A LAMP and A LIGHT - Psalm 119:105-112 (God's Alphabet Song of Truth - Nun) - #14

No one has ever journeyed through life without realizing this world can be a very dark place.

It's not always dark.  There are joys along the way, even for those surrounded by more darkness than light.    But no one gets a "darkness pass."  And, some of the very best people I have known have had to make their way through some of the darkest furlongs.

David knew this.  "Yes, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..."  Apparently he did, many times.

Jesus knew this.  He would build a movement threatened by the gates of hell on a daily basis.

Paul knew this.  "We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength...we despaired of life itself...we felt the sentence of death."

Ask  your friends, "Is there more darkness or light in your life today?  More joy or discouragement?" The answers may surprise you.  It's amazing the darkness everyday people deal with.

We need light for dark places, light that the darkness cannot beat back.  Light that overcomes.  Five decades ago, some faithful Calvary Memorial Church Sunday School teacher imbedded in me the following --

Your word is a lamp to my feet

and a light to my path.

I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,

to keep Your righteous rules.

I am severely afflicted;

give me life, O Lord, according to Your word!

Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord

and teach me Your rules.

I hold my life in my hand continually,

but I do not forget Your law.

The wicked have laid a snare for me,

but I do not stray from Your precepts.

Your testimonies are my heritage forever,

for they are the joy of my heart.

I incline my heart to perform Your statutes

forever, to the end.

These verses toggle back and forth - one line of vulnerability, affliction, insecurity, the second of security, resource, and reorientation.   One line the darkness, the other line the light.

Sitting at the feet of a colleague in church yesterday, I was reminded that we who wander with God through dark stretches must "never underestimate the power of simple obedience" to the Lord.  You hear that here.  The tenacity, in dark times, to "keep Your righteous rules," to "not stray from Your precepts." 

Unique light comes from the Word of the Lord.  There is light found in sticking with It, light in making It the joy of one's heart.  Light in performing His statutes to the end.

"If we walk in the light, as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, the blood of Jesus God's Son cleanses us from all our sin" (1 John 1:7).

Walk in the light...and along the way, shine His light into some darkness around you.