Part 4 – Hear and Obey

The Text

Psalm 32:8-11 (NKJV)
⁸  I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
⁹  Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.
¹⁰  Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him.
¹¹  Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Review

1)      Repent - Acknowledge sin and receive God’s forgiveness for sin.

2)      Believe – Accept God’s forgiveness and believe that your sins are forgiven. 

3)      Live Godly and Pray – Live a godly life and be faithful in prayer. 

Today’s Lesson

4)      Cheerfully Obey 

a.       When God gives clear directions, cheerfully obey and you will continue to receive divine direction.

Matthew 13:12 (NLT2) ¹²  To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.

Hebrews 3:15 (NKJV)
¹⁵  while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."

Matthew 13:15 (HCSB)
¹⁵  For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn back— and I would cure them.

Isaiah 50:4-5 (ESV)
⁴  The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
⁵  The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.

Isaiah 50:6-8 (ESV)
⁶  I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
⁷  But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
⁸  He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.

b.       When God gives clear directions, cheerfully obey and you will receive the increase He intended to bless you with.

Isaiah 48:17-19 (HCSB)
¹⁷  This is what the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you for ⌊your⌋ benefit, who leads you in the way you should go.
¹⁸  If only you had paid attention to My commands. Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹  Your descendants would have been as ⌊countless⌋ as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains;  their name would not be cut off or eliminated from My presence.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (ESV)
¹  “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
²  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Job 36:10-12 (ESV)
¹⁰  He opens their ears to instruction and commands that they return from iniquity.
¹¹  If they listen and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness.
¹²  But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.

Psalm 32:8 (KJV) ⁸  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

q  God will instruct us in the way we should go.

Joshua 1:7 (KJV) ⁷  Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

1 Kings 2:3 (KJV) ³  And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

N  Therefore, to say that God will instruct means that God will give the understanding of things so that we might act wisely with prudence and thereby prosper and succeed in our life and in His purpose.

q  God will teach us in the way we should go.

Psalm 32:8 (KJV) ⁸  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalm 37:23 (KJV) ²³  The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

Psalm 37:23-24 (NLT2)
²³  The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
²⁴  Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.

Proverbs 16:9 (NASB) ⁹  The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

Colossians 1:9-10 (ESV)
⁹  And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰  so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 16:3 (AMP) ³  Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

q  God will guide us with His eye.

Psalm 32:8 (KJV) ⁸  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalm 16:7 (NASB) ⁷  I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

Isaiah 9:6 (NASB) ⁶  For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 14:24 (NASB) ²⁴  The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, "Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand,

Jeremiah 49:20 (NASB) ²⁰  Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has planned against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them.

Psalm 32:8 (KJV) ⁸  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT2) ¹¹  Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

Isaiah 46:9-10 (KJV)
⁹  Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
¹⁰  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Romans 11:33-36 (NASB)
³³  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
³⁴  For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?
³⁵  Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?
³⁶  For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Colossians 2:3 (NIV) ³  in whom [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Psalm 40:5 (NIV) ⁵  Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) ¹¹  For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Psalm 32:8-9 (NLT2)
⁸  The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.
⁹  Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

Psalm 32:10 (NLT2) ¹⁰  Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD.

Proverbs 13:13-14 (NLT2)
¹³  People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed.
¹⁴  The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.

Proverbs 13:15 (KJV) ¹⁵  Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
²⁸  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
²⁹  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
³⁰  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Psalm 32:11 (ESV) ¹¹  Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Philippians 2:13-14 (NIV)
¹³  for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
¹⁴  Do everything without complaining or arguing,

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 (NLT2)
⁴⁷  If you do not serve the LORD your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received,
⁴⁸  you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The LORD will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.

N  Divine directions will result in increase. If you don’t obey, it will not.

Isaiah 1:19-20 (NIV)
¹⁹  If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
²⁰  but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Summary – How to get in Position for Divine Direction

1)     Repent - Acknowledge sin and receive God’s forgiveness for sin. 

2)    Believe – Accept God’s forgiveness and believe that your sins are forgiven. 

3)    Live Godly and Pray – Live a godly life and be faithful in prayer.  

4)    Cheerfully Obey – When God gives clear directions, cheerfully obey and you will continue to receive divine direction.