The psalmist who wrote psalm 119 – we don’t know exactly who that was – has given us inspired insights into God’s Word. Here, there is a collection of wonderful statements that describe the nature of the Word, it’s effect, and so on. One of my favourites is in verse 105:
Psalms 119:105 (NIV)
“Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.”
I learned this as a boy, and it has stuck in my heart all these years. The Word of God sheds a particular kind of light – God’s pure wisdom and revelation – that shows me the way forward as I walk the disciple’s walk. It keeps me from stumbling, veering of track, and straying away from God. I recently came across a wonderful painting by gifted artist, Rebecca Brogan, that graphically illustrates this terrific verse. Rebecca captures the power of verse 105 so profoundly.
The world is a very dark and foreboding place. Dangerous, too. There are many pitfalls and snares, a point made by the apostles John and Paul. In fact, darkness and light are two often used metaphors in John’s Gospel account, starkly contrasting the kingdom darkness and the kingdom of God.
Right at the outset John writes that Jesus, the Word become flesh, came into the world. He describes it this way ...
John 1:4-5 (NIV)
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
The thinking of this world - its values and its rationales, values and reasonings - are all a particular kind of spiritual darkness that threatens to overwhelm us – and keep us in the dark, stumbling along our way, unable to confidently find our way forward. Spiritual darkness is extremely powerful, and even believers underestimate its effect. We kind of coexist with it a lot of the time – but that’s a lie, too. How can light and dark coexist? It’s illogical, as the apostle Paul warns.
2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV)
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”
The answer to Paul’s rhetorical question is a no-brainer. Paul also names this darkness as a powerful spiritual influence that darkens our minds and blinds us. He warns that Satan is the source and cause, and without the light of Christ, the Word, we remain darkened in our understanding – we cannot see clearly:
Ephesians 4:18 (NIV)
“They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)
“The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Without the light of Christ we all remain in darkness and are doomed to living in frustration, error, deception, lies and the power of sin. Rebecca’s fine picture illustrates, however, that even a single, small lamp dispels a lot of darkness. She illustrates the power of God’s Word to expose lies and deception and to provide more than enough light for our individual pathways.
But there is more in verse 105.
Each of us is encouraged to carry our own lamp for our own pathway. No one can do it for you. We cannot rely on another. Each of us takes responsibility for our own life. Each of us gets to choose how to live – in spiritual darkness, or by the powerful light of God’s Word.
Here’s my main point: even a small amount of light dispels so much spiritual darkness, which is why Satan works so hard to dissuade believers from spending time in God’s Word. The light of God’s Word is dangerous to Satan’s agenda. Even if you spend just 10 minutes a day reading God’s Word, that is an enormous amount of spiritual light pushing back a lot of darkness – exponentially so, such is the nature of light. The light of God’s Word make so much difference to how you walk the walk of a disciple. In short, you cannot be a disciple of Christ without the light of God’s Word. If you try to do that, it will always be your best guess instead of God’s wisdom. Your best guess will always be in darkness and will keep you there. How do I know if I am walking in darkness” Here is one test …
1 John 2:8-11 (NIV)
“Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.”
Get back into the Word and walk with the light of its wisdom and revelation. Your walk as a disciple is critical and requires great care to stay on track – it’s easy to veer off track and get lost in the darkness.
Have you noticed? The darkness is increasing. Read your Bible. Don’t get lost. Your life depends on it.
Proverbs 6:23 (NIV)
“For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and correction and instruction are the way to life, …”
I hope I have made the point – with special thanks to Rebecca.
Ps Milton
[Sources: “Lamp to My Feet, Light for My Path (Psalm 119:105)” painting by Rebecca Brogan, (www.jtbarts.com ), used here with permission]