The Comforting Thought Of Divine Guidance

In Psalm 23:1-2 KJV, the Psalmist states, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

From the above passage, we are comforted by the thought of divine guidance. What expectations are awakened by such a magnificent passage! Many of us have grown weary of finding our own way. For too long we have blundered through the darkness and stumbled over every obstacle. We have learned the hard way that it is not in man that walks to be able to direct his own steps (Jeremiah 10:23).

Despite the scriptures we read, and the songs we sing, we are still often disappointed. We turn to the Bible to discover that it is not a syllabus of all possible emergencies with clear directions as to what should be done in every case.

There’s not a library in the world that could house that large a volume. This writer seriously doubts that it could even hold the index. God is certainly willing to lead us through His holy Word, but this doesn’t mean that we will be saved from every puzzling perplexity and every unsure decision.

God lays down the great principles of life in the Bible (here are ten), but it’s up to each one of us to "know" what they are and "how" to apply them. Divine guidance doesn’t mean that we have gone on “automatic pilot,” and the plane will now “fly itself” (see here).

There will always be the need for study, discernment and prayer (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV; cf. Romans 12:2; Ephesians 1:15-18; Ephesians 5:17; Ephesians 6:17-18; Colossians 1:9; Hebrews 5:14; James 1:5-6; Proverbs 2:1-9).

Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

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