PRÉCIS ON THE PROMISE OF GOD TO LEAD THE OBEDIENT THROUGH THE COMING DARKNESS

SCRIPTURE. “I [the Lord] will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” – PSALM 32:8, AMPC

KEY TERM: “THE WAY.” ‘Derek’ [דֶּרֶךְ]: “A trodden road or course of life;’ a mode of action; refers to a journey or path; strongly suggests the pattern of life one chooses [either with God’s leading or without Him]. In the Bible, ‘derek’ often signifies the moral and spiritual path one chooses, reflecting obedience or disobedience to God’s Commandments.”

QUOTATION. “Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to ‘Know God,’ most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.”
― J.I. PACKER, Knowing God, 1973; edited

COMMENTARY. “God teaches by His Word, and guides with the secret intimations of His Will [revealed by His Spirit]. David gives a Word of Caution to sinners. The reason for this Caution is that the way of sin will certainly end in sorrow. Here is a Word of Comfort to [His obedient] saints. They may see that a ‘Life of Communion with God’ is far the most pleasant and comfortable. Let us rejoice, O Lord Jesus, in Thee, and in Thy salvation; so shall we rejoice indeed!”

DK’S TAKE. There must come a time in every Christian’s life when you finally ‘Get’ that God is very Real, that He is a Person Who has all the answers, and that the Key to a successful Life is getting to spend enormous amounts of time and conversation with Him. And the only real Path to developing that kind of Intimacy is through ‘Devouring His Words’ found in the Bible, led and interpreted of course by the clear instructions] of the ‘Holy Spirit.’

In my over 40 years with Christ, I did not understand any of this until 2016, when my life and the surrounding circumstances of it demanded I dive headlong into my relationship to the King. ‘Or perish.’ It truly was put that simply for me. Once I made that decision and followed His Life-Giving Counsel, my Walk with God has deepened in ways that I can barely express.

CODA. Jesus the Christ is Truth, beloved, He does have a Voice, and His desire for us is to lead us down a Narrow Road filled with both dangers and delights that ultimately take us to Paradise, and nothing less.

But only if we deeply and sincerely ‘Desire Him’ that much.