Guidance, Brutes, and Gladness Text: Psalm 32:8-11
Introduction: The Two Paths
Every man is on a path. There are no exceptions. You are either on the path of wisdom or the path of folly, the path of the righteous or the path of the wicked. The modern world, in its high-minded rebellion, would like to pretend there are a thousand different paths, a glorious buffet of personal truths from which to choose. But this is a delusion, a spiritual vanity. Scripture is relentlessly binary on this point. There is the way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. And there is the way of life, the path of righteousness, which is found by very few. Our text today, coming on the heels of David's glorious confession and celebration of forgiveness, presents us with this fundamental choice. God, having washed the sinner clean, now offers to lead him. He offers fatherly counsel. But this offer comes with a sharp and necessary warning. The choice is before us: will we be sons, guided by a loving glance, or will we be brutes, managed with coercive hardware?
This is not a theoretical decision made in a classroom. This is the central conflict of your day, every day. Will you be led by the Spirit, or will you be broken by the Law? Will you submit to the gentle counsel of your Heavenly Father, or will you force Him to treat you like a dumb animal? The universe is not a democracy; it is a monarchy. And the King has spoken. He has offered us the path of life, a path of gladness and joy, surrounded by His covenant faithfulness. But He has also made it clear what awaits those who, in their mulish pride, refuse His guidance. The choice is stark: lovingkindness or many sorrows. Joy or the bridle. This passage is a call to intelligent, willing, and joyful submission to the government of God.
The Text
I will give you insight and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.
Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose harness are bit and bridle to control them,
Otherwise they will not come near you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in Yahweh, lovingkindness shall surround him.
Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
(Psalm 32:8-11 LSB)
The Father's Counsel (v. 8)
We begin with the voice of God Himself. After David's confession, God responds with a promise of intimate, personal guidance.
"I will give you insight and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you." (Psalm 32:8)
This is the voice of a loving Father to his forgiven son. This is not the abstract guidance of a distant deity, but the close, attentive counsel of a Father who is personally invested in the path His child takes. He promises three things. First, insight. The Hebrew word here implies understanding, the ability to see the grain of the universe, to comprehend how things actually work. God does not just give us a set of rules; He gives us the owner's manual. He teaches us the logic of His world so we can live intelligently within it. Sin is, at its root, stupidity. It is a refusal to live according to the design specifications. God promises to cure us of this stupidity.
Second, He promises to teach us "in the way which you should go." This is practical, directional guidance. God has a path for His people, a way of righteousness, and He commits to teaching us how to walk it. This is the positive side of sanctification. He doesn't just forgive us and leave us to wander in the wilderness. He leads us toward the promised land of Christlikeness. This guidance comes primarily through His Word, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Third, and most intimately, He says, "I will counsel you with My eye upon you." This is a beautiful picture of a relationship that has transcended the need for constant verbal commands. Think of a father and son who have worked together for years. The father doesn't need to shout instructions across the workshop; a simple glance, a nod of the head, is enough. The son knows his father's mind. This is the kind of relationship God wants with us. He wants us to be so attuned to His character and His will, revealed in Scripture, that we can be guided by the subtle glance of His eye. This is true spiritual maturity: not just knowing the rules, but knowing the Ruler.
The Brute's Bridle (v. 9)
But immediately after this tender promise, God issues a stern warning. There is another way to be managed, and it is not pleasant.
"Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose harness are bit and bridle to control them, Otherwise they will not come near you." (Psalm 32:9)
This is the alternative to being guided by God's eye. If you will not be a son, you will be treated as a brute. The horse is known for its impetuous, flighty nature, running headlong into trouble. The mule is infamous for its stubbornness, digging in its heels and refusing to budge. Both lack "understanding." They do not respond to reason or relationship; they respond only to force. They must be controlled with hardware, with a bit in the mouth and a bridle on the head. This is a picture of God's coercive providence. If we, in our foolishness and pride, refuse the gentle guidance of His eye, He will not simply let us run off a cliff. He loves His children too much for that. He will bring out the bit and bridle. He will use hardship, affliction, and painful circumstances to yank our heads around and force us onto the right path.
This is the hard hand of God's discipline. Many Christians live their entire lives this way, lurching from one crisis to another, always being corrected by painful providences. They wonder why their lives are so difficult. The answer is right here: they are being mulish. They are resisting His will, ignoring His Word, and forcing Him to use the harsh tack of affliction to keep them from destroying themselves. God's goal is to bring us near to Him. If we will not come willingly, drawn by His love, He will drag us, kicking and screaming, with a bit in our teeth. The destination is the same, but the journey is vastly different. God is saying, "Don't make me do this the hard way."
The Great Divide (v. 10)
Verse 10 lays out the consequences of these two approaches to life in the starkest possible terms.
"Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in Yahweh, lovingkindness shall surround him." (Psalm 32:10)
Here is the fundamental antithesis of reality. On one side, the wicked. The wicked man is not necessarily a cackling villain from a movie. The wicked man is the one who insists on his own autonomy. He is his own god, his own lawgiver. And the result of this rebellion is "many sorrows." This is not an arbitrary punishment; it is the built-in consequence of fighting reality. When you declare war on the Creator, you are declaring war on the very fabric of the universe. Of course it will be sorrowful. It is a life of frustration, futility, and fear, because it is a life at odds with the way everything is actually designed to work.
On the other side is the one who "trusts in Yahweh." This is the man who has abandoned his pretense of autonomy and has thrown himself entirely upon the mercy and sovereignty of God. And what is the result for him? "Lovingkindness shall surround him." The word for lovingkindness is hesed. This is not a sentimental, squishy affection. Hesed is covenantal loyalty. It is God's unbreakable, unrelenting, iron-clad faithfulness to His promises. For the man who trusts in God, this covenant loyalty surrounds him like a fortress. He is encircled by the faithfulness of God. Sorrows may come, but they cannot penetrate this perimeter. They are all filtered through the loving, sovereign purpose of a God who has sworn an oath to do His people good.
The Only Rational Response (v. 11)
Given the choice presented in the previous verses, the conclusion is inescapable and glorious.
"Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart." (Psalm 32:11)
This is not a polite suggestion. It is a command, and it is the only logical response to the reality of God's grace. Notice where the gladness is to be found: "in Yahweh." Our joy is not in our circumstances, not in our performance, and not in our feelings. Our joy is in our God. It is an objective joy, rooted in the unchangeable character and covenant promises of Yahweh. We are commanded to rejoice because we have been forgiven, we are being guided, and we are surrounded by His hesed.
This command is for the "righteous ones," the "upright in heart." Who are they? They are the ones who have been justified by faith, whose sin is covered, and to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity (vv. 1-2). They are the ones who have abandoned deceit and have trusted wholly in God. Righteousness here is not a claim to sinless perfection, but a description of our legal standing before God in Christ, and the orientation of our hearts to please Him.
And the expression of this joy is not to be a quiet, dignified affair. We are to "shout for joy." This is exuberant, loud, celebratory praise. This is the joy of the redeemed, the joy of those who know they are secure, the joy of sons who are guided by their Father's eye. It is a defiant joy, a shout of victory in a world full of sorrows. The world thinks Christianity is a grim, dour business. But the Bible commands us to be the most joyful people on the planet. If you are not glad, if you are not rejoicing, if you are not shouting for joy, it is because you have forgotten who your God is and what He has done for you. You are either listening to your sorrows, or you are looking at your God. You cannot do both.
Conclusion: Sons, Not Mules
The message of this psalm is profoundly simple. God, in His grace, has made a way for rebels to be forgiven and adopted as sons. As our Father, He desires to lead us with intimate, gentle counsel. He wants a relationship of willing, intelligent obedience, where we are so familiar with His heart that we can be guided by a glance.
But we still have the old man in us. We are prone to bolt like a spooked horse or to dig in our heels like a stubborn mule. And when we do, our loving Father will not abandon us to our folly. He will bring out the bit and bridle of affliction. He will discipline us for our own good, to bring us back to Himself. The central question for every Christian is this: How will you be governed? By the eye of the Father, or by the bridle of the Master?
The path of the wicked, the stubborn, the autonomous man, is a path of many sorrows. It is a life of fighting against the grain of the universe. But the path of the righteous, the one who trusts in the Lord, is a path surrounded by the covenant faithfulness of God. Therefore, the only sane, logical, and fitting response is to shout for joy. Let us, then, resolve to be sons and not mules. Let us study His Word, that we might know His heart. Let us be quick to repent, that we might walk closely with Him. And let us rejoice, loudly and without shame, in the God who guides us with His eye.