Remember—this confession comes from the man after God's own heart. And in revealing his inner life, he writes: "So foolish was I, and ignorant."

Now, "foolish" here means far more than we normally think. Earlier in this psalm, David wrote, "I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." See that? His foolishness had sin wrapped up in it. He doesn't just call himself foolish—he intensifies it: "SO foolish was I." How foolish? He couldn't even tell. This was no excusable weakness—this was sinful folly that demanded condemnation! Perverse. Willfully ignorant. He had envied the prosperity of the ungodly, completely forgetting the dreadful end that awaits them all.

And are we better than David that we should call ourselves wise! Do we profess that we have attained perfection? That the rod has beaten all our wilfulness out of us? Ah, this were pride indeed!

If David was foolish, how foolish should we be in our own esteem if we could but see ourselves! Look back, believer: think of your doubting God when he has been so faithful to you—think of your foolish outcry of "Not so, my Father," when he crossed his hands in affliction to give you the larger blessing; think of the many times when you have read his providences in the dark, misinterpreted his dispensations, and groaned out, "All these things are against me," when they are all working together for your good!

Think how often you have chosen sin because of its pleasure, when indeed, that pleasure was a root of bitterness to you!

Surely if we know our own heart we must plead guilty to the indictment of a sinful folly; and conscious of this "foolishness," we must make David's consequent resolve our own—"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel."