November 5, 2024

His Word – Our Light, Our Lamp

SeekingHimLogo

Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet
and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105 NLT

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

The simplicity of this verse astounds me.  So easy to say!  Yet often, it is very difficult to do.  According to Bible.org, the “Word” /(imrah) denotes anything God has spoken, commanded or promised—His thoughts, His commands, His promises give guidance and instruction for our lives.  The Word of God can make our steps clear.

The Bible should be used to help us walk the way God wants us to walk and live the way He wants us to live.  When we choose not to use His Word, our path becomes unclear.  We aren’t sure if our next step will be on a firm foundation or down a dangerous alley.

For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and corrective discipline is the way to life.
Proverbs 6:23 HSCB

His Word shows us not only where to step but where NOT to step.  It doesn’t always light the whole path but it does provides direction for the next step or two.

I was pondering this verse during my morning walk.  As I started to pay attention to the path, I noticed it wasn’t always clear. Sometimes it was cluttered with leaves, making it hard to determine where the edges were. Other parts were shaded by tall trees blocking the sun.  And sometimes the path wasn’t clear because I had forgotten to remove my sunglasses.

My spiritual path is like that as well.  Sometimes it is cluttered with the junk I allow in my life.  Other times it is shaded by worldly views or my opinion. Often I cannot see it clearly simply because I have forgotten to spend enough time in His Word.   Then I begin to wonder things like:

  • Why do I neglect to consult His Word throughout the day?
  • Why do I only seek His guidance sometimes?
  • Am I too busy?
  • Do I trust my judgment more than His?

I don’t know; it could be all of the above.  But I do know that, when I neglect His Word, my steps falter.  The more time I spend in His Word, the more I study His Word, the more it will become an ingrained part of me.  Job 29:3 tells us “He lit up the way before me and I walked safely through the darkness.”  My path will be smoother because He will be directing my steps. And surely there won’t be nearly as many wrong turns, dark alleys, or so much time spent going in circles.  I know I need His Light but sometimes I forget to turn it on.  How about you?  Is your path well-lit?

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Let’s use Psalm 43:3 HCSB as our prayer:

Send Your light and Your truth; let them lead me.
Let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to Your dwelling place.
– Amen, it is so!

Benefits of Precepts

Many of you have gone on Spring Break or are anticipating taking a vacation this summer.  It is a time to refresh spirit, soul, and body.  Over the next couple of weeks, our faithful bloggers will be taking a ‘spring break’ from writing so that they can come back to us refreshed and freshly anointed.
However, Girlfriends’ Coffee Hour website won’t ‘go black’!  We will be revisiting some of our favorite blogs and daily devotions which have blessed us in the past.  We pray that each of you, our faithful friends and readers, will continue to start your day meditating on the devotionals and songblogs, and be encouraged and blessed.

Let’s give each of our bloggers a big round of applause,
a hug, and the rest they so deserve.  God bless you, ladies!

SeekingHimLogo

The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.
Psalm 19:8 HCSB

As I was reading this passage, the word ‘precepts’ caught my attention. I have heard it many times.  But what, exactly, is a precept?

  • Merriam-Webster Dictionary
    –  a command or principle intended especially as a general rule of action
    –  a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought
  • Wikipedia
    –  a commandment, instruction, or order intended as an authoritative rule of action

…Because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate,
My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.
Genesis 26:5 HCSB

A ‘precept’ is a statute, mandate, command, instruction, law, or ordinance that gives direct advice.  The precepts of the Lord will set us right if we heed them. They give us a great advantage and provide many benefits. Matthew Henry states: “The Holy Scripture…is of much greater use and benefit to us than day or night, than the air we breathe in or the light of the sun.”   Wow!

Psalm 19:11 tells us, “Your servant is warned by them; there is great reward in keeping them.”  So what are some of the benefits we receive when we pay attention to the Lord’s precepts?  Verse 8 told us they make the heart glad and the eyes light up.  Look at some other benefits listed in the following verses:

You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies,
for [Your words] are ever before me. I have better understanding and deeper insight
than all my teachers, because Your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged, because I keep Your precepts
[hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].
Psalms 119:98-100 AMP

Every word of God is pure; He is a Shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Proverbs 30:5 HCSB

For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.
Proverbs 6:23 HCSB

Who wouldn’t want these benefits?  I certainly do!  The Lord’s precepts show us what sin is.  And they provide great and wonderful benefits. But there is one benefit these precepts absolutely cannot provide—righteousness.

For no one will be justified in His sight by the works of the law,
because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
Romans 3:20 HCSB

On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.
Romans 7:7b HCSB

As Galatians 2:9 (AMP) points out, righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus Christ:

For I through the Law [under the operation of the curse of the Law]
have [in Christ’s death for me] myself died to the Law
and all the Law’s demands upon me, so that I may [henceforth] live to and for God.

Christ was crucified for us.  His grace provided our acquittal.  Even so, we can honor Him by following His precepts.  We receive so many benefits by being attentive to them.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, thank You for Your amazing grace that removes all guilt from us.  Let us be more attentive to Your precepts and use them daily.  Thank You for the direct advice they provide to us and for the marvelous benefits we receive when pay heed to them. In Your Holy name I pray, Amen – It is so!

Benefits of Precepts

SeekingHimLogo

The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.
Psalm 19:8 HCSB

As I was reading this passage, the word ‘precepts’ caught my attention. I have heard it many times.  But what, exactly, is a precept?

  • Merriam-Webster Dictionary
    –  a command or principle intended especially as a general rule of action
    –  a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought
  • Wikipedia
    –  a commandment, instruction, or order intended as an authoritative rule of action

…Because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate,
My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.
Genesis 26:5 HCSB

A ‘precept’ is a statute, mandate, command, instruction, law, or ordinance that gives direct advice.  The precepts of the Lord will set us right if we heed them. They give us a great advantage and provide many benefits. Matthew Henry states: “The Holy Scripture…is of much greater use and benefit to us than day or night, than the air we breathe in or the light of the sun.”   Wow!

Psalms 19:11 states “Your servant is warned by them; there is great reward in keeping them.”  So what are some of the benefits we receive when we pay attention to the Lord’s precepts? Verse 8 told us they make the heart glad and the eyes light up.  Look at some other benefits listed in the following verses:

You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies,
for [Your words] are ever before me. I have better understanding and deeper insight
than all my teachers, because Your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged, because I keep Your precepts
[hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].
Psalm 119:98-100 AMP

Every word of God is pure; He is a Shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Proverbs 30:5 HCSB

For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.
Proverbs 6:23 HCSB

Who wouldn’t want these benefits?  I certainly do!  The Lord’s precepts show us what sin is.  And they provide great and wonderful benefits. But there is one benefit these precepts absolutely cannot provide—righteousness.

For no one will be justified in His sight by the works of the law,
because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
Romans 3:20 HCSB

On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.
Romans 7:7b HCSB

As Galatians 2:9 (AMP) points out, righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus Christ:

For I through the Law [under the operation of the curse of the Law]
have [in Christ’s death for me] myself died to the Law
and all the Law’s demands upon me, so that I may [henceforth] live to and for God.

Christ was crucified for us.  His grace provided our acquittal.  Even so, we can honor Him by following His precepts.  We receive so many benefits by being attentive to them.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, thank You for Your amazing grace that removes all guilt from us.  Let us be more attentive to Your precepts and use them daily.  Thank You for the direct advice they provide to us and for the marvelous benefits we receive when pay heed to them. In Your Holy name I pray, Amen – It is so!

Thy Word

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv
~  Listen while you read, please!  ~

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path

When I feel afraid, and think I’ve lost my way
Still, You’re there right beside me
Nothing will I fear as long as You are near
Please be near me to the end

I will not forget Your love for me, and yet,
My heart forever is wandering
Jesus by my guide, and hold me to Your side,
And I will love You to the end

Nothing will I fear
As long as you are near
Please be near me to the end.

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path
…You’re the light unto my path

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Recently I have been going through a season of circumstances and situations which have been very stressful…which leads to temptation to worry and be anxious.  Truly God’s Word(s) have been a lamp and a light for me. Sometimes, we just are not sure what to do next (TRUE?).  We pray for wisdom and we ask for guidance.  God promises to give wisdom to those who ask (James 1:3) and we know that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide (John 16:13)…but, at times, we must wait.  And this is where the light of God’s Word has shone bright for me.

[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed
that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!
Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave
and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring.
Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.
Psalms 27:13-14

And as I wait, I know that I must be diligent to seek God and His Word!  By spending time reading the Scriptures and considering and meditating on them, I am keeping myself ‘in the light.’  For me, it is very much like the dreary, cloudy days of winter…it is wearying.  But then we are blessed with a bright, sunshine-y day! And I find myself drawn to the window, numerous times during the day, just standing there…face lifted into that gorgous life-giving sunlight…simply soaking it in!

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes
More to be desired are they than gold…yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey or the honeycomb
Psalms 19:8 and 10

God’s Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. To walk in the light, we must know the Scriptures, we must understand the Word, and we must do the Will of God. Then we must walk out in the light and refrain from walking where there is no light.

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light;
And reproofs for discipline are the way of life
Proverbs 6:23

If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness,
we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light,
as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:6,7

And so, just like on those few and precious sunny days of winter, we move toward and step into the light. God’s Word is a lamp for our feet so that we don’t fall and can see the truth of the situations we are in. It dispels the darkness and it lights our path.  We then can follow along that path that He has prepared for us!  Going along step by step…knowing that He has promised and will supply!