The Guiding Glance
J. Reid Howatt. Psalm 32:8-9 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go: I will guide you with my eye. This seems rather a strange kind of promise to make, as we read it first; but when we begin to think over it, it does not seem quite so strange, for I am sure you know very well how to be guided with the eye. When you are doing something you are not quite sure about, and you look up at father, you can tell in a minute, can you not, by the look in his eye, whether he thinks you are doing right or not? So, you see, there are a thousand ways in which one can guide another by a glance of the eye, for the eye can speak as well as the tongue; it can speak of joy or fear, of pleasure or pain; it can encourage and it can threaten; it can whisper love or flash anger. The eye is a wonderful guide. But can we see God's eye? No; not just as I can see yours and you mine: but the text means that God will guide us by little things and in gentle ways, if we are willing to be guided and won't be stubborn like the mule. Thus by little things, and gently, would He guide us. Shouldn't we try, then, to understand these glances of God's eye, and what they mean, better and better, every day? How can we do that? There is but one way — by praying often; for when we pray, we are very near to God, and you know, the nearer you get to a person, and the oftener you get close to him, the better you begin to understand him — you can tell better and better what he means by every look. It is the same with God. If you would understand Him when He wants to guide you with His eye, you must often draw very near to Him by prayer. (J. Reid Howatt.) Parallel Verses KJV: I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. WEB: I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you.