Psalms 32:8

"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go;

I will counsel thee with mine eye upon thee.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding;

Whose trappings must be bit and bridle to hold them in.

Else they will not come near unto thee."

These words sound like instructions from God, and some scholars have so understood them; but many attribute them to David. "Because of the availability of God's forgiveness, David here exhorts men to pray. On the basis of his own profound experience, he becomes a teacher, an instructor, and a guide, using the language of a sage."[22]

"The horse ... the mule" (Psalms 32:9). The purpose of introducing these animals seems to be that of admonishing men to seek the Lord without waiting to be forced to do so, as animals are forced to come near men. "One's refusal to be guided by the Lord's kind instruction puts him in the class with brute beasts."[23]