I will instruct thee
Or "cause thee to understand" F17. These are by many thought
to be the words of the Lord, who gives to a man an understanding
of spiritual things; he instructs by his providence, and even by
afflictive dispensations of providence; and by his word, which is
written for the learning of men, and is profitable for doctrine
and instruction in righteousness, and by the ministers of it, who
are therefore called instructors in Christ; and by his Spirit,
when he instructs effectually and to purpose; by him he instructs
men in the knowledge of themselves, and of himself in Christ, and
of peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by Christ; and
leads into all truth as it is in Jesus; and opens the
understanding to understand the Scriptures, and the doctrines
contained in them;
and teach thee in the way which shall go;
the path of duty, from whence men are apt to wander; when the
Lord hedges up the way they would go with thorny providences, and
by his ministers, word, and Spirit, directs them in the right
way; saying, this is the way, walk in it; and the way of truth,
which is clearly pointed to in the Scriptures of truth, and by
the Spirit of truth; and also the way of life and salvation by
Christ, revealed in the Gospel and which the preachers of it show
to the sons of men;
I will guide thee with mine eye;
as a master guides his scholar; or as "mine eye" F18: with
as much care and tenderness as if thou wert the apple of mine
eye; see ( Deuteronomy
32:10 ) ( Zechariah
2:8 ) ; or the words may be rendered, "I will counsel", or
"give counsel"; as he does, who is wonderful in counsel, and that
by his Son, who is the wonderful Counsellor; and by his word and
testimonies, which are the delight of his people, and the men of
their counsel: "mine eye [is] upon thee" F19; as
the eye of the Lord is upon the righteous, to watch over them for
good, to provide for them, guide and direct them. These words may
very well be considered as the words of David, in which he
determines to act a part, agreeable to the title of the psalm,
"Maschil"; which signifies instructing, or causing to understand;
and as he thought himself bound in duty to do, under the
influence of the grace and mercy he had received from the Lord,
in the forgiveness of his sins; and which he elsewhere resolved
to do in a like case, and which is an instance parallel to this,
( Psalms
51:13 ) ; he here promises to "instruct" men in the way of
attaining to the blessedness he had been speaking of, by
directing them to take the steps he did; namely, to go to the,
Lord, and acknowledge and confess their sins before him, when
they might expect to find pardoning mercy and grace, as he did;
and to "teach" them the way of their duty upon this, to fear the
Lord and his goodness, and to serve him in righteousness and
holiness all the days of their lives; and to "guide [them] with
his eye"; by declaring to them the gracious experiences he had
been favoured with, by telling them what he himself had seen and
known.