Word Live: Lighten Our Darkness
‘Lord, our world can feel so dark at times. We thank you that we need never be in darkness because we have the light of your Word to guide us wherever we are, whatever we do. Amen.’
Bible passage
Psalm 119:97–112
מ Mem
97 Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.
98 Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser than my enemies.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path
so that I might obey your word.
102 I have not departed from your laws,
for you yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
× Nun
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.
106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
that I will follow your righteous laws.
107 I have suffered much;
preserve my life, Lord, according to your word.
108 Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth,
and teach me your laws.
109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
I will not forget your law.
110 The wicked have set a snare for me,
but I have not strayed from your precepts.
111 Your statutes are my heritage for ever;
they are the joy of my heart.
112 My heart is set on keeping your decrees
to the very end.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
I love to sit in my ‘writery’ (sorry, husband, that’s ‘shed’ to you …) on a dark night with just the desk lamp as illumination. It casts out just enough light for the task in hand, and makes me feel cosy and secure, motivated and ready for action all at once. As can the lamp of God’s Word (v 105).
Our psalmist goes so much further in his appreciation of the Word of God. What a man he is! God’s Word is absolutely everything to him, whatever his situation. He lives by it, meditates on it all day long (v 97). He turns to it in times of trouble (v 110). He absolutely relishes the words (v 103). It would all be safely stored in his memory.
We don’t always appreciate light these days because we are rarely without it. We don’t always appreciate God’s Word because there are too many distractions blocking out its light. The psalmist’s experience would have been very different. Perhaps we need to take on board what life was like for him and do a bit of refocussing ourselves.
Author
Liz Pacey
Respond
Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12). ‘Thank you, Lord, that you came to give us life and light. Amen.’
Deeper Bible study
‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God’!1
God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.2 Our only obligation is to rely on what God has provided – his Word, his Spirit – so that we can live the full and free lives that Jesus promised us.3 When we walk in step with the Spirit, feed on the Word of God and apply it humbly and whole-heartedly to our lives, we will see the fruit of spiritual victory, as the psalmist here describes. We will have the wisdom to resist our greatest enemy (v 98).4 We will become mature, discerning and godly, because our knowledge of the Word is not just head knowledge. We will take God’s Word to heart, love it and obey it (vs 97–100,103). We will love righteousness and hate evil (vs 101–104). The constant, trustworthy guiding light of God’s Word will show us God’s path for our lives (v 105).
By faith, we have chosen to follow Christ. Life can be really tough, though, and our faith is often beleaguered; sometimes we are knocked back by life’s circumstances, at other times by our own weaknesses. Loving and obeying God faithfully, persevering in faith – that needs more than head knowledge of God’s Word. Verses 107–112 are the testimony of a humble and dependent person of faith, someone who knows they need to submit daily, whose heart and soul cry out, ‘teach me your laws’ (v 108).
Psalm 119 has reminded us, over the past few Sundays, of the righteousness and goodness of the Word of God. We have been reminded that the path of life starts by relying on God’s wisdom, not our own. I am sure that you, like me, need these constant reminders so that we can persevere in our faith.
‘Your statutes are my heritage for ever; they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end’ (vs 111,112).
1John 6:68,69 22 Pet 1:3 3John 10:10 4 See also Eph 6:10–17
Author
Katharine McPhail
