Psalm 119.105-112 (1)

Pray Psalm 119.105.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.

Sing Psalm 119.105, 106.
(Slane: Be Thou My Vision)
Your Word a lamp is to brighten my way.
Lord from Your pathway let me never stray!
I give my word now as I have before:
Your righteous Law I will keep ever more.

Preparation
1. How did the psalmist describe God’s Word?

2. What did the Word do for him?

Meditation
In the נ (nun) stanza the psalmist expresses in various ways the intensity of his commitment to the Law and Word of God. He swears and confirms it (v. 106); he calls on God to revive him by it (v. 107) and to teach it to him (v. 108). He takes the Word in hand for every aspect of his life (v. 109) and clings to it against the snares of the wicked (v. 110). He finds the Word to be his true inheritance and the joy of his heart (vv. 111, 112).

This stanza will afford us many opportunities to check the nature and intensity of our own commitment to the Law and Word of God.

As a lamp for his feet the word of God accomplishes two important tasks. First, it illumines the pathway we should walk: “This is the way; walk in it”, the Spirit whispers as He recalls the Word of God to our mind throughout the day (Is. 30.21; cf. Ps. 119.109). We can see the path. We know where it’s safe to step, and which way will lead us further on in our journey to the Lord.

But second, God’s Word as a lamp illumines our feet. By it we see where we stand, and whether where we stand is where we ought to stand. It shows us the direction we are tending – along the pathway of God or diverting from it. And it guides our every next step so that, gradually, step by step, and day by day, we make progress in our journey.

It’s not necessary to make huge progress. Steady progress is the goal, and the Word of God will light our way when we cherish it, learn it, take it with us in all things, and obey it from the heart.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light;
reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
to keep you from…evil…” (Prov. 6.23).

Walking the dogs can be a challenge at night. One needs a flashlight to see the path to the appropriate place to go, and (pardon my indelicacy) to find the treasures one’s dog has deposited, pick up said treasure with a bag, and place it in the proper receptacle.

Not a job done well in the dark.

The same thing applies to us. We need the Word of God to illuminate for us the things we need to scoop up and throw away. We need all the wattage we can muster from the grid of the Word to keep ourselves from evil. Jesus doubled down on this truth with these words: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory…” (Lk. 9.26). We must never neglect the lamp and the light offered to us by the Word for salvation, guidance, reproof, and instruction.

But He also adds these words of direction and encouragement: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (Jn. 8.12). Jesus, our Savior, promises to shine His light on our pathway. For His glory. And our knowledge and joy in how to love Him effusively (Jn. 14.15; 15.14).

The Word of God lights up our lives like a stadium hosting a night game!
We just need to make sure that when the lights come on, we are “found in Him”. (Phil. 3.9)

For reflection
1. How can you make sure the Word of God is illuminating your every next step throughout the day?

2. How can you use prayer at night, as you are retiring, to check on your progress in the Lord during the day past?

3. Whom will you encourage today to walk in the light of God’s Word?

… unless the word of God enlighten men’s path, the whole of their life is enveloped in darkness and obscurity, so that they cannot do anything else than miserably wander from the right way; and again, that when we submit ourselves with docility to the teaching of God’s law, we are in no danger of going astray. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Psalm 119.105

Pray Psalm 119.111, 112.
Pray that God would more deeply embed His Law in Your heart, and you will, like Jeremiah (Jer. 15.16), find the Word to be a source of great nourishment and joy.

Sing Psalm 119.111, 112.
(Slane: Be Thou My Vision)
I take Your Word as the joy of my heart,
my trust, my heritage, my special part.
I bend my heart to perform all Your Word,
always, forever, to serve You, O Lord.

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.