This blog’s Scripture passage reference: Psalm 119:102-106
I am a home body. I like to be home. It is my cozy, safe place, my happy place, the place that soothes my soul. It is not big, modern, fancy or upscale. It is like most sixty-plus year old homes, it needs a little maintenance-love. But the light that illuminates this home is welcoming for those who enter.
There are other places that feel like home for me also. My friend in Pennsylvania let me stay at her home for a few months one summer while I was working in the area where she lived. Being there is always like being home for me. I have a friend in Nevada that I do not get to see very often; but being there is also like being home. I just walk in the door and I feel home surround me.
When I walk into those homes, it feels like a big, warm hug. I’m pretty sure it is not just the physical location. It is the people and the spirit that fills those places that make it feel like home. It is that welcoming light that illuminates them.
As I read through Psalm 119:102-106, the message was similar as most of psalm 119, but the tone of this passage seemed a little different than some of the previous passages to me. This one seemed almost like the psalmist could be kicked back in a comfy chair, in his home, having a conversation with his Best Friend.
The psalmist continues his conversation from verse 101, where he just told the Lord that he is making a deliberate effort to follow His commands and stay on the right path. Here he tells the Lord he has not turned aside or strayed from His judgements. How could he? The Lord, Himself was his teacher. Why would he want to wander away or leave? He proclaimed that the Lord’s words were sweet to his taste—the taste of it was much sweeter than honey to his mouth, and honey was precious, and one of the sweetest tasting delights in the psalmist’s time.
He acknowledged that it was through the Lord’s precepts that he had gained understanding. Yes, because of the precepts he had hidden in his heart, he became more aware and he hated things that were not on the up and up.
He described the Word of the Lord to be like a small oil light that would illumine the area right around his feet to keep him from stumbling in the dark, and at the same time like a lamp, or a torch, that would lighten the pathway ahead of him so that he would not fall into a pit. He was making every effort to keep himself from falling off the path into the dark.
The psalmist made a sacred vow to keep the righteous judgements of the Lord, and it sounded like he had every intention of keeping that vow.
I see a number of challenges within this passage for Christ followers. One challenge might be to not be so easily turned away from walking the path we are on with God. There are easier paths, but none that would have a reward like at the end of the journey walked with God. The next challenge is finding time to study God’s Word. If we miss out on that we are missing out on a guide book that will show us each step we should take. Finally, the biggest challenge of all could be in the keeping of vows that we have made to God. We should go back through our minds and count all the times we have uttered the words, “Lord, if you will do this, or fix that, or help me here, I will do this or that….” [Silent Pause] I wonder if we realize that for every vow we have made to God, He expects us to keep our word, every time…every time. Ouch!
How can we apply this passage to our lives? Stick close to God and listen when His Word teaches you. We can continue to seek understanding from God’s precepts. We can pick up that Word of God and hold it high as a torch to light our way. And if we are really serious, we can make a new vow to God to do our very best each day — with the understanding of the seriousness our vow entails.
What does this mean to my faith? My faith is strengthened as, day-by-day, God teaches me through His Word and I see how my life lived in Christ is so much sweeter than anything else I could imagine. The understanding God gives us will help us be able to discern those situations where we need to listen to the Spirit. One of the sweetest things for me, with significant vision loss, is the light that God shines into my life. I have said it before, but it is worth saying again…I see a lot of things better now with limited vision than I did with full vision. That is the Holy Spirit working within me. I think this quote talking about the lamp of our soul fits:
“The lamp is fed with the oil of the Spirit.” — Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Lord, thank You so much for how You reveal Your ways to me through Your Word and the Holy Spirit. Just thinking that I have so much more history to learn from than the writers of the Old Testament had kind of leaves me in awe of the faith they were able to have, even then. Help me to cultivate the type of faith they had and stand strong on Your Word with Your Light illuminating the path I am on.
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“102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. 103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. 106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.” Psalm 119:102-106 (KJV)
“Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.” Proverbs 5:7 (KJV)
“More to be desired [are they] than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Psalm 19:10 (KJV)
“[Let] love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” Romans 12:9 (KJV)
“For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life:” Proverbs 6:23 (KJV)
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I feel that since God has given me the gift of this platform, I must always tell you about my Jesus.
What is your relationship to the all-knowing God of the universe? Do you know Jesus? Do you know the peace that can come only from an intimate relationship with Him? You can know Him. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, born into human flesh, sinless, crucified and giving His life freely, buried, arisen on the third day, will come into your life and change the outcome of your eternity. You just have to be willing to believe and accept His truth.
Here is an excellent website that can give you additional information about making your decision for Jesus Christ! PeaceWithGod.net
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Restricted Vision, Unburdened Sight 