Psalm 32:8 (ESV) … “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
The speaker in verse 8 is the Lord Himself, who begins by putting us in the classroom. The textbook is the Bible. The teacher is the Holy Spirit. Often when we think of guidance, we have our careers in mind; God usually has our character in mind. The Bible is full of principles which, if heeded, will keep us from making foolish and sometimes fatal choices.
A thorough knowledge of the Psalms, the Proverbs, the Gospels, and the Epistles will often be sufficient to guide us. Where God has spoken on a subject, there is no need to look any further for guidance. For instance, a believing Christian man, who is contemplating business expansion, wonders if he should take a partner. Someone comes along with plenty of capital, great ideas, and a charming personality, but he is not a believer. He offers to come into partnership. What should the believer do? Well, God has spoken: “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” That should be the end of it.
But note! God wants to guide us with His eye! He did that for Peter, when Peter was in trouble, warming his hands at the world’s fire, getting deeper and deeper into a situation too big for him to handle, denying his Lord, cursing and swearing. He was arrested by the crowing of the cock. At that critical moment the Lord “turned and looked on Peter.” That was all. Just a look. He did not speak to him, simply guided His erring disciple with His eye: “Remember, Peter! Remember! Satan hath desired to have you but I have prayed for you. You’re in the wrong place, Peter; you’re with the wrong people.” It was all that Peter needed.
If the Lord is to guide us with His eye, it means that we must stay close to Him. A person cannot give another person a warning look or a warm look or a welcoming look if he is in Chicago and the friend in Atlanta. They must be within sight of each other. Nor can he guide with his eye if his friend is not looking at him. How desperately we need guidance in our journey through this world! Let us see to it that we allow our Lord to guide us by keeping our Bibles open and our eye ever looking to Him. He will make it plain what we ought to do.[1]
[1] Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary (Vol. 1, Ps 32:8). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.