The Psalmist Asaph reminds us that God promises to guide His children through all of life. He prays in Psalm 73:24: “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.”
J.I. Packer has served as a leading theologian and spokesman for the evangelical church over several decades. One of his books that is already a spiritual classic is Knowing God. One chapter in this book is devoted exclusively to “Thou Our Guide.” He speaks on the vital subject of God’s assurance to provide guidance for all of our decisions in life. Here is one of my favorite quotes of his on this important subject:
“Guidance, like all God’s acts of blessing under the covenant of grace, is a sovereign act. Not merely does God will to guide us in the sense of showing us his way, that we may tread it; he wills also to guide us in the more fundamental sense of ensuring that, whatever happens, whatever mistakes we may make, we shall come safely home. Slippings and strayings there will be, no doubt, but the everlasting arms are beneath us; we shall be caught, rescued, restored. This is God’s promise; this is how good he is.”
Notice some of the biblical phrases and ideas that he uses. For example, “we shall come safely home.” This idea comes from biblical verses like Psalm 73:24… after guidance during all the days of our earthly journey, He will receive us into glory” and we shall see and share the glory that our beloved Savior Jesus shared with His father before the worlds were made (John 17:24)
When we stray and when we slip up, we are not doomed to live God’s Plan B for the rest of our lives. How comforting are Packer’s scripture-laced words: “but the everlasting arms are beneath us; we shall be caught, rescued, restored.” Deuteronomy 33:26-27a:“There is none like God, O Jeshurun (the upright One), who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
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