Will You Follow His Leading?
God promises to guide us with his eye, but many believers struggle with submitting to his guidance due to stubbornness and a lack of trust.
David Wilkerson emphasizes the importance of following God's guidance, as illustrated in Psalms 32:8-9, where God promises to instruct and lead those who are faithful and sincere. He warns against being stubborn like a mule, highlighting that many believers fail to understand God's ways despite experiencing His blessings. Wilkerson points out that true guidance comes from knowing God intimately and being responsive to His leading, rather than relying on forceful measures. He encourages believers to seek a deeper relationship with God to recognize His gentle nudges and trust Him with their futures.
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"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).
In these two brief verses God gives us one of the greatest lessons concerning guidance in all of Scripture. First there is a precious promise to us, a foundation upon which we can build a great faith. This foundation is his willingness to lead and guide us in everything! In the beginning of the chapter, you discover that this promise is offered to a special people -- those whose sin is covered and in whom there is no deceit; who have the Lord's hand heavy upon them; who are godly and pray in a time when they may be heard; who are hidden and preserved from trouble; and who sing songs of deliverance.
Yet the Word of God says a person may be a believer who enjoys all the spiritual benefits of being a child of God and still be like a stubborn mule when it comes to submitting to his guidance. God said of Israel, "For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways'" (Psalm 95:10).
God was essentially saying, "After all those long years of receiving my tender guidance and miraculous deliverances, they still don't have the slightest idea of the way I work! And they never even try to understand my principles of guidance."
God wants a people who know him well enough to move at his slightest urging, but most believers do not spend enough time in his presence to know him in this way. The Israelites were mule-headed children, too self-centered to trust God with their future. They wanted a quick, easy way out of the hard places and they learned nothing from the supernatural leadings that took them from slavery to the very edge of the Promised Land.
Beloved, God would much rather lead us with his eye than with a bit and bridle. He wants us to have a settled knowledge of his ways and a constant assurance of his hand of guidance upon us.
Sermon Outline
- God's Promise to Guide Us
- The Problem of Stubbornness
- God's Desire for Obedience
- God wants a people who know him well enough to move at his slightest urging
- God prefers to lead us with his eye, not with a bit and bridle
Key Quotes
“God would much rather lead us with his eye than with a bit and bridle.” — David Wilkerson
“For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways'” — David Wilkerson
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” — David Wilkerson
Application Points
- We should seek to know God's ways and have a constant assurance of his hand of guidance upon us.
- We should trust God with our future and not try to find a quick, easy way out of the hard places.
- We should be willing to move at God's slightest urging and follow his guidance with obedience.