Posts Tagged: Psalm 32:9
“On the Leash, Off the Leash, and Free in Both Cases!”
I learn a lot about God and myself from my dog. I’m not saying that my dog is well-trained, but I am saying that she is training me well.
Sometimes, I have to keep her on short leash. She doesn’t weigh very much, but she is really fast and more than a little willful—especially around cats, squirrels, and birds. If I give her too much freedom, even on the leash, her quick and sudden sprints could pull my arm clean out of joint. More importantly, she could break her own neck or run out in front of a car.
Sometimes, perhaps usually, I also need to be on a leash. Today, my 12-step affirmation was as follows:
“God is with me today, whether I like it or not. I am asking God today to keep me on a short leash whenever that is needed, and to allow me to run free whenever God knows that I can do that safely. I will return consciously to God, the source of my protection and freedom, often during the day.”
Well, I’m writing this post late in the day, and I really have no idea how I’ve done. I can think of several times that I needed a leash. I didn’t break my neck—nor anyone else’s, thank God! I didn’t run out in front of any cars, either. But I could think of several times when I wanted more freedom. But I wasn’t ready for freedom. I needed to be kept on a leash.
An ancient Israelite was warned by God, “Don’t be like a horse or a mule that have to be controlled by a bit and a bridle.” (Psalm 32:9, my translation.) Perhaps “Don’t be like a dog that needs to be controlled by a leash” would work too. In any case, I need to enroll myself in obedience school. Dogs aren’t the only ones who need some training. Other species could benefit from something like that as well.
DTEB, “The Rider or the Horse?”
“Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.”
(Psalm 32:9 The Holy Bible, English Standard Version,
I’ve never been much of a horseman—except in my mind. In my early horse-riding days, the horse would decide to go one direction, and I would go the other. It was a mutual decision to part company, I suspect.
However, in my affirmation this morning, I used an equestrian metaphor. Here is my affirmation:
“Today, by God’s grace, I am allowing God to have free rein in my life. God knows what I need to do and be far better than I know.”
Before I sent this affirmation to my sponsors, I decided to make sure that I was using the term correctly. Is it free “rein” or free “reign”, for one thing”
It is often spelled free “reign”, but this is incorrect. It is not a regal expression. It is indeed an equestrian expression.
So far, so good. I haven’t fallen off the semantic horse yet!
But one of my sponsors sent me a reply that caused me to dig a bit deeper. He wrote, “A horse is a very graceful and trustworthy animal. A horse will follow its path home.”
My reply to his email was, “A good horse will. I am slowly becoming a good horse.”
However, the more I’ve thought about it, the more inappropriate my affirmation has become. The horse does not “give free rein” to the rider. No! The rider may (or may not) “give free rein” to the horse. So, in the strictest sense of the expression, “to allow God to have free rein in my life” makes me the rider and God the horse. I’m not so sure that is a good analogy for my relationship with God.
Psalm 32:9 states that God does not want us to be a like a horse that requires a bit and a bridle. Apparently, God wants to be able to direct us without such tack.
Now the very fact that the psalmist—and God—speak to us in this manner suggests that we do often need a bit and bridle. Any time that my wife says to me, “Don’t be like that!” it is because I am, in fact, being “like that.”
But God does not want it to be so. God wants us to be so well trained that God can give us free rein.
Oh God, please love me into the kind of human horse you want me to be!
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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