Teach Me In the Way I Must Go

"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye (Ps. 32:8 KJV)."

How many times do we pray, "God, what am I supposed to do now?" How often do we cry, "God help me, I don't know where to go or what to do?" The promise of Psalm 32:8 is the answer to these questions.

The first phrase of this Bible verse is straightforward, "I will instruct thee." This means exactly what it says. God will teach us everything he determines we need to know.

The second phrase of today's Bible verse, "and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go", is pretty straightforward also. The modern definition of teach is to cause one to know a subject. When we couple this definition with "in the way which thou shalt go", the subject becomes the direction in which we are to go. This leads to a deeper look at the word teach. The word used for teach is a primitive Hebrew root word meaning, in a figurative sense, to point out as if by aiming the finger.

Let's pick apart this second phrase of our Bible verse yet a little more. We take the word way to mean direction. It literally translates a course of life or a mode of action. Now allow me to put the whole phrase back together in a paraphrase. The promise is this: God will show us the course of life we're to take. God will show us what mode of action we are to take in any situation or circumstance we face.

The final phrase of today's Bible verse is "I will guide thee with mine eye." What does it mean? "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him (Ps. 33:18 KJV)." God watches over those who are his. How can God's watching guide us?

God gives us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit who will teach us all things and cause us to remember every spoken word of Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:26). Allow me to present another Bible verse which speaks of the Spirit and what it will do. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth (Jn. 16:13 KJV)." The watchful eye of God is his Spirit which dwells within us. His Spirit, his eye, will guide us into all truth.

I encourage all of us today to seek the Lord to show us his course for our lives. I encourage all of us to seek God's direction, the pointing of his finger, to show us the actions we must take in the situations and circumstances in the course of life we face. I encourage all of us to place our trust in God's knowledge of the appropriate and best course for our lives. God bless...