Day 4 – Psalm 32:8-10, Psalm 1

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.

Typically when the Bible says it will counsel and instruct us, it’s good to listen because useful wisdom is straight ahead. The instruction here couldn’t be clearer: don’t be like a mule that has to be forcibly steered in the right direction. Don’t stubbornly insist on your own wicked ways, because there is great woe in that direction. We’re not exactly going to strongarm God, are we?

The opposite of stubborn mule would be a willing person. True willingness means you see what is good and freely decide do it because you know it is good, without being forced. Jesus had just this kind of soft heart and freely gives it to us. Life’s just going to be hard if we stubbornly resist God’s wisdom in our lives (and it’s an act of resistance to not seek God’s wisdom through searching his word and asking for godly counsel). Today, consider how you could more willingly seek God’s good in your life.