“You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.” Psalm 73:24
The Psalmist felt his need of divine guidance. He had just been discovering the foolishness of his own heart, and lest he should be constantly led astray by it, he resolved that God’s counsel should henceforth guide him. A sense of our own folly is a great step towards being wise, when it leads us to rely on the wisdom of the Lord. The blind man leans on his friend’s arm and reaches home in safety, and so would we give ourselves up implicitly to divine guidance, nothing doubting; assured that though we cannot see, it is always safe to trust the all-seeing God.
“You will,” is a blessed expression of confidence. He was sure that the Lord would not decline the condescending task. There is a word for you, O believer; rest in it. Be assured that your God will be your counselor and friend; he shall guide you; he will direct all your ways. In his written Word you have this assurance in part fulfilled, for holy Scripture is his counsel to you. Happy are we to have God’s Word always to guide us! What would the mariner be without his compass? And what would the Christian be without the Bible? This is the unerring chart, the map in which every shoal is described, and all the channels from the quicksands of destruction to the haven of salvation mapped and marked by one who knows all the way.
Blessed be you, O God, that we may trust you to guide us now, and guide us even to the end! After this guidance through life, the Psalmist anticipates a divine reception at last—“and afterward you will receive me to glory.” What a thought for you, believer! God himself will receive you to glory—you! Wandering, erring, straying, yet he will bring you safe at last to glory! This is your portion; live on it this day, and if perplexities should surround you, go in the strength of this text straight to the throne.
Adapted from Morning and Evening.
