All right, turn to Psalm 32.
This is a psalm of assurance. I believe every person here who
knows, loves, and rejoices in the Redeemer, our Savior, our
Lord, is going to leave here encouraged. It's a psalm of assurance. I told you Martin Luther called
those three psalms, Psalm 130 that I read, Psalm 51, Brother
Cecil read, and this one that I'm going to preach from, he
called it the Pauline Psalms. And he said this, he said, they're
the Pauline Psalms, talking about the Apostle Paul, because the
theme of each one of them is the total, complete forgiveness
of all sin, without the law, without our to all who believe
on Christ, there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
feared." That's what David said. And Paul said, "...in whom we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." According
to the riches of his grace, the forgiveness, we have the forgiveness
of sins. Blessed is the man whose transgression
is forgiven. David immediately shows us where
true happiness is found, true blessedness is found. It's found
in the forgiveness of sin. Now, the world doesn't believe
that. The world believes that happiness
is found in three things. I call this the world's trinity. This is their God. This is what
they worship. This is where they believe everything
is, happiness, contentment, joy is in these three things. The
evil trinity, see if I'm not right, riches, fame, and help, strength. Is that not it? Is that not what
the whole world is clamoring for right now? The unholy trinity. worlds, God, riches, honor, fame,
beauty and health, strength. Build up the old body. But true
blessedness is found in sins forgiven. That's what he said.
Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,
to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. Now, there is the three
things that are happiness, there it is. The word forgiven. Blessed is the man whose transgression
is forgiven. What does it mean, forgiven?
Well, believe it or not, when you look at that Hebrew word
in your concordance, if you'll take the time to look it up,
there are numbers of meanings, just numbers of meanings. But
the chief one, all seem to agree, is this. Sin is taken away, purged
and taken away. Let me show you that in Psalm
65. The definition is right here in Psalm 65. Psalm 65, verse
2. O thou that hearest prayer, unto
thee shall all flesh come. Iniquities prevail against me. As for our transgressions, thou
shalt purge them away." That is the meaning, thou shalt purge
them away, my transgressions. Blessed is the man whose transgressions
are purged. He purged our sins with the sacrifice
of himself, and they are taken away. Now read that next verse.
Blessed is the man, indeed, here is our election whom thou choosest. and causeth to approach. He causes
us, that is our call. He chose us, that is our election.
He causes us to approach him. We come willingly. We do approach
him, but we come willingly because he causes us to. That's right. And he causes, here is our access
unto thee, to God himself. This grace is our access to God,
to thee, throne of grace. And here is our acceptance that
we may dwell in thy courts, accept in the beloved, fit company for
God and the Saints. We dwell there. We're not just
visiting. We're not just visiting. We're family. We're going to
dwell there. And here's our perseverance.
We shall be satisfied. David said, I shall be satisfied
when I wait for thy likeness. And we're going to be satisfied
and very happy with the goodness of his house, even his holy temple. Think about that. We're going
to be totally satisfied in total holiness in the presence of God. It's what we've been waiting
on. Blessed is the man whose transgression is purged and taken
away, whose sin is covered. Now, this covered, I want to
show you three scriptures. This cupboard is taken from the
mercy seat, the ark of the covenant, where the law was placed in that
ark, the mercy seat and the blood. Let me show you three scriptures.
First, Deuteronomy 10. God took the ark and took the
law, God took the law out of the hands of Moses and put that
broken law in the ark. under the mercy seat." Now, watch
this, Deuteronomy 10, verse 1, "...at that time the Lord said
to me, Hew thee two tables of stone like the first, and come
up unto me in the mountains, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables
the words that were in the first tables which you broke, and you
put them in the ark." You put them in the ark. Moses, you don't
hold them and enforce them, you put them in the ark. So I made
an ark of shit of wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto
the first, and I went up to the mountain, having the two tables
in my hand. And the Lord wrote on the tables
according to the first writing the Ten Commandments, which the
Lord spake unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire,
in the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me.
And I turned myself and came down from the mountain and put
the tables in the ark which I had made, and there they be, as the
Lord commanded me." And then turn to Exodus 25. He made a
mercy seat, Exodus 25. The tables of the broken law
are in the ark, and then he made a mercy seat to cover, there's
the word I'm looking for. cover that broken law. Exodus 25, verse 21. And thou
shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark. That mercy seat
was of gold, covered the entire top of the ark. And in that ark
you put the law, testimony I shall give thee. And there I'll meet
with you. I'll meet with you right there.
God is a holy God, a just God, and a merciful God. But that
law has got to be dealt with. That's God's law. That's God's
law, and it's got to be dealt with. I'm going to meet you at
the mercy seat. I'll meet you at the ark. I'll
meet you and listen. And I'll commune with thee from
above the mercy seat, from between the cherubims which are upon
the ark of the testimony of all things which I give thee in commandment
unto the children of Israel. Now, something else has got to
be put on that mercy seat. And that broken law is covered
with the mercy seat, but we've got to have a sacrifice. So Leviticus,
turn to Leviticus 16. Leviticus 16, and here Aaron
the priest brings the blood. So that purged me with hyssop.
Hyssop was that little plant that was dipped in the blood
and sprinkled on the mercy seat. covers the mercy seat, the propitiation,
the broken law. Now watch this, Leviticus 16,
verse 15. Then shall he kill the goat of
the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood,
the blood of the sacrifice, the blood of the lamb, within the
veil. And do with that blood as he did with the blood of the
bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, before the mercy
seat. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy place." That is the blood atonement. Christ is our atonement. Let
me show you one more scripture, Romans 3. Here is Romans 3, verse
25. being justified freely, being
forgiven freely by his grace through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation,
a mercy seat, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins of the past through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness
that he might be just and to justify him that believes in
Jesus. Blessed is that man whose sin is covered, book and
law, in the art of mercy, the blood of Christ. Our Lord's precious
blood is our atonement, our propitiation, our mercy seat. He makes an end
of sin. Now, let me read that verse again,
Psalm 32. Blessed is he whose transgression
is purged and put away, whose sin is covered. What a covering,
Spurgeon says, what a covering that hides all my sins and all
the elect's sins away forever from the sight of an all-seeing
God. All our filthiness of flesh and
spirit and mind and heart is covered, forgiven. and taken away by the blood of
the Son of God. Now, that's a blessed man. Verse
2, Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Now, here are three words used
here, transgressions, sin, and iniquity. Sin is a transgression
of the law and it's forgiven. by Christ's blood. Sin is an
offense against God's holiness. Sin is a sin and an offense against
God's holiness, and that's covered, so that in his sight we are perfect.
But sin is a debt, a punishment, which we owe God said the soul
of the sinner shall die. Sin, when it's finished, brings
forth death. That's the wages of sin is death. We owe that.
But it says here that he won't charge it. He won't charge it. What a blessing,
the debt's paid. The transgression against the
law is forgiven. The sin and the filthiness against
his holiness is pardoned, and the debt is paid. That's assurance. It's in Christ. I was reading
a journal not long ago of a noted writer, years ago. And some of these fellows, it
kind of upsets me to read their journals because they're always
having a terrible struggle trying to find assurance, trying to
find assurance of salvation, trying to find happiness, trying
to find peace, trying to find They're just for years. Joseph Hart said he went through
this conviction for 11 years without any assurance. I was
reading this man's book and he could find no peace, no joy,
no rest, no assurance. And I found his problem. I found
his problem, honestly, I found it. I called Doris and said,
Here's his problem. Every sentence he wrote began
with, I was mourning, I was grieving, I felt no peace. I did this,
I did that. The whole book was I. When Isaiah
wrote his chapter of assurance, he begins with he. You keep beginning
with I, you're a dead duck. You're not going to find any
peace. But if you can begin with he, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, by his stripes
I'm here." Forty-three times in that chapter, Isaiah uses he, him, and his,
and never says a word about I. If you miss that, you will miss
assurance. That opens the door, that is
the key. Quit talking about your mourning and groaning and your
feelings and your experiences and your depression, and just
start talking about him. Blessed is the man whose transgression
is forgiven. Who forgave him? He did. Whose
sin is covered with the blood. Whose blood? His blood. The man
to whom God will not charge the debt of sin. It's paid! Who paid
it? Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin left to crimson stain, he
washed it white as snow. For he, God the Father, hath
made him to be sin, who knew no sin, that we," and that's
the only time you come in, "...might be made the righteousness of
God in him." It's all between the Father and the Son on your
behalf. All you do is receive it. You
don't work for it, earn it, keep it, hold it. You receive it. He is the cause and the reason.
He says, Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no guile. You know, the Lord said that
about Nathanael. He saw him coming and said, There is an Israelite
in whom there is no guile. Now, that Nathanael didn't even
know the Lord. Do you know what the Lord was saying about Nathanael?
There is a man with an honest heart. The blessed man is the
man whose sin is forgiven, who has accepted the Beloved, who
has been taught of the Spirit to deal honestly with three things,
himself, his sin, and his God. Honestly. Salvation is no game. Peace doesn't come by profession
or playing tricks on people's conscience. It's an honest heart
before God. You know yourself. And God is
only going to deal with us on the basis of honesty and truth
about ourselves. We know that. I know the truth
about my sin. David said, My sin is ever before
me. That's not going to change. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. That's not going to
change. So let's be honest about ourselves
and honest about our God, salvations of the Lord. It's not in anything
I am or do, it's in him, who he is and what he did, and where
he is now. Blessed is the man whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered with the blood, whose debt is
paid, and who has been given by God an honest heart, a truthful
heart. Don't play pious. adopt this holier-than-thou,
legalistic, pharisaical attitude and try to deceive people, especially
God, he looks on the high. Just be honest. Old Barney used
to say, Honest people don't wind up in hell. And that's true,
because they are honest before God. Look at verse 3. When I kept
silence, I kept silence I had some problems. Before I learned
this truthfulness with God, this honesty with God, and this open
confession before God of who I really am and what I really
am, I kept silence. During that time, my bones waxed
old through the roaring all the day long, and I kept silence
from a full confession, from an open confession before God.
When I kept silence from pouring out my soul before God in a full
confession of My bones, my innermost being was suppressed with guilt,
guilt, guilt. No rest, guilt. When I kept silent,
listen, day and night his hand was heavy upon me. The hand of
God was heavy upon me in affliction and remorse. You know, the way
of the transgressor is hard. It's hard. There's no fellowship. When I
kept silence, my moisture, he said in verse 4, is turned into
the drought of summer. My moisture dried up like a stream
when it hadn't rained in a month or two. Nothing but old, bad,
dry rocks. My spirit and my joy, that's
what you read a while ago, restoring to me the joy of my salvation. Joy is gone. Why? I kept silence. I kept silent in regard to this
sin business. Turn to Proverbs 28. Proverbs
28, verse 13. He says in Proverbs 28, 13, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. How do you cover your sins yourself?
I know how God covers them, with the blood and the mercy. How
do we cover them? One is keeping silence. Not being
honest, not facing our sins squarely, honestly, and confessing them
before God, like the publican in the temple, God be merciful
to me, be a sinner. David, against thee and thee
only have I sinned. Open up, don't keep silence,
confess them to God. The second way we cover our sins
is justifying them. We really put the blame on somebody
else. There's a reason why we thought
this, or did this, or said this. There's a reason, and it's usually
on somebody else's shoulders and not ours. My sin is my sin. I can't blame anybody or my circumstances,
surroundings, environment, or anything else. That's how we cover them, keeping
silence, justifying them, or even denying them. He that covereth his sin shall
not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sin. Turn to that Psalm, Brother Cecil,
Psalm 51, just a moment. This is what I'm talking about. The sacrifices of God are broken
spirits. A broken and a contrite heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise. I had an article in the Bulletin
recently which said nobody has ever come to Christ honestly,
sincerely, seeking his mercy, confessing their sins, desiring
his grace and his mercy, had been turned away. Nobody. Go
through the Bible. Everybody who needed him, who
desired his mercy and his grace, that woman, that Canaanite woman,
the first time she came, our Lord didn't even answer her.
But that didn't discourage her. She stayed. The second time he
said, Second time he said, I am sent
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In other words, I'm
a Jew, I came to save the salvation of the Jews. She's a Gentile,
she still didn't leave. The third time he said, it's
not right to give the children's bread to dogs. She's a Gentile
dog, that's pretty tough. She still didn't leave. And she
replied, but I'm your dog, and you're my master. And masters
give crumbs to their dogs. Give me a crumb. He said, Woman,
I haven't found faith like that in Israel. That's what I'm talking
about. Any dog that comes to Christ
with a broken, contrite heart, with sin, seeking forgiveness,
is going to walk away whole. Write it down. But I can't find
any dogs. A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so.
There are a lot of folks who know a whole lot about doctrine,
but there are not many people who know something about being
a sinner. And that's the only kind of people Christ saves.
He came not to call the righteous, but sinners. So here is the confession. Now watch verse 5. Here is the
confession. I acknowledged, I fessed up,
I confessed, I owned my sin. I acknowledged my sin unto thee. My iniquity, I'm not here. I said I will confess my transgressions
unto the Lord. There's those three things again.
Transgressions, sin, and iniquity. Transgression, violating in mind,
heart, and body all that God has forbidden in his law. Transgression
of the law. I acknowledge I've transgressed
the law. That's the root of the whole
matter, that's our fallen nature. David said, in sin my mother
conceived me. I'm filthy by nature. I have the blood of Adam and
the nature of Adam. Iniquity, that's contrary to
equity, contrary to justice, perverse. I don't like to be
called perverse. Listen, anything that's not in
accordance with his sacred holy will is perverse, isn't Anything
that's not in total agreement with God Almighty's holy, perfect
commandments is perverse. And we are perverse. That's just
a fact. Iniquity, morally distorted. That's it. I confessed it. I confessed my transgressions,
the root of the matter, my sin, and my inequity, my perverseness,
David said. I confessed it. You know what
happened? He forgave me. He forgave them. If our Lord
should have charged iniquity, who could stand? But there is
forgiveness. I preach that, I try to tell
people that. God delights to show mercy. He is rich in mercy. And I tell
you, it's not a compliment to God for his children to moan
around here with no assurance. That's not a compliment. to disbelieve the Father. That's
not a compliment. That's like one of your children
running around here saying, I'm hungry, I know mother's not going
to feed me. You'd say, well, honey, we'll adopt you, kick
you away from that mean woman and that mean father. My father
is rich, and he cares for his children, and he's never neglected
one yet. And it's a disgrace for his children
to run around moping and moaning and groaning without any assurance.
That's right. I acknowledge my transgressions,
my sin, my iniquity, and he forgave me of all my sins. Now for this, watch verse 6,
for this, for what? For what we've been talking about.
For this forgiveness, for this pardon, for this righteousness,
shall everyone that is godly, everyone that is awakened, everyone
that is taught of Everyone that's genuine in his desire and genuine
in his pursuit. Everyone that is truly seeking
the Lord. Everyone that is godly. That's
not your piety now and your perfection. It's his, it's in him. Everyone
that's sincere. Everyone, for this shall, everyone
that's awakened, that is called of God and taught of God, he'll
pray unto thee, everyone will pray unto thee for this, is forgiveness. He'll ask, he'll knock, he'll
ask and it shall be given. Seek, you shall find, knock and
it shall be opened. And they will. When will they pray for
it? They'll pray for it in a time
when God may be found. in a time when God may be found.
Now, a lot of different things brought forth about that. They
said that's in the day of grace, that's in the time accepted,
that's now is accepted time, that's in the day of grace. That's
true, that's true. But I'll tell you when it is.
That time is when my soul is acutely and sincerely in distress
about my sin. That's when God may be found.
That is a time of personal conviction. That is a time of strong desire
for mercy. That is a time when God is dealing
with a person. That's when that time is. And
you read it that way, listen, for this, this forgiveness, this
blessing, shall, no doubt about it, everyone that's godly, chosen
of God, called of God, you pray unto under God, not the man,
he's not going to run to a soul winner, he's going to shake the
altar, the horns of the altar, and the throne of God. See, God,
in a time when you may be found, when you may be found, and surely
in the floods of great waters they'll not come nigh to him,
when the overflowing scourge comes through, that man won't
be touched. Isn't that something? I just don't know how long. People
tell me they've been trying to get saved 25 years. I don't hardly
believe that. They've been trying very hard,
I guarantee you that, because for this shall everyone that
is dealt with by God pray in a time when God may be found.
And that man be delivered from all judgment. There is therefore
now no judgment to him in Christ. He says, look here, thou art
my hiding place. Not a refuge of doctrine or church
membership or the cross, the blood, the righteousness of Christ,
the mercies of my Lord, the substitutions. He is my hiding place. He is. That's right. A man shall be
a hiding place in the time of storm, and he'll preserve me.
David kind of graduates here, now watch him. Christ is my hiding
place. Secondly, he'll preserve me,
he'll protect me, he'll provide for me in trouble, and he'll
compass me about with songs of deliverance. He'll fill my heart
with joy and songs of deliverance. So he's my hiding place. Come
back to Psalm 30. Psalm 30, verses 10-12. Here, O Lord, have mercy upon
me. Lord, be my helper, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned from
me my mourning into dancing. I didn't turn it into dancing.
I didn't find some morality in me that made me poopy. He turned
my mourning into dancing. He did. He put off my sackcloth. He did it. He girded me with
gladness, to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee,
and not be silent. O Lord my God, I'm going to give
thanks to thee forever." I like what that old lady told John
Newton. She said, If the Lord ever saves me, he'll never hear
the last of it. I'll praise him forever. I just will. I'll praise him forever. Praise
him, not experience, him. All right, verse 8. Here's the Lord speaking. The
Lord is our speaker. He said, I will instruct thee,
I will instruct thee, I will teach thee in the way which thou
I'll guide thee with mine eye." The Lord says, I'll instruct
my children, I'll teach them. How does he teach us? First,
we are taught of God when we are drawn to Christ. John said
in John 6, Christ said, No man can come to me except my Father
which sent me draw him, and they shall all be taught of God. He
that is taught of God, and heareth God, cometh unto me." That's
God teaching us when we come to Christ. And secondly, he teaches
us by his Spirit. Our Lord said the Holy Spirit
will come, the Comforter, and he'll take the things of mine
and show them to you. He'll teach you. There are a
lot of things he said I have yet to say to you, but you're
not able to bear them. But when he has come, he'll teach
you, he'll guide you into all truth. And then the third way
he teaches us is by his pastor-teachers. He said, he that ascended is
the same that descended. And when he ascended, he led
captivity captive. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets and some missionaries and some pastors and teachers
for the instruction of the saints. by the teaching of the Saints,
that we may grow, that we may not be cast around with every
wind of doctrine, that we might be mature." So he teaches us.
He said, I will instruct you, and I'll teach you. Something I learned from one
of the writers, John Dorn, said this. Let me say something about
these words. First the Lord said, I will instruct
you. He says that, I'll give you understanding. Man can instruct you, only God
can give you understanding. God says, I'll give you understanding.
The Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know him that is true, and that we're in him that is true. This
is the true God, understanding. So when God says, I will instruct
you. I will give you understanding."
Men may have a lot to say to us. Truth, truth, but only God
can give understanding. Then he says, I'll teach you
in the way which thou shalt go. First I'll teach you the way
that you may find it. Thomas said, we don't know where
you're going, how can we know the way? He said, I'm the way.
I'm the way. And I'll teach you the way, that
you may know it. And then I'll teach you while
you're in the way, that you may know more of the way and grow
in the way. And then I'll teach you that
you may not stray from the way, but that you may," listen, David
said, keep his way and be exalted to inherit the land. I'll show
you the way. I'll teach you while you're in
the way. And I teach you that you won't stray and keep the
way that you may inherit the land.
And I'll guide you with my eye. This is a blessing year. I'll
guide you with my eye. Look at Psalm 34 right across
the page, verse 15. The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry." His eyes
are always on the righteous, like you mothers here. A mother's
eyes are always upon her little child. She may be doing something
else, but she knows where he is. She knows what he's doing.
In the dead of the night, her ear is tuned to that room. You
mothers know what I'm talking about, don't they? always aware,
always present with that child. And God, the eye of the Lord,
is upon his children all the time. Secondly, the eye of the
Lord is an eye of love. Deuteronomy, you've got to turn
over here and see this. It's in the scripture two or
three times, but Deuteronomy 32. Turn there a minute. I'll
guide you with my eye. Deuteronomy 32, verse 9. Look at this, Deuteronomy 32,
verse 9. For the Lord's portion is his
people. Jacob, sons of Jacob, Israel, is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him. Jacob didn't find the Lord, the
Lord found Jacob in the desert. That's where he found you and
me, in the waste holly wilderness. That's where he found us. And
he led him about and instructed him and kept him as the apple
of his eye, the pupil of his eye. That's how precious, the
pupil of his eye. He keeps his children as the
pupil of his eye. It's the eye of love. Men's mouths
say one thing, but Barnard said, the eye is the window of the
soul. He might mean something different. Watch his eyes. Watch
his eyes. Our Lord, his eyes always in
accord with his word. His eyes upon his children, he
keeps them as the apple of his eye. The Lord will guide us with his
eye. He'll guide us with his eye.
Let's look at Luke 22 a minute. You'll find this interesting.
One of the old writers said, the Lord doesn't have to send
a thunderbolt to get the attention of one of his children. He doesn't
have to use signs and wonders and evidences. People are always looking for
some kind of evidence, some kind of sign, some kind of Brother Scott gave the best answer
that I've ever heard. He got ready and went to church
one Sunday morning. He would always get there first, early,
like I used to come here before anybody got here. He parked his
car and walked up to the walk, and there was a man standing
there with a Bible in his hand. God said, Good morning. The man
said, Are you the pastor? He said, Yes, sir. told me that
I was to preach here today." I said, where are you going to
say something if the Lord told you? The Lord said, you know,
that's strange. I was talking to him just a little
while ago, and he never told me anything about him. He said, I'm the pastor, you
know he'd say something to me if I was going to preach. He
said, if I didn't have another word to say, he'd have got in
his car and left. The Lord doesn't need to send us telegrams and
talk. He guides you with his eye. And
look at this Luke 22, how he dealt with Peter in Luke 22. Verse 61, Peter denied his Lord. He denied his Lord. He said in
verse 60, Peter said, Man, I know not what you are saying. And
immediately, while he yet spake to the cop crew, and the Lord
turned and looked upon just looked at him. And Peter remembered
the word of the Lord, how he said before the cock crows, you'll
deny me three times. And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
The Lord didn't say a word to him. He didn't have to, just
a little. The wife knows her husband. He
doesn't have to say much, just look. She can read his eyes,
she can be somewhere. It takes years now, girls, to
read their eyes, read their minds. It takes years. Don't get discouraged.
But after a while, she said, well, we're ready to go. How
did you know that? I saw it in his eyes. She's shopping around to see
something, you know, and he doesn't say a word, but she doesn't buy
it because his eyes said it cost too much, too expensive. She
read his eyes. She might even change the subject
you're talking because she looked over her husband. The Lord, he
said, I'll guide you with my eye. You see, all servants can read
their master's expression and their eyes. People who have worked
for somebody a long time, they read their eyes. They just glance
at them, they know what to do. And this is, our Lord said, I'll
guide you with my eye. with my eye, the presence of
the Lord. Feel his presence. Feel his presence. And you don't want to offend
his presence. Now, he said in verse 9, don't be like a horse.
Don't be. You see, don't be like a horse
or a mule which has no understanding. Understanding, I'll give you
understanding. He said, I'm going to give you
understanding, I'll instruct you in understanding. That's
what separates a man from a beast, understanding. A beast is strong. A beast can do a lot of things. But the difference in a man and
a beast is understanding. So don't be like a beast, don't
be like a horse or a mule. God gives us understanding of
his way and of his word. And don't act void of understanding. Don't be like a horse or a mule
which has to have a bit or a bottle in his mouth to make him go somewhere,
do something. Don't make God have to put a
bottle on your head and a bit in your mouth. He says don't be like a horse
or a mule that has no understanding whose mouth must be held in with
a bit and a bottle lest they come near thee. The last line
on that is to make them obey you. Even a horse that you've
had for a long time, you've got to put a bit in the back. One
old writer said this, you know what I'd like to be, he said? I'd like to be like a feather that moves when the Holy Spirit
breathes on me. And I'd like a stubborn jackass
of you. I want to be so aware of his
word, of his presence, that I feel and sense his leadership