All the Light you need

Psalm 119:105-112

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.   I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.  I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word!  Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules.  I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.  The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.  Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.  I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

Jan and I have had the privilege of living in Spring, Texas for almost 23 years and some of that time we taught young couples in a class called the Truth-seekers.  We had a lesson on these verses and a young man said as I read the verses, this is the insight I got.  What was it, and his answer; “God never promised a spotlight to aluminate my path in this life, just a lamp at my feet so I would be able to take the next step?”  What insight, as we explore the Scripture, we find over and over each of us trying to live independent of God’s authority, it’s called flesh.  “God never intended for you to get your needs met through your own resources.  The flesh is incapable of supplying what God intends to supply Himself.” (Bill Gillham) The lamp to our feet keeps us looking to our fellowship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit that lives in us.

It seems apparent the Psalmist life has not been all that smooth, he tells us he is severely afflicted, yet he has enough light to look to God for all his needs.  Often, he has done as you and I have, tried to get past the light and drifted into the darkness, but he recalls the Lord’s precepts and statutes and goes back to God’s light for the next step.

The world is not our friend, Jesus has made it clear that only He is Truth, and yet the enemy is one devious dude and loves to use Scripture, but never in its total truth or insight.  His favorite lie is you deserve or is that what God really meant?  If that does not work, he will tell you you’re of little value and many have believed that lie and killed themselves.

Pay close attention to how the Psalmist ends these verses; “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.  I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.”  He set his course on the light to his feet and his goal is to finish strong.  That is also this writers’ goal, and I hope it is also yours.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice