"You shall guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me into glory." (Psalm 73:24)
What a wonderful assurance is this! It shows us that the counsel of God will, if followed, lead one to glory. God's purpose for men is that they shall be glorified. One may say, "I thought that God's purpose was that He himself should be glorified."
Yes; but when we are told to give glory to God, it is only that we shall give Him the glory or honor that is due Him. We cannot add anything to His glory; for all glory is His. (Matthew 6:13) He is: "The God of glory;" (Psalm 29:3) "the King of glory." (Psalm 24:7)
All glory comes from Him, and He desires us to give Him glory, or render Him homage, only that we ourselves may be glorified. God gave himself to us in Christ, in order that He might bring "many sons unto glory." (Hebrews 2:10)
And how will He do this? By His counsel. That which distinguishes the Lord above all others, is His skill as Counselor. The name of the Lord is "Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God," (Isaiah 9:6) and therefore He is "wonderful in counsel." (Isaiah 28:29)
The council of the heathen will come to nothing, but: "The counsel of the Lord shall stand for ever; the thoughts of His heart to all generations." (Psalm 33:11)
The Lord says: "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." (Isaiah 46:10)
Whatever He has promised, He is able also to perform, for even as He is "great in counsel, [He is] mighty in work." (Jeremiah 32:19) "[He] works all things after the counsel of His own will." (Ephesians 1:11)
How comforting, then, for us to be assured that His counsel is to bring us to glory. His thoughts toward us are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil," (Jeremiah 29:11,RV) to give us hope in our latter end. There is no chance for doubt in this matter, for God has made it as sure as the sun in the heavens. "When God made promise to Abraham," (Hebrews 6:13) which promise is what we depend on when we flee for refuge to Christ, "because He could swear by no greater, He swore by himself. ... [Being] willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, [He] confirmed it by an oath; That by two immutable things, in which was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope that before us." (Hebrews 6:13,17-18) "[God] has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by His discretion." (Jeremiah 10:12)
The same power and wisdom that created all things, still upholds them; therefore the existence of the earth and the heavens is positive proof to us of the steadfastness of the counsel of God. We can see it with our own eyes. Lord says to us: "I will instruct you in the way which you shall go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." (Psalm 32:8,RV)
He takes the responsibility upon himself; He leads us in the way that we should go. He will ensure we are going in the right way, and having success here and hereafter, provided we will but submit to His counsel. Is it not well? Can we not trust Him, since He has placed such testimony to His faithfulness before us in plain sight?
In contrast to the counsel of the Lord, is the counsel of the ungodly. What about that? It comes to nothing, for the ungodly are themselves "like the chaff, which the wind drives away." (Psalm 1:4)
The counsel which proceeds from such ones, no matter how plausible it seems, is nothing but deception. But God is "from everlasting to everlasting." (Psalm 103:17) and His counsel is as enduring as himself; therefore all who abide in His counsel will live forever, and live in prosperity. Where shall we find this counsel? In His Word, for that is but the expression of His thought toward us. He says: "Have I not written unto you excellent things in counsels and knowledge; To make you know the certainty of the words of truth, that you may carry back words of truth to them that send you?" (Proverbs 22:20-21,RV)
Let us therefore say in sincerity: "Your testimonies also are my delight, and the men of my counsel." (Psalm 119:24,margin)--Present Truth, April 21, 1897--Psalm 73:24.