Often the pathway of life is obscure in the distance to our vision. In Joshua 3:3-4 the Israelites have come to such a place having reached the border of Canaan, the land God had promised to give to Abraham and his descendants. The final hurdle was to get across the Jordan River, now in flood stage, and in addition they knew little about the land or its inhabitants with whom they would have to engage, except what the 12 spies had reported years before in Numbers 13:17-33. Now as they face these hurdles they are told to follow “the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God” (i.e. His presence) “because you have not passed this way before.” Their “father” Abraham had learned this lesson before them as Hebrews 11:8 records, where in response to God’s call “he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Scholars are divided as to whether Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye”, is David speaking as a man that has learned and is now able to teach others or if it is God speaking directly to him (and us). I choose to look at the latter, and some translations bear this out; in God’s Word “The Lord says, I will…”; The Contemporary English version “You said to me, I will…”; and the Amplified Bible “I the Lord will…” Facing a New Year and every new day, we need to learn to follow His presence, His leading, His voice if we would attain His peace and His victory. (cf. John 14:6; 10:4, 27)
Trusting God
Selected by Rose Hill, author unknown
I do not know, I cannot see,
What God’s hand has prepared for me.
Nor can my glance pierce through the haze,
Which covers all my future ways.
But yet I know that o’er it all,
Rules He who notes the sparrow’s fall.
I trust Him as my God and Guide,
And know this year He will provide.
Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. Used by permission.