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

You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah 

Psalm 32:7 

Christ puts a song in the mouths of His redeemed. David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, knew this right well. He referred to it in Psalm 40, ‘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.’ Other psalm writers refer to it, ‘Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, The LORD has done great things for them.’ The Psalms are the inspired songbook of the people of God. There we find the lyrical expression of the spiritual experiences of those whom God has saved by free and sovereign grace. When we have been oppressed, persecuted, excluded, downgraded and disrespected it is a burden to our soul. When Christ intervenes on our behalf, and we see Him break off the yoke of those who do evil, we rejoice, not at their demise but at the relief we feel because their foot no longer rests on our neck. Thus we have reason to sing songs of deliverance. Christ is the theme of those songs. He is the High King of Heaven. He is advancing His kingdom. He is conquering His enemies and ours. We have an abundance of reasons to sing now and to keep on singing right into the very throne room of the King of Kings. He has liberated us and continues to break off the bonds that bind us to this scene of time. He compasses us about with songs of deliverance. They will form for us everlasting anthems of praise.   

High King of Heaven, 
we rejoice that You are advancing Your Kingdom. 
We praise You that we can enter into Your gates with singing, 
and into Your courts with praise. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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. You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah 

Psalm 32:6-7 

God makes Himself available most of the time. There are times, however, when He hides Himself for His Own reasons. David was aware of this truth. He realized that on the foundation of the forgiveness of sins, ‘everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time, when You may be found.’ Isaiah hits some of the same notes when he writes, ‘Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.’ There he calls to the wicked and unrighteous to return to the LORD for mercy and pardon. What is interesting for our purpose is that both David and Isaiah refer to God allowing us to access Him with the understanding that there will come a time when He will not be so immediately available. This is a hard concept for us to embrace. We like to think of God as being ever available. The idea that he would withdraw Himself or be somehow inaccessible is disconcerting. Job complained that he could not find God. ‘Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; when He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.’ His consolation was, ‘But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.’ Even when God seemed to hide Himself, Job continued to express faith in Him. What can we gain from these thoughts? The short answer is, that we who believe seek the LORD now while He may be found. Christ is available today. He may be found now. Therefore, because He has purchased our pardon, because He does intercede for us, we can and should call upon Him. 

God of Grace and Glory, 
we rejoice that You do give us access to You. 
We praise You that we can seek You, 
while You may be found. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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. You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah 

Psalm 32:6-7 

Christ is the hiding place of His redeemed. In all his hardships, and in spite of all his failings, David had hope in Christ. He said, ’From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.’ We could hardly conceive of a clearer expression of the evangelical truth of what Christ means to a believer than this. The people of God come from the weak, the foolish, the nothings, and nobodies of the world. They are not the high and the mighty. They are accurately depicted as the wandering sheep, easy prey for the predators of the world. Christ has been, is, and shall ever be the refuge of His redeemed. They resort to Him at every turn. Thus David is a representative believer. In many instances he articulates our experience. Therefore when we read his remarks we say, Amen. We do pray in the time when God may be found. He does keep us from the flood of waters. He is our hiding place. He does preserve us from trouble. He surrounds us with songs of deliverance. Christ is our hope for time and for eternity. We have no other in whom we have such faith and upon whom we can rely. Therefore his words become our words. These are the expressions not just of David but also of us. We go forth daily depending on Christ to lead us, to guide us, to help us, and to preserve us. He surrounds us with songs of deliverance.    

O God, our Shield and our Defender, 
We rejoice that You know all the dangers that beset us. 
We praise You that You are our refuge, 
where we may continually hide.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning