He Will Direct Thy Paths

Introduction: Reviewing the Climate and Commands of Proverbs 3:5-6

0:02 Let us turn again to Proverbs chapter 3, and I shall read those very familiar verses which occur in this chapter, which contains a rather loosely connected series of admonitions and exhortations, buttressed and enforced by the most powerful motives, and the verses to which I refer are the third such admonition in this third chapter. Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6, trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not

0:38 upon thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths.

0:50 As we conclude our studies in these two verses, let me take just a moment to review for the sake of those who have not been with us. We've approached the passage, first of all, considering what I call the climate. It's a climate in which the biblical doctrine of God, the doctrine of man, and the doctrine of communion with God are very prominent, and it is doubtful that we shall understand the text in its richness unless we have some acquaintance with those three fundamental doctrines of the word of God. Solomon says to his son, or to his pupil, that he should trust in the Lord with all his heart, because he had a certain view of who God was.

1:32 That he was worthy of such absolute and implicit trust. When he says, don't lean upon your own understanding, he had a certain view of man which framed that exhortation. Man, in his understanding, even before sin entered, was never competent to fully discover the will of God, apart from direct revelation from God. And so it's that view of God, that view of man, that view of communion with God.

2:00 I say this is the climate of the text. And unless we breathe something of the air of that climate, we will not know the richness of the text. Then in the second place, we spend several weeks, I think precisely three, on the commands in the text. And there are three.

2:17 We are to trust in the Lord with the whole heart, lean not upon our own understanding, we are to acknowledge him in all our ways, and for the persistence of your memory, I gave you three R's. It's a command to reliance, trust. It is a command to repudiation, lean not, and a command to recognition, in all thy ways acknowledge. Now, for all who take the command seriously, and only a Christian is capable of doing so, but the fact that a man is a Christian does not mean he is automatically doing these things to the extent that he ought.

2:55 Only a Christian can perform these things, but not every Christian is performing them to the extent that the promise is one. And I would emphasize, as we move to the promise tonight, having looked at the climate of the text, the commands of the text, now we come to the third division, the promise of the text, that the promise comes after the commands. And once you wrench the promise loose from the directive of the commands, you are guilty of resting the scriptures. Occasionally, some of you have purchased commuter tickets, and I know on some of the books, of commuter tickets, in certain commuter systems, it will say, this ticket, not valid,

3:40 if detached from the book. That's so you don't start parceling them out to everybody, and you've got to present the whole book. Well, in the same way, this promise, not good, if detached from what precedes. If you detach the promise, and say, oh, isn't this wonderful, God's promised to lead me, God's promised to guide me, and I pray every morning, Lord, lead me, therefore, he says, he will direct my path.

4:02 No, no, no, no, wait a minute. The promise comes. The promise comes at the conclusion of the commands. If Solomon says, you trust with all your heart, lean not upon your own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, he will, he will, in the light of these things, he will direct thy path.

The Meaning of the Promise: 'He Will Direct Thy Paths' (Positive)

4:21 To think our way through this last part of the text, we shall consider, first of all, the meaning of the words, both positively and then negatively. What do the words mean? He will direct thy path. What do you say?

4:34 They're simple. All of them, except one of them, is a one-syllable word. Well, if you think it's that simple, let's trade places, because this, to me, is the great agony of preaching. What do the words mean?

4:46 Now, it's easy to slap a meaning on them, but what did Solomon mean when, guided by the Holy Ghost, he said, he will direct thy path? Then, having ascertained the meaning of the words, we'll consider, in the second place, how those words are fulfilled. Negatively? Positively?

5:04 And then, if time permits, we'll bring some concluding exhortations and observations. That's just a fancy way of saying, miscellany, stuck on at the end. All right? First of all, then, what do the words themselves mean?

5:19 He shall or will direct thy paths. Well, notice, in the first place, the author of this guidance is God himself. Trust in the Lord. He's the object of your trust.

5:33 Lean not upon your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him. He is the object of this religious acknowledgement. The same God who is the object of trust, the object of this true religious acknowledgement, it is that God himself who will personally direct the paths of his people.

5:57 And this, to me, is the glory of the whole text. Miss this, and you've missed the glory of it. Get this, and you can fall asleep and not miss much. I hope you don't.

6:07 But this is the heart of it. For here we come into this central biblical doctrine of the personal involvement of the living God with his people. How bland it would be if all Solomon said was this. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart.

6:24 Lean not upon thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and thy paths will be directed.

6:31 That's insipid. That's anemic. That's bloodless. But the glory...

6:37 The glory of it is he, over himself, will enter into such an intimate relationship with you, his child, that your paths, even your paths, will be directed by this personal God.

6:56 By way of application, let me say that the greatest joy and genuine thrill of true biblical guidance is the knowledge that that guidance occurs in the context of intimate communion with the living God. Just to think that the God who made heaven and earth spoke the worlds and the galaxies into being out of the womb of nothing by the sheer power of his created word. That God who sustains it all by the word of his power, that God is committed to guide this creature, just a little speck in that great, vast universe that he's made, and yet he commits himself to guide me personally.

7:41 As his child.

7:45 Picture a man setting out in an uncharted area that he's never traveled before. And before he leaves, someone who's gone over that area gives him a set of detailed maps showing him every single spot of ground where he's traveling to see, every single area that he's going to pass through, and he has a source of directive that is absolutely trustworthy, and he's going to make it. He's going to make his way from point A to point B by means of these maps and charts and navigational aids that are at his disposal. Now that's wonderful.

8:24 It's a lot better than simply striking out in an uncharted course and having no idea where you are and where you're going. To have something there that will guide you is good, but I know something far better. That the man who's been over that territory time after time until he knows it like the back of his hand, to say, Son, hop in my car and I'll take you there. Or, you hop in the car and I'll sit in the seat next to you, and I will personally direct you to every turn that you should take.

8:57 That's something better. Because you not only have all of the information needed to be guided from point A to point B, you have the joy of the companionship and fellowship of the guide all along the way. That's what this text says. The words mean nothing if they do not mean that the author of this guidance is God himself.

9:22 Dean Alford said, By my ship is wafted to the shore by breath divine, speaking of the course of his life, and on the helm there rests a hand other than mine. Thank God that the words mean that he himself is the author of guidance. Secondly, what is the expectation? What is the essence of the guidance?

9:46 If we look at the meaning of the words, he will direct thy paths. The essence of the guidance is such that we need to point out certain words. First of all, the certainty of it. Notice, direct thy paths.

10:02 And all the wills and the shalls of God should be fuel for faith and shouting and hallelujahs and red underlinings if you underline your Bible. Not he may. There perhaps shall be. Occasionally.

10:18 But he will. God has committed himself in the pledge of his own word. Now what does it mean that he shall direct thy paths? There is the certainty, but now what is the substance of that direction?

10:31 Some of you have the ASV, and you'll notice that the marginal reading is, he will make straight or make plain thy paths. Look at two other passages in which the same Hebrew word is used. Over in Psalm 5. The fifth psalm.

10:50 The psalmist prays, verse 8, Marginal reading in the ASV. Make thy way level. I think the King James renders it. Make thy way plain, isn't it?

11:09 Before my face. King James, is it plain? It's straight. All right.

11:14 But the word is translated in various ways. As plain. As plain. As straight.

11:20 As level. There's a beautiful example of its use in 1 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 12. Do you remember the incident? These people got into trouble.

11:28 They had the ark of God, and God began to curse them because of their impudence. And they want to get rid of the ark, but they don't dare touch it. They figure, well, let's stick it on a cart and hitch it up to a cow and see what happens. And so this cow had had her little baby.

11:43 If you've ever been in a barn when a poor little calf's been taken from its mama. Out of bellaring and a hollering. A little calf crying in the mama, mooing away. The most natural thing is for her to go in the direction of her calf.

11:55 So they said, well, if the cow goes in the exact opposite direction from the calf and heads back that-a-way, we'll know that God's in that ark and God's governing things. We better take our hands off. That's the sort of 20th century paraphrase of what they said. Now, 1 Samuel 6 and verse 12.

12:12 And the kind took the straight way. That's the same word. By the way to Beth Shemesh. They went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

12:25 You get the picture? The cows take the most direct route from where they were and in the direction of the camp of the Israelites. Now, that's the word that Solomon uses. To set forth this promise of guidance.

12:39 He says the essence of guidance is that God himself, the guide, will most certainly make straight, make level, make plain the paths of his people. Now, why did he not simply say he will make clear? As my work of exposition would have been a lot easier, because the word clear is a lot clearer. But he says straight.

13:03 And I believe the reason he did it is this. In the Bible, the concept of straight as opposed to crooked has a moral and ethical element. The straight path is the path that conforms to the law of God. The crooked path is the path that is the passage of the word of God.

13:20 The crooked path is the path that conforms to the law of God. path that is indifferent or deflects from the law of God. So what Solomon is saying in this matter of guidance is that God who guides us will always guide us to the right end by means of the right way, end and way, both being in conformity to his holy law. So that when anyone starts talking about guidance and wrenches himself loose from the absolute standard of the law of God and the precepts of God, he's talking about a guidance not recognized in the word of God. If in all our ways

14:04 we acknowledge him, meaning not upon our own understanding, trusting him with the whole heart, he will direct, he will make straight, he will make plain our paths, he will frame paths of holiness and righteousness. And in the language of Romans 12 in verse 2, he will lead us into that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And then the second element that perhaps is in the thinking of Solomon, I'm not sure, but I will say perhaps, is that he uses this word, he will make plain, he will make level, he will make straight, because the level

14:44 path is the path that is clearly seen. The crooked path sometimes you can only see for two feet. The direction it's in is just one foot away. And yet, you think he's telling you I must go to a place? He simply

14:51 is uncertain what he's saying is god will make the path before you that is clear the path before you that is certain now what is the extent of the guidance promise the author of it he the certainty of it will the essence of it direct make plain make level what's the extent by paths by paths now the paths of a person are the avenues by which he moves from one place to another hence the promise is that our steps shall be guided in the right way in all the affairs of

15:33 life you see the parallel between this and what preceded trusting in him with all the heart not leaning upon our own understanding in all our ways acknowledging him we shall have all our paths directed by him and that's the beauty of it matching the all ways of acknowledgement are the all paths of guidance now at this point i feel i must bear down with a word of application there is no promise to the person who would just have a certain knowledge that one path is made sure god doesn't promise that let me illustrate here's

16:13 the person who says now one path for sure i want god to make plain and straight for me i don't want to get hung up with some woman that's going to be my undoing i want to know the will of god for my life's part or a work girl might say that's for one thing for sure that i want to have god guide me concerning who i'm going to marry hey and you may sit here tonight desperately desirous that that path be made level made straight made plain by god my friend let me ask you something do you want that same dog to make straight and level and plain the path in which you're walking right now in that place where you were in relationship to your mom and dad in relationship to your brothers and sisters

16:56 in relationship to your involvement with the people of god in your relationship to the extension of christ's kingdom in terms of witness and godly living you see the promise does not envision a guidance that is selective in terms of the one guided selecting the areas where he wants guidance no no no promise to the person that he shall have any guidance in a any specific area unless it is the longing of his heart to have the guidance of god in all areas that's why the old puritan writers talk much about universal holiness and universal obedience are those names familiar to you those words some of you they are what did they mean

17:40 sinless perfection of course not what they meant is universal obedience a heart that says with david i esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right they've embraced the will of god for every area of life they start where they are in the circle of their present circumstances are you still at home under the discipline and rule of your parents then don't you start pleading oh god guide me about my life's partner until you're on your face with ephesians 6 saying oh god make me the son or daughter who walks in the light of this clear directive children obey your parents in the lord for this is right honor thy father and thy mother

18:24 don't you mock god by being callous and smart alecky mouthing off your mom and dad and then saying you want to know the will of god for some big deal thing like your life's partner your life's work god is not committed in all thy ways acknowledge him in that present circumstance in those present relationships and he shall direct thy paths there and on out into those great decisions that you must make in life universal obedience and then coupled with that and flowing out of it there must be the principle of commitment

19:01 to universal holiness he will make straight all thy paths do you want a path that is marked by holiness with regard to some big decision then begin to embrace the path marked out for the will of god in terms of holiness in those little areas in which he's now placed in summary i believe the meaning of the word should be clear to us now it is a gracious promise given to all who walk before the threefold command that their lives are being guided by their god that their paths are being made straight and level now positively that's the meaning of the words now

The Meaning of the Promise: 'He Will Direct Thy Paths' (Negative)

19:44 negatively notice what the words do not say or mean and i feel this is necessary because so often we read a meaning into the word of god and assume that's what it's saying and in my own experience in wrestling with these matters of guidance and in seeking to counteract the meaning of the word of seems to me here are some of the errors made people read the text this way in all thy ways acknowledge him and he will cause you to feel that he is guiding you how often we've said but i don't have any tokens that the lord is guiding me i don't feel that i'm being led i pray about something and i don't get the feeling like some kind of a sky hook drops out of heaven and grabs me by the nose and draws me i don't feel like i'm being guided

20:29 i stand back and i have to wrestle with issues and weigh facts. All I'm conscious of is trying to use my judgment and weigh the matters and pray and wrestle. And I just don't feel that I'm being guided. Something must be wrong with me. There's not a word in this text that says you're going

20:44 to feel his guidance. It simply says he will direct thy paths. It doesn't say he'll cause you to feel that they're being directed. The text does not say, and he will let you know how and by what means he is directing your paths. So often we get hung up here.

21:06 We say, Lord, I'm seeking to trust you. I'm seeking to lean not upon my own understanding in all my ways acknowledging you. Now, Lord, help me to know how you're guiding me. What means it? No, no. You see, that's leaning upon your own. He has his own way by which

21:20 to fulfill the promise. And it's one of the most interesting studies to go into the scriptures and see the various means by which God guides his people. He guides his people into what we would call little decisions, big decisions. It's amazing how diverse are the ways of God. He has not promised that you will know how and by what

21:41 means he is directing your paths as far as being able to point them out as signposts along the way. The text does not say, and he will show you the end of all your paths to which he is guiding you. Just that he will guide you. He'll make the path plain and straight before you.

22:01 I can say that we're going to see clear down to the end of it where it breaks off into nothing at the horizon. Well, having looked briefly at the meaning of the words, now we come to what I hope will be helpful. How is that promise fulfilled in the lives of God's people? First of all, we're going to start with the negative and then move to the positive.

22:22 This promise to guide his people is not fulfilled, one, by powerful inward impressions, dreams, or so-called voices. Now please listen carefully. Anyone who studies the Bible knows that God has used dreams, audible voices, and impressions to guide both the godly and the ungodly. God comes to a wicked King Nebuchadnezzar and gives him dreams. God has such control over

22:59 his universe and everything in it that if he wants to give some kind of a conceptual impression, he can do it. He can do it. He can do it. He can do it. He can do it. He can

23:05 do it. He can do it. He can do it. He can do it. He can do it. He can do it. He can do it.

23:05 In a vision, in a vision, in a voice, to any of his creatures, he's utterly free to do so. That's it, then. Though God may use such things in the lives of his people or those who are not his people in extraordinary cases, even if one of his children claims to have guidance by vision, voice, dream, he better be careful. Satan himself is translated into a messenger of light. He can cause mental apparitions.

23:43 subjective impressions no this passage is not fulfilled in those ways because the conditions of the text are moral spiritual and rational word with all thy heart that's condition one not upon mine own understanding condition two in all thy ways acknowledge him those are moral spiritual rational conditions and then he says he will direct thy paths and as the conditions are moral spiritual and rational so the guidance is moral spiritual and rational it's all in the

24:25 same framework and I warn you about guidance by impression saying well since I prayed over this and I feel impressed this way it must be of God you know the old story don't you oh God must be in this relation God wants me to marry this girl because I prayed about it and I feel wrong to her that impression isn't the Holy Ghost it's your hormones

24:56 it's your genes has nothing to do with how many times has God been insulted by this business of saying well I prayed about it therefore my impression must be of God prayer doesn't neutralize your hormones no it doesn't prayer doesn't neutralize your hormones prayer doesn't neutralize your baser animal appetites prayer doesn't neutralize natural lights and dislikes show me any verse in the Bible

25:37 that says it does no it doesn't so when the text of the Bible says it does it says that he shall direct thy paths or he will direct thy paths that promise is not fulfilled by sudden impression seizing upon the spirit seizing upon the inner life no no it's not fulfilled that the second place negatively it is not fulfilled by using the Bible as a non-licensed glorified lottery when the state of New Jersey wanted to start raising revenues by lottery which is a terrible sin and a confession of fiscal irresponsibility and a confession of self-righteousness I'm not here tonight a preach against lotteries but I

26:17 feel I ought to get that little whack in as a side at least it had to be duly licensed and recognized and I've seen Christians and I confess with shame I've used my Bible that way haven't for a long time but back before I knew better I thought that was the spiritual way to use it and so you come to the Bible like it was some kind of a glorified sanctified ouija board and so you say now Lord I've got to make this decision you promised to guide me and so somewhere, when I open a page, something that's there is going to speak to me. Then you actually start reading at the top of the bays, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, a people cometh from the north. Ah, that's it. That's it. I've been praying

26:58 whether I should, cometh from the north.

27:04 That's it.

27:07 Well, do you know, and I open my Bible at random. I've actually known people who do this. The Bible is treated like a Ouija board. The Bible is treated like some kind of a lottery.

27:18 You dip into it, and there the guidance will come. You say, well, isn't God sovereign? Can't He guide? Doesn't the Bible say, the casting of the lot into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord? Doesn't He guide me where

27:30 my finger splits the Bible, like I'd split a deck of cards? My friend, listen. That's wrong for two reasons. The Bible was never given to be used that way in the first place. It was given

27:42 not to be some kind of a superstitious lottery type thing to give us guidance. It's a contradiction of the very purpose of the Bible, and secondly, it's tempting God.

27:55 So when He says He'll direct our paths, and I think particularly so many of you have young Christians, and only the earnest child of God gets in much trouble here, so desperate to know the will of God, and it gets so wearying at times, using His moral, His ethical, and His spiritual and rational faculties. He longs for some kind of guidance that will transcend all of that and give Him a quick answer to a very, very thorny matter. Well, when the Scripture says He shall direct thy paths, or He will direct thy paths, it's not promising this. In the third place, it's not giving us an infallible, promising that we shall be given an infallible ability to interpret the entrails of providence.

28:35 Now, some of you will know what I mean by that analogy. In certain circles, fortune tellers and soothsayers will try to predict the future by taking the entrails, the intestines of some kind of an animal, and because of the way they lie, they try to interpret what the future will be for someone. And you know, so many a child of God feel that somehow when God promises to direct their paths, He's going to give me some occult ability to interpret the entrails of providence. And so they look out and they see circumstance A, and circumstance B, and circumstance C lying between them, and circumstance D coming up through them, and circumstance E

29:18 sort of resting above them, and they try to back off and interpret all of the factors of providence and thereby believe that God will guide them in the right decision. My friend, that's losing business. Because only the God who orders providence can fully interpret them. There was once upon a time a prophet named Jonah, and he had every providential indication that the will of God was for him to go to Tarshish.

29:51 Now, of course, the big problem was the word of God had said go to Nineveh. But man, just one word from God when you've got all these signs of providence. Look, he goes down and there's a ship right there in port, getting ready to leave. Not only that, when he talks to the shipmaster, they've actually got a place for him. When he reaches in

30:08 his wallet and says, how much? He says, I've got enough shekels for passage. Not only that, the winds were favorable to set sail. Not only that, they were Gentiles, and they weren't so prejudiced against this Jew that they were willing to take him on board.

30:23 I mean, one little word from God, go to Nineveh. I mean, that's pretty unglamorous. But look at all these entrails of providence. The ship is in port, got a place on board for me, I've got the right money in my pocket, the winds are favorable, Jonah could prove from providence that he ought to disobey God.

How the Promise is Fulfilled: Spirit's Illumination and Obedience

30:44 And again, I've seen people, and I've been guilty of it myself, trying to believe that God is guiding me by giving me some ability to interpret providence and make it the rule of discovering the will of God. No, this promise is not fulfilled in those three ways that I've delineated. Well then, positively, how is it fulfilled? How does God make level our paths if we are trusting Him? If we are not leaning upon

31:12 our own understanding? If in all our ways we're acknowledging Him? Well, I can't be exhausted tonight. We'd have to go through the entire scriptures and see all the ways God fulfilled the promise.

31:22 But let me suggest that most of the ways can be reduced under three headings. Most of them. And these are those three headings. Number one, He will give us that measure of the Spirit's grace of illumination, to make our scriptural duty plain.

31:42 Let me give it to you again. Does He make plain our paths? He makes plain our paths by giving us that measure of the Spirit's grace of illumination to make our scriptural duty clear. Psalm 119 and 105. Thy

32:02 word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my what? Path. But the problem so often is that we cannot seem to discern what principles, what precepts of the Lord apply in a given case, or it's not a matter of knowing which ones apply, but we see a half a dozen that apply and we don't know which one takes precedence over the other. And we're confused.

32:29 Ah, dear child of God, here's the ministry of the Spirit. You cry to Him for light. Oh, Holy Spirit who gave this book for my direction, grant me the wisdom, to subject my mind to its precepts. Make your word a lamp to my feet, a light to my pathway. Oh God,

32:49 as I trust you, you've not given your word to confuse me. You've given your word to guide me. I take the stance of faith and I look to God and trust Him to give me every bit of light necessary, not to satisfy all my curiosity about all the portions of all the sections of the word of God that are obscure to me. But I say, Lord, give me sufficient light upon those passages which are necessary for my present circumstance. And what a wonderful

33:20 thing it is to have God the Holy Spirit fulfill that ministry day by day. For you see, if we're in that posture of trusting Him and seeing the folly of human wisdom and acknowledging Him particularly in the word, He directs by opening up that word, causing us to know that there is a path that is right. If you want the luxury of knowing that you're being guided in your choices and decisions day by day, then you must cultivate the discipline of feeding upon the word of God. David could say in Psalm 119 in verse 24, Thy testimonies are my delight and the men of my counsel. What a beautiful

34:05 picture. He says, when I have decisions to make, I go to my council of counselors. And he says it is the testimonies of God. Ranked all about me, giving me the necessary guidance and direction for the course that I ought to take.

34:22 Now, here's the problem, particularly I think, with those who have a tendency to be what I would call hyper-spiritual. That is, who do not recognize how God uses the human element. Many times, that measure of the Spirit's grace of illumination, making our duty clear, comes not immediately from God, but it comes mediately through God-equipped wisdom of men who've been taught of God. Can I prove that from the Scriptures? I think I can.

35:00 Turn to the book of Proverbs itself, and look at three texts, Proverbs 11 and verse 14, where no wise guidance is, the people falleth, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. The same Solomon who said, do not lean upon your own understanding, make God himself the exclusive trust of your heart, make God the one whom you acknowledge in all your ways, he was not meaning by those words that the human instruments are negated. No, no. That same Solomon says, in the multitude of counselors, there is

35:43 safety. Proverbs 15 and verse 22. Where there is no counsel, purposes are disappointed, but in the multitude of counselors, they are established. And Proverbs 24 and verse 6.

36:03 For by wise guidance thou shalt make thy war, and in the multitude of counselors there is safety. There it is. How does God direct to our paths? Essentially, by giving the Spirit's grace of illumination as to the path of scriptural duty, and often He will do it directly in our own dealings with Him in the Word, but often He does it indirectly or immediately through wise human counsel. Now, follow

36:37 closely. If you begin to make human counsel your resting place, you violated two of the first three principles, or all three of them, really. You're not trusting in the Lord with all your heart, you're trusting in your counselors. That's idolatry.

36:55 You're not leaning upon your own understanding, you're leaning upon some fellow creature's understanding. And God says, cease for man whose breath is in his mouth to curse, be he that trusted in man, whether himself or someone else. And you're not acknowledging Him in all your ways, you're acknowledging His gifts to the church, His counselors. So don't you ever seek human counsel first.

37:13 Don't seek human counsel till you've known the blessing and experienced the privilege of wrestling with the thing alone with God, saying, Lord, am I truly trusting you with my whole heart? Wrestle through in prayer. Then, when you're settled in your own spirit that you're not looking to the human instrument, then it may be the will of God for you to seek counsel, but never go first. I think I'm going to start a little policy in my own counsel. Someone calls and says,

37:46 come and counsel me with something, I'm going to ask a question. The question is, have you spent an honest hour alone with God on your face with an open Bible, seeking God's counsel about this?

37:57 If you have, and you've drawn a blank, then let's make an appointment.

38:03 Might not be a bad idea, huh?

38:06 Now you see, I'm not trying to work myself out of work, but I don't want you to be robbed of the blessing of knowing what it is to have first-hand dealings with God. And I don't want a subtle form of idolatry to begin to take root in the heart in which your confidence is not in the Lord, but in the counselor. You see? That's how God guides us.

38:33 Secondly,

38:35 He will fulfill this promise, not only by giving that measure of the Spirit's wisdom necessary to illuminate our scriptural duty, but He will dispose our hearts and wills to obey what is right and in keeping with His word. How does He direct our path? Not only by showing us what the path is to the Word, but by moving our hearts to embrace that path. As we trust, lean not and acknowledge Him. He imparts the graces

39:09 of desire and the will to do. Philippians 2 and verse 12 and 13. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who worketh in you both what? To will and to do of His good pleasure.

39:28 Guidance is seeking to discern what is His good pleasure. But having discerned it, I need something else. I need both the will and the power to do His good pleasure. And He imparts that. He not only reveals what

39:42 is His pleasure, He imparts the grace to will to embrace it and the enablement to perform. You trace this out in the 119th Psalm. See how David not only prays for light upon the path of duty from the Scriptures, but then he says, O Lord, turn my heart away from covetousness. Turn my heart into the way of Thy precepts. He cries for

How the Promise is Fulfilled: Kind and All-Embracing Providence

40:06 that ability to do. That's how God makes level, makes straight, makes plain our paths. And then thirdly, He fulfills the promise by hedging up our path by a kind, wise, and all-embracing providence.

40:24 Turn to Romans 1 for what I think is a classic example of this. Paul was a man who knew something of Proverbs 3, 5, and 6a. Trusting in the Lord with all his heart, leaning not upon his own understanding, in all his ways acknowledging Him, how did God direct his paths? Well, notice his understanding of it with reference to what we would call guidance as to when and where I should go to a certain place.

40:53 Verse 9 of Romans 1. For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son. How unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if by any means now at length I may be prospered by the will of God to come unto you. He knows the only way he'll ever get to Rome is if it's God's will.

41:15 Well, you say, that's fatalism. No, it isn't. Because he's praying that he might get there. Fatalist doesn't pray. He says, what will be, will

41:24 be. Christian says, what God has ordained will come to pass, and I'm privileged to have a part in it by my prayer. That's Christian. The other's pagan.

41:39 Alright? So he says, I'm praying, but I know that my prayer don't shape the will of God. They get me in line with the will of God.

41:49 Now, look at the next verse. For I long to see you, that I may impart some spiritual gift to thee, and you may be established. That is, that I with you may be comforted in you, both of us, by each other's faith, yours in mine. And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oft times I purposed to come unto you, and was hindered hitherto. What happened?

42:12 Oh, there were some mornings when Paul got up, after having his time alone, with God. He said, man, I really would love to go to Rome. He called up his local travel agent, says, you got anything? Yeah, and bought his tickets, all ready to go, told his friends, and what happened? The day before

42:28 he was to go, some providential factor hindered him. Did he say, oh, well, that's a sign from God that I'm evil, and no, he didn't seem to get uptight about it. He says, oft times I've purposed to come. So he'd call up his friend, he says, Mac, tell me when the next ship is coming, and we'll try to book on that one. He kept on praying, Lord, by

42:47 your will, take me to Rome. By your will, take me to Rome. Purposed, perhaps even made plans, but was hindered. What is he telling us? He's saying,

42:55 I was hedged up and guided by a wise, kind, and all-embracing providence. Now notice, there's no indication that he was so guided that he never missed in his attempts to go to Rome. And I meet many Christians who get all uptight about this. They say, well, if I make a plan, and then it comes to naught, that shows I was out of the will of God when I made it. No, not

43:20 necessarily. God has nowhere promised that you're going to bat a thousand in discerning what is willing. What he has promised is that you'll bat a thousand in being in his will.

43:33 You see the difference? Paul thought it was the will of God that he should go to Rome, apparently many times, before he ever got there. And he's not embarrassed to tell the people that. They sound unspiritual.

43:45 But he says it anyway. And it's a comfort to us. Because we say, well, if I'm in Paul's company, I'm in pretty good company. In realizing that though I may not be able to interpret infallibly the finger of providence and discern the will of God by the finger pointing, I can know that I am encompassed and surrounded as I walk by an all-embracing prophet. You see, that's a

44:11 different perspective. And it brings great consolation to the child of God. Now, in this matter of having our paths directed in the three ways that I've suggested, spirit, helping us to know our duty from the word, God giving us both the will and the ability to perform what we know is our duty, and then hedging us up by a wise, kind, and all-embracing promise of providence. In these things, we are not promised two things. Immunity

What the Promise Does Not Guarantee

44:44 from the trials common to mankind, and secondly, infallibility in our decisions and directions. Many a child of God feels, oh, I must have sinned in matters of guidance because they find themselves afflicted with trials common to mankind. Do sinners once in a while get a lemon for a car? Yes, so do saints.

45:13 When little flu germs come into an area, do sinners get afflicted? Yes. And do saints? Yes. I don't know where

45:23 this idea comes. It's somehow if I'm the Lord's, I'm immune from the things that are common to men simply as men.

45:30 When you get saved, did you have to stop eating? Did you have to stop shaving? Well, some of you gave it up anyway, but you didn't have to. No, you still have to. Sinners shave

45:43 or let their beards grow and trim them. Saints shave or don't shave and let their beards grow and trim them. You see, there are these things that are common to our lot simply as creatures living on the face of an earth, or living on the face of this earth, that is under the curse of sin. Now, the difference is that in the midst of those things, a kind providence is ordering all of them for our good. I may not

46:07 know what the good is. I may not be able to interpret the good, but I can rejoice and say hallelujah anyway. It's good,

46:19 my Lord, and have it interpret me and show me. You see, when I allowed that little flu germ to get you and sit you in your back for half an hour, half a week. All right, listen. Look at all the things I've prevented in your life.

46:29 Lord, that's amazing. And when I did this, remember that lemon of a car you got? Look, look at all the things that I did. And then we'll have God take all the strands and lay them out before us. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

46:40 Isn't it? But he doesn't say you're going to have that now. Now you're called to walk out by faith, believing that he is directing my path even when I enter those common afflictions and trials that are the laws of my fellow creatures, saved and unsaved. So there's nothing in this text or as far as I can see in all the word of God that promises immunity from the trials common to mankind, or secondly, infallibility in all of our decisions and directions.

47:12 Let me quote from Charles Bridges, who says a beautiful thing here. When God promises to direct our paths, we may be led, he says, in a way that we know not. Isaiah 42.16 Those Roman numerals get me hung up at times.

47:30 Perhaps a way of disappointment or even of mistake. And here's the classic statement. Yet no step well prayed over will bring ultimate regret. Though the promise will not render us infallible, our very error will be overruled for deeper humiliation and self-knowledge.

47:53 And thus, even this mysterious direction of God will in the end be gratefully acknowledged. He led me forth in the right way. Psalm 107 in verse 7. And I'm sure many a Christian here tonight can testify to that. You did some

48:12 stupid thing. And you did it in good faith that you thought it was the will of God. But time has proven you just did a stupid thing. Who knows how many greater sins have been prevented because God humbled you.

48:26 Because it was so stupid that everybody could see it was stupid and you couldn't go around anymore strutting like you were smart and you knew it all. And so it may have meant the loss of a few hundred dollars. Or it may have meant the loss of some treasured earthly possession. But what is that? In the light of the

48:44 terrible, tragic, eternal losses that may have come if you still had been able to walk around in your cocky, abamic pride. You see, and God was after your pride. You were after preserving something here or making a good deal there. And God says, uh-huh, I'll fix it. I've got something else in mind.

Conclusion: The Christian's Delight and the Secret of Just Judgment

49:03 See? And the Lord does that in such wonderful ways. And I personally think it will be one of the great delights when we're in His presence to have Him open all of that up to us. Now let me conclude with several of those miscellaneous things that I mentioned. Having looked at the meaning of the

49:18 words, having, I trust, answered at least in brief how they are fulfilled. Let me conclude with several questions and observations. First of all, do you see why this text can only be experienced by the child of God? A man who's never been born of the Holy Spirit, given a new heart to use the biblical language. He can

49:44 never trust in the Lord with all his heart. He trusts in himself. He can never lean not upon his own and understanding. That's all he has.

49:53 He can never acknowledge God in all his ways because his heart is set against God. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law.

50:03 People say, I only see the gospel in the Old Testament. Well, boy, it's as plain as the nose on anyone's face here.

50:09 How in the world can a man comply with this text unless he's been brought to the experience of a new heart? Until he's been given a heart that sees in God as revealed in Christ, one worthy to be trusted. Until he's been humbled by the Spirit and sees that his own native understanding is gross darkness. Until he's been brought to see his helplessness, that he has nothing and is nothing and can do nothing and stands in need of all that grace will provide.

50:41 How can he ever in all his ways acknowledge God? He cannot. He will not. But blessed be God. Solomon is

50:49 describing duties that are the greatest delight for the Christian. Perhaps this is one of the best ways to ask yourself and evaluate yourself whether or not you're a Christian. What are your happiest moments? If you're a Christian, your happiest moments are those times when you're conscious that your trust is most childlike.

51:09 When your weanedness from carnal wisdom is most deep. And when your acknowledgement of God in all your ways is most sensitive and most extensive. Those are your happiest moments. Are those your happiest moments?

51:29 If so, then you have good reason to believe you're a Christian. And your saddest moments are when you're conscious you're not trusting in the whole heart. Your saddest moments are when you're conscious that you've been leaning on human understanding. Your saddest moments are those when you look back and say, hey, I've gone through a whole half a day and I've had no conscious thoughts of the Lord and your pain and your grief.

51:52 That's a Christian. If you don't know what that is, then you don't have a clue what it is to be a Christian. I don't care if you walk down an aisle long enough to get in shape to run the marathon. I don't care if you've raised your hand until you've got well-developed shoulder muscles.

52:10 My friend, you're not a Christian if you've not been brought into a life of conscious trust in the living God and in a life of acknowledging Him. So this text can only be obeyed by the child of God, but thank God it is a text that the true Christian delights to obey. And then, my last observation would be if as a child of God you would know that your ways are being directed by Him, here is a call to a total life of faith and sensitivity to the revealed will of God. I read in my preparation something that

52:53 I thought was one of the most perceptive pieces of commentary that I've ever read. In all the commentaries I've read on various things. And some of you, this may go clean over your head. If so, you can come up and read it later. I'll leave the book

53:10 down here on the communion table. But I trust it won't. Listen to what this servant of God is saying and commenting on this text. How God directs it.

53:22 I read now, let's see, picking up the thread of thought. When you look for God's guidance on a difficult matter what is it that you expect? Do you expect to hear, as it were, a voice in your soul's ear saying clearly as if someone called in at your window, yes, do this. No, don't do that.

53:41 Do you expect to see a vision in the night with cases like St. Paul before us? How can we deny that God has taken in special instances that way to reveal his will? But where would missions have been if the missionaries had all waited till they saw the beckoning of some man of Macedonia in the dead of the night?

54:02 No, no. The cause of missions has been advanced by people who've been guided by the revealed word of God, you see. The commentary in the text is, whoso shall do the will of God shall know the doctrine, or as Jesus said, my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. We must not only acknowledge God in our ways, but by our ways. We must not

54:27 only pursue our own ways in interest and add to that an occasional further acknowledgement of God, but our ways and business themselves must be the acknowledgement of God, the doing of his will. Life itself in its totality must be obedience and service to God. And in a life so lived, now here's to me the most penetrating statement in the section, and in a life so lived, there grows up a habit of mind which increases in the power of discerning God's will and receiving his direction. As we pursue this obedience, there grows up in us a mind conformed to Christ, a fellowship of

55:11 the Spirit, a faculty of judgment which has the life secret of the Almighty. Our actual powers are at work. Our rational judgment is alive. We bring our reasoning faculties to bear on things, and yet within all of this there is a moral sympathy, a moral affinity with the Spirit of God which guides our judgment almost insensibly. Our affections

55:35 and devotion guide, shape, and color our views. And this, I'd never thought of before. Christ had no visions.

55:44 It was his judgment that acted always in his perception of the will of God. And there is no record that Christ had a vision.

55:54 And yet he said, it is my meat and drink to do the will of him that I do always the things that please my Father. How did he know them? The author is contending he knew them by a judgment so sensitive to the revealed will of God and by a pattern of obedience in every area that in any given specific crisis the will of God was known and delightfully complied with because of the whole pattern of the life. It was a judgment leavened by all his love of the Father, by all the obedience of the past. He

56:29 steered by the compass of the Spirit. He never followed wandering fires. He did not act from suggestions or in a trance. His human judgment was quickened by the divine Spirit. It was not

56:41 held in abeyance. He discerned God's will, not by his, the exercise of his native powers, I'm sorry, not by his human weakness, but by his human strength. God directed his path through the exercise of his native powers, raised to superhuman insight by the intense purity and perfectness of his obedience at every stage. Then he goes on to say, and this will be my concluding remark, obedience is the secret of just judgment in the will of God. Obedience

57:17 is the secret of just judgment in the will of God. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy path. Oh, I say to you, dear young people, particularly now, because the whole matter of guidance usually pivots on those crucial questions. Whom shall I marry? What shall

57:41 be my life's work? Where shall I settle? What will be my occupation? Those great issues. And

57:47 you're going to have no confidence that you are prepared to face those decisions and discern the will of God, as there begins to be this backlog of discerning his will in the lesser things. And you build up what the author says, that affinity of sensitivity to the mind of God, revealed in the word of God. And it's in that path that you're prepared to face the crisis decision, and know that God is directing your path. It's when you say no to carnal desire and human wisdom in the little things.

58:24 When mom and dad say we want you in at 11, and you say why not 11.30?

58:38 And you say no to your own desires, no to your own appetites, no to your own judgment. You bow to the judgment of God. You're building up the backlog of the yeses in the little things that when you meet a crisis in which everything in your flesh is crying yes, everything in the revealed will of God is crying no. But you're going to be strengthened to say that no in the big crisis, because you've said many no's in the literature. See it?

59:13 Oh, may God help us, as his people, young and old alike, to take to heart, to pray in, and then to know the blessedness of working out this great text of scripture. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart. Lean not upon thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him.

59:38 And he will, he will, he will direct thy paths. Blessed promise. May God give us the joy of knowing its fulfillment in our lives. Let us pray.