people in other words.

But…’Here, as always in the Bible, the word of grace (the altar, God meeting his people) preceded the word of law (the ‘judgments’ of 21:1-23:19). Alec Motyer: ‘The Message of Exodus’, p.239. This religion ‘…centres on the altar, the place of the shed blood (20:24; cf.Heb.13:10-13). The place of atonement has to be the focal point, the heart of religious reality.’ (Pages 242,243).

You will note that we are back to the beginning again, with the ban on idolatry (see 20:3-6).

Dressing stones with a tool was probably associated with making a stone idol (25). (Note, too, the call for propriety in worship: 26; see Exodus 28:43,44).

God makes it clear that human-beings are to have “no other gods before” Him (3), or “alongside” Him (23). The temptation for us is probably not that we will bow down to stone statues. I don’t think such an eventuality is likely. But we can define a ‘god’ as anything (even anyone) coming between us and our supreme love and loyalty to the Lord. If there is a contest between the two, who/what wins?

It seems to me that the Carmel battle is fought in our hearts every day – probably several times each day – and much hangs on the outcome.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to spot the potential ‘Baals’ in my situation, and refuse to bow down to them.