DO NOT BE LIKE A MULE
PSALM 32:7-11 NKJV
7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
9 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.
10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
I thought that title might get your attention. Here we are in the middle of this great psalm, and all of a sudden, we have this phrase.
And what makes this even more intriguing is that the majority of this psalm is all about the Lord. David is either talking to the Lord or about the Lord. David declares that You are my hiding place. He is speaking directly to the Lord. You, Lord, will preserve me from trouble. You, Lord, will surround me with songs of deliverance.
As an important side note, what are we saying that the Lord is to us? Who do we proclaim Him to be in our life? This is something we should not overlook. Too often, we have said nothing about who the Lord is until we get in church and sing. When we sing and worship, we say great things. Last year the Lord prompted me that we ought to talk like we sing.
Then we have the Lord talking to us in the middle of this psalm. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with My eye. This is the Lord’s promise to us. We need to grab this and make it personal. Thank You, Lord, that You are instructing me and teaching me in the way I should go. You are guiding me with Your eye.
This guiding with the Lord’s eye impresses us with the idea that His instruction and guidance are not a forced thing. And if we are not looking to Him, we could miss what He wants for us. This is backed up with the Lord’s admonition to not be like a horse or mule. You can not guide a mule with your eye. You have to put a bit and bridle in their mouth for them to obey you. It carries the idea of harsher guidance. No, we don’t want to be mule-like. We want to be attentive to the Lord and His instruction. And His instructions are often a gentle nudge or quiet witness. The Lord rarely shouts and does not shove.
Verses 8-9, where the Lord is talking, is like - and now a word from our sponsor. And then we now return you to your regularly scheduled psalm.
The psalm takes another turn as David contrasts the sorrow of the wicked with the mercy that surrounds those who trust in the Lord. And he encourages us to rejoice and shout for joy in the Lord. David wrote this psalm by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And we can use this psalm for our own instruction. I purpose to not be like a mule. That I will be declaring who God is to me. Receiving His instruction and guidance and living surrounded with His mercy and songs of deliverance.