I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD. 

Psalm 40:1-3

David could eloquently sing the song of salvation. Our text is the beginning of one such song. He describes how desperate his situation was. He was in a horrible pit. He was entrapped in miry clay. He was miserable and unable to free himself. This certainly describes us. We were born the children of wrath, sinners by nature and by choice. We could not liberate ourselves. We continued in our entrapment and misery not knowing what to do. David articulated his own state and condition and in doing so accurately described ours. His testimony is one of deliverance. He says that God heard him, brought him up out of the pit, set his feet upon the rock, established his steps and put a new song in his mouth. This is the perfect picture of the Good Shepherd saving His sheep out of the miry pit. Christ was David’s Shepherd. He did all those things enumerated in the text. He set David upon the rock. This is a glorious testimony to the grace of God and His salvation. David has articulated our experience. We have received the grace of God. Christ has sought us and saved us as He said He came to do. We have Him as our sure foundation. He has established our steps. He has given us songs to sing. He has been to us the Good Shepherd in every way. We are one with David in this experience of salvation. 

O Great Shepherd of the Sheep, 
we rejoice that You have seen us in our misery. 
We praise You that You have raised us up, 
and given us a sure foundation. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! 

Psalm 32:11 

David concludes this psalm with joy and gladness. He encourages all those who trust in God. He has expounded the blessedness of the person whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered. He has lived through days of dryness and known the relief of confession of sin. He has rested in the assurances of the preserving hand of God upon him. He has articulated the very promises of God to instruct, teach, and guide him. He has contrasted the consequence of wicked choices with the end result of faith. Now he calls upon all who have been with him through his discourse to be glad and rejoice. He calls for the shout of joy. This is the disposition of the believer. Christ has done all things well. We have forgiveness of sins because of Christ. We have daily cleansing by the blood of Christ as we confess our sins. We look to Christ to preserve us from trouble. We believe His promises to instruct, teach, and guide us. We know the way of wickedness will end in sorrow. We are certain that mercy will surround those who trust in Christ. Thus David’s call to us is a good one. We can rejoice. We have every reason to shout of or joy. David’s God is our God. David’s Christ is our Christ. He is ours and we are His forever.   

Our Glorious, Living God,  
we rejoice that we have every reason to be glad in You.  
We praise You that we can shout with joy now,  
And shall continue forever.   

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. 

Psalm 32:10 

There are consequences for every action. We may consider ourselves to be free to make decisions, but we are not free from the consequences of those decisions. The effects may not be immediate, or even immediately apparent, but they are real and impact us in ways we cannot anticipate. Our text is a plain statement about the consequences of our decisions and actions. There are two groups, ‘the wicked, and he who trusts in the LORD.’ This is the baseline division of humanity. The one group chooses to follow a particular course of life which excludes God. The other group follows God, most specifically Christ, Who is the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His Person. In a de facto way, Christ is the Continental Divide of all humanity. Over Christ humanity divides to go one direction or the other. The net result, according to our text is either many sorrows, or being surrounded by mercy. This is both temporal and extends into eternity. The consequence of either ignoring or opposing God brings sorrow. The consequence of trusting in God is to receive an abundance of mercy. Thus Christ is the path to peace, blessedness, and good. Christ is the answer to what is the good life. He is much more than that, but to stay with our text, to trust Christ is the way to receive an abundance of mercy.   

Our God of Grace and Mercy, 
we rejoice that You have set before us what is good. 
We praise You that Christ is our great example. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. 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. 

Psalm 32:8-9 

We want God to instruct, lead, and guide us. We also resist Him when He leads us down certain roads to do particular things. This presents an occasion of conflict between God’s will for us and our personal preferences. Thus He leads us in a certain direction and we balk. In our text, God has promised to instruct, lead, and guide us. He adds the second portion as a caution to us. He points to the horse and mule and says, ‘Don’t be like that.’ In the day in which David wrote this psalm the illustration of the behavior of the horse and mule would have been ever present. They only submit to guidance as it suits their mood. To successfully guide them consistently requires a bit and bridle. The reason God gives for their behavior is that they have no understanding. He contrasts them to us who arguably do have understanding. Thus, ‘Don’t be like them.’ Christ is the example for us of submitting His will to the leadership of His Father. He was not as the horse or mule. He always did those things that pleased the Father. In addition to being our Savior, He is also our example of how to interact with God, especially in these harder matters of His leading us into places we perhaps do not want to go. If God led Christ there and He went without coercion, we can learn from Him how to do.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You lead us in the right way. 
We praise You that Christ is our example. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. 

Psalm 32:8 

How shall we know what to do as life comes at us? We make preparations for what we think will happen. We may even go so far as to prepare for contingencies. We may attempt to organize things to enable us to navigate emergencies, upsets, and upheavals. Yet we cannot successfully know all that will occur. No amount of preparation can ready us for certain things. Life is full of unanticipated events, many of which are the small hinges upon which large doors swing. How shall we know what to do? How shall we make wise and good decisions? God gives us assurance in our text. If we consider that the same man who wrote these words is the man who wrote Psalm 23, we find the answer. Christ was David’s Shepherd. In Psalm 23, David enumerates all the ways in which Christ instructed, taught, and guided him. From His provision of everyday necessities, to His defence of him from his enemies, to His leading him all the way to his eternal home, Christ was fulfilling His promises to David to instruct, teach, and guide him. David’s Shepherd is our Shepherd. The promises Christ made to him are for us as well. He promises to instruct, teach, and guide us in the way that we should go.  

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice in Your leadership. 
We praise You that You will guide us 
all the way home. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning