My God and My Country

A Study of Psalm Thirty Two

Verse Nine

9 Be ye not like an horse, or like a mule which understand not: whose mouths thou dost bind with bit and bridle, lest they come near thee.

Brethren:

Be you, not likened to a brute beast. This is to say, that men, domesticate animals for their use in certain aspects of their lives. Yet such animals have no will of their own and are guided by the hands of men. God has given us free-will to live our lives. However, it comes with a condition. That condition being that we allow Him to work with us in our lives, and guide us through His wisdom, and not following without thought or reason.

“The design of this exhortation is to direct men how to behave under the instructions given; not as brutes, which have no rational faculties, but as men; that they should not show themselves thoughtless, stupid, and unteachable, as these animals, or worse than they; nor stubborn and obstinate, refractory and untractable, resolving not to be taught, stopping the ear, and pulling away the shoulder; nor ill natured and mischievous; not only hating instruction, casting away the law of the Lord, but kicking and spurning at, and persecuting such who undertake to instruct them; as these creatures sometimes attempt to throw their riders, and, when down, kick at them” - John Gill

“God now speaks, encouraging believers to listen to his teaching and walk in his ways willingly. If they stubbornly refuse, God may act against them with corrective discipline to force them back to the right path.” - Bridgeway Bible Commentary

“The purpose of introducing these animals seems to be that of admonishing men to seek the Lord without waiting to be forced to do so, as animals are forced to come near men. "One's refusal to be guided by the Lord's kind instruction puts him in the class with brute beasts.” - J.B. Coffman