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PSALM 119:105 “THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET, AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH.” (KJV, NKJV, NASB, RSV, TLB, NIV)
That’s right! Every version of the Bible I could find quotes this verse the same way. How about that! We started this journey in Chapter 3 with the first reason to “hide the Word”: So that we might not sin against God…Psalm 119:11. In this passage, in the same chapter of Psalms, we learn another reason: DIRECTION.
The phrase “God’s word is a lamp unto my feet” is a metaphorical statement meant to emphasize the wisdom that comes from following God’s instruction. The metaphor is the Word as a lamp. Note it is a lamp to my feet.
Unless we are struck with some serious tragedy that makes us lame, we were all born to walk. At some age, early in life, we will stop crawling, stand up erect and take our first steps. For some of us, it is off to the races…and we race through life for the rest of our lives. Others of us might take a little longer to figure that balance thing out. There might be a little trepidation in moving one foot in front of the other. But eventually, we move. Just ask any parent of their first-born child. We were born to move.
The metaphor implies that the Christian life is meant to be a mobile one as well…where we need direction to even know how to put one foot in front of the other, in the right direction to provide us with proper movement through life.
Just as, quite often, the world seems like a dark place, so can be our spiritual walk in the Lord. Satan and this fallen world do all they can to drag us back into the abyss of darkness, where we don’t know where to go or how to get anywhere. It might seem so dark that we don’t know which way to walk. But don’t be fearful…the psalmist tells us that God has provided His Word so it will be a lamp…a lamp to our feet so we know how to move forward.
The metaphor emphasizes that the Word is also light to my path. Not only does the Word light up HOW we should walk, but it also lights up the WAY we should walk. We already discussed the Lord’s willingness to direct our paths from Proverbs 3:5-6. Many times the immediate way He accomplishes this is through His Word.
HOW he wants us to walk is illuminated throughout the Bible. In Genesis 17:1, God tells us to “walk before me and be blameless.” Leviticus 26:12, God says, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.” Deut 5:33 says, “Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land…” Psalm 1:1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly…”
The WAY or WHERE He wants us to walk is equally explained throughout the Scriptures:
Psa 23:4 says, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me…” Lest we fail to understand, Psa 82:5 explains to us, we “walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are unstable.” That sounds like a walk that definitely needs some light…the light of the Word! Ps 86:11 tells us “teach me Your way O Lord; I will walk in Your truth.”
In the New Testament, we see this guiding light many times. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) In 1 John 1:7 we learn that, “if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Later, we will memorize and devote ourselves to further revelation to the power, authority and sufficiency of the Word of God. Know that the Word is alive, active and sharp (Hebrews 4:12). The Word is essential to our daily life, more sufficient than bread and water (Matthew 4:4). The Word is God breathed and useful to us in so many different ways (2 Timothy 3:16). In the end, heaven and earthy will pass away, but the Word will remain forever! (Mark 13:31)
Today, let’s commit Psalm 119:105 not only to memory but to everlasting application to our lives. Search the Word, hunger for the Word, commit more and more of it to your heart and memory. Let its LIGHT shine to teach us how we should walk, where we should walk and guard us against walking where we should not. The Word is a lamp to my feet!
Questions to ponder: Do you have difficulty understand Scriptural metaphors and applying their truths to your life? How can the light of the Word both reveal the correct pathway of our lives and keep us from the ways we should not go? Jesus is the Word, He is the light. Can we receive light from revealed truth directly from Him? How does He use the Word to bring about the revelation of its truth in application to every part of our lives? Again, how will memorizing the Word provide greater power to all the areas of my life in which I need direction?
Other Scriptures to consider: 1 John 2:6 “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” 2 John 6. John 8:12. Proverbs 28:18 Psalm 86:11 Proverbs 3:5-6.
A song to remember: This is one of my favorite choruses using one of our memory verses. I have sung it for years. It doesn’t just help me remember the words…it also helps me understand that the Lord is always leading me by His word. Enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKlQpjl_oqY
 
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