I’m blessed the Lord who gives me counsel. In the night also, my heart instructs me.
– Psalm 16:7
When a great verse especially when you were walking through some kind of decision in your life. Your family, or in the church, or at work. You’re asking for wisdom from God, I always go to Psalm 16:7. Actually a couple psalms and this is one of them.
The God of the universe, in His Word, calls Himself our counselor.
This Verse Blesses The Lord For His Counsel
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel. What a great picture of god. Yahweh the Lord, he gives me counsel. I think about times in our life where we think, you know what would be helpful, if I talked to a counselor. Can anybody recommend a counselor for me? Then we start looking for councilors, and then I step back and think, wait a minute. This is not to say human counselors aren’t helpful, they certainly are, but the Lord has called himself in his word, my counselor. The God of the universe, gives me counsel.
I mean this isn’t just going to a buddy of mine, or even some professional somewhere and saying, hey can I get some counsel. This is going before the god of the universe and saying please counsel me. And he says, I will. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel. In the night also, my heart instructs me, oh what a great picture. In the night, as I lay down, even as I sleep, the unconscious. My counselor is still teaching me, he’s instructing me, even in the middle of the night. So that when I wake up in the morning, it’s not even a waste of time. I mean certainly, there’s physical rest, but there’s also instruction that has happened in the night. What a great picture.
Psalm 16:7 Reminds Us That God Leads Us Through Counsel
Know this, as you make decisions, maybe whether you’re making a decision right now, or in the future. As you’re walking through the decision-making process, know this, the God of the universe has called himself your counselor.
So call out to him, ask him for counsel and let Him instruct you. In a way that you will bless him as your counselor and let him instruct you. Not even just when you’re awake, but at night when you’re asleep. Know that God wants his will to be accomplished in your life more than you do. He is a good councilor he will lead and guide, and direct. He doesn’t even just tell us what to do. He forms our thoughts, and our hearts, and our minds. Our desires, our decisions according to his will when we’re abiding in him. When we’re walking in step with his word, and his spirit. So I just encourage you, bless the Lord who gives you council. And know that even in the night, he is instructing your heart. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
