As I work through my daily reading plan, one of the things I’m watching for are commands to obey. This morning, I found one.

Be not like a horse or a mule . . .

(Psalm 32:9a ESV)

How’s that for a command to obey? At first blush, it seems pretty simple to comply with — after all, my genetic pool isn’t equine. But chew on it a bit in the context of the David’s full song and maybe (actually, pretty likely) it’s not the gimme I’d like to think it to be.

David’s song is a “Try it! You’ll like it!” song. Set to an “I was blessed, you can be blessed too” melody. What did he experience? Forgiveness.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
 whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
 and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

(Psalm 32:1-2 ESV)

David had experienced the divine blessing of sins forgiven, of sins covered, of sins no longer counted against him. The blessing of realizing a burden lifted, for when he tried to hide his sin from God, when he tried to ignore it and keep silent about it, “my bones wasted away through all my groaning all day long” (Ps. 32:3). (There’s not a more miserable saint than a saint who’s not dealing with their sin.)

The alternative to keeping silent about his sin?

I acknowledged my sin to You,
 and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
 and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

(Psalm 32:5 ESV)

I acknowledged it . . . I didn’t try to cover it up . . . I confessed it . . . and You forgave it.

And I was blessed, says David.

David’s conclusion? You can be blessed too.

Therefore let everyone who is godly
 offer prayer to You at a time when You may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
 they shall not reach him.

(Psalm 32:6 ESV)

I prayed, sings David, you pray too. I acknowledged my sin, you should acknowledge yours also. I refused to cover my transgressions through self-justification, instead placing myself under the cover of a cross-bought justification, you should do likewise. I talked to God about my iniquity, you should talk to Him about yours as well. Now is the time for sins to be dealt with, not when the floodgates of judgment are opened.

That’s when I encountered the command to obey.

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 ESV)

Reject equine tendencies. Don’t be like a wild stallion that needs to be broken. Don’t be like a stubborn donkey that needs to be forced into compliance. Instead, repent, pray, confess, and ask for forgiveness — willingly, humbly, contritely, submissively. And confidently — for, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn. 1:9).

Be blessed or be broken? How do I want to feel inside? Repent or reject? How do I want to deal with the guilt inside? Cover it up or be covered? How do I want to stand before the God who knows me inside?

Don’t be like a horse. Don’t be like a mule.

Hmm . . . think I’m gonna take this command to obey to heart.

By His grace. For His glory.