LAMP

Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a LAMP to my feet and a light to my path.

This verse conjures up images of a person walking alone down a dark winding path. Clouds cover even any hint of moonlight. The only illumination comes from the lamp he carries. The light is strong and reliable and it is his only source of direction. If you’ve ever been in this predicament of carrying a lamp or lantern through the pitch black night you know that the scope of the light only reaches maybe a ten foot radius. As you move forward, so does the lamp, and so does your path begin to open itself up to you. The same holds true when you’re driving at night on one of those old country roads where there are no street lights or lit up houses nearby. You can only see what’s right in front of you.

There are many references to God’s word being a light (2 Cor. 4:4), a lamp (Prov. 6:23), truth (2 Sam. 7:28), and the Way (John 14:6). But I love the image it portrays in this passage. The word leads us step by step, a little at a time, keeping us totally dependent on the source of the light, the Giver of the word. So many walk in darkness, uncertain and unsatisfied. They make wrong turns, trip and stumble on unseen obstacles, and ultimately find themselves hopelessly lost.

Why do we set off on a darkened unknown trail without a lamp? How I must confess to so many journeys in the absolute black of night with not a hint of light to lead my way. God’s word is the lamp, His commands are the map, His promises are the hope, and His Holy Spirit that has breathed it all into existence is the very oil that fires the lamp into action. Let His word be the light to lead your way today.