The Psalm of the Word (Part 14): Guidance

Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.

I have sworn and I will confirm it,
That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.

I am exceedingly afflicted;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.

O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me Your ordinances.

My life is continually in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your law.

The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.

I have inherited Your testimonies forever,
For they are the joy of my heart.

I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, even to the end.

(Psalm 119:105-112)

Many people wonder why we are here and where we are going. The word of God provides the answers for us and guides us in the path we should go.

God’s Word is a Light

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

God’s word is described as a light because it reveals things that would otherwise remain hidden. Man seeks to gain knowledge and understanding in science, history, philosophy, and more. But there is a limit to what man can know (Psalm 119:96). Without God’s word, we cannot know our origin or our final destination. But we do have an inherent longing to seek after these answers (Ecclesiastes 3:11; Acts 17:25-27). This is meant to lead us to God’s word.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet” (Psalm 119:105). The word of God shows us where we are, as individuals, before Him. The Scriptures tell us that in the beginning, “God created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). However, even though we have been made in God’s image, we have departed from the “upright” way in which we have been made and have “sought out many devices” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). As a result, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Jesus sent the Holy Spirit – who revealed the word that has been preserved for us in written form today (John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13) – to “convict the world concerning sin” (John 16:8). Sin causes us to be separated from God (Isaiah 59:2) and without hope (Ephesians 2:12). We need a Savior and He is shown to us in the word (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Though the Christians in Laodicea thought they were “rich” and in “need of nothing,” they were actually “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17). The word of the Lord, as it was written to them, showed them their true condition. It does the same for us today.

“Your word is…a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Not only does the word of God show us where we are, it also shows us where we are going. All men are headed to the same place – “the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). After that, there are just two possible destinations. We will either “go away into eternal punishment” or “into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). The Lord will decide which will be our eternal home based upon how we have lived up to the standard – His word (John 12:48). God’s word shows us the path we need to take in order to reach the reward. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” (Matthew 7:21). Many will follow the path “that leads to destruction” and few will follow the way “that leads to life” (Matthew 7:13-14). We must strive to be among the few that follow the word of God so we can be prepared for that final judgment.

Without the light of God’s word, we will walk in darkness. Jeremiah said, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Those who lead others without God’s word are “blind guides of the blind” (Matthew 15:14). We should never think of God’s word as being unimportant or unnecessary. Yet many religious people act like it is.

Many people choose to live their lives in the way that “seems right” to them, even though “its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
Many believe whatever sounds good to them, accepting the “good words and fair speeches” of false teachers (Romans 16:18, KJV), even though this is “contrary to the teaching” of the gospel (Romans 16:17).
Many so-called preachers will teach what people want to hear, even if it not “sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Many will serve God according to their own will, practicing a “self-made religion,” even though it is “of no value” (Colossians 2:23).

We cannot see the path we are to take – or the path we are to avoid – without God’s word to illuminate it (Psalm 119:105; cf. Romans 7:7).

This verse is also a foreshadowing of Christ. Jesus is “the Word” (John 1:1) and “the Light of the world” (John 8:12). He came so that we would “not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). Paul wrote, “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). But sadly, many prefer darkness over light. Jesus told Nicodemus, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20). Many would rather continue in sin than “walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light” (1 John 1:7). We must be different, choosing to follow the path of light in which God’s word guides us.

We Must Be Committed to Obeying God’s Word

“I have sworn and I will confirm it, that I will keep Your righteous ordinances” (Psalm 119:106).

This goes with the previous point about how we must “walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light” (1 John 1:7). David swore with an oath that he would keep God’s word. As Christians, we are obligated to live righteously. Paul told the saints in Rome that because “Christ is in you” and “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,” they were “under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh,” but to live according to God’s standard of righteousness (Romans 8:10-13).

Paul reminded Timothy of the “good confession” he had made (1 Timothy 6:12). This was the same confession that the Ethiopian eunuch made to Philip: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37). That confession is a commitment to obey the Lord. As Jesus explained in the Great Commission He gave to His apostles, those who become disciples and are baptized in His name are necessarily acknowledging the fact that Jesus has “all authority” and are vowing to continue to “observe all that [Jesus] commanded” (Matthew 28:18-20). If the word of God is to guide us, we must be committed to following it as the final and perfect standard.

The psalmist described God’s word as His “righteous ordinances” (Psalm 119:106). Today we have the gospel. Paul said, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:16-17). The preaching of the gospel is designed to “bring about the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). We must obey what God’s word instructs us to do.

We Must Follow God’s Path Despite Adversity

“I am exceedingly afflicted; revive me, O Lord, according to Your word” (Psalm 119:107).

“My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget Your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts” (Psalm 119:109-110).

Why do we need a light to our path? It is because there is darkness all around us. The world itself is “the domain of darkness” (Colossians 1:13). Therefore, we must stay on the path that God’s word shows to us despite being “exceedingly afflicted” (Psalm 119:107), near death (Psalm 119:109), and being hunted by the wicked (Psalm 119:110).

God’s word is life. He can “revive” us “according to [His] word” (Psalm 119:107). Therefore, we must “not forget [His] law” or go “astray from [His] precepts” (Psalm 119:109-110).

We Must Offer Praise to God

“O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me Your ordinances” (Psalm 119:108).

We will talk more about the idea of praising God in the final lesson of this study. But as we notice here, David praised God because God gave him His word to guide him. The praise that he gave to God was in the form of “freewill offerings.”

Our service to God must be done willingly, as a freewill offering. This is the principle behind our giving – it must be done “as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). This is how all of our worship is to be done. The Hebrew writer said, “Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that gives thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15). We ought to be thankful for the guidance found in God’s word and praise Him for it.

To Follow God’s Word is Our Heritage

“I have inherited Your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, even to the end” (Psalm 119:111-112).

A heritage is something of value that is passed down from one generation to another through inheritance. God’s word is our heritage (Psalm 119:111). We must recognize the great blessing that it is to us and rejoice.

Since the word of God is a heritage, it is good and valuable for every generation. When Peter preached the first gospel sermon on the day of Pentecost, he said, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). However, the promise of forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit was not limited to just the audience there on that day. Peter went on to say, “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself” (Acts 2:39). We are “called…through the gospel” (2 Thessalonians 2:14). The gospel is the Lord’s message for “all the world” (Mark 16:15). The promise that Peter mentioned was good for every generation. The gospel is a heritage for all of us.

Therefore, because God’s word is true and applicable to every generation, we can follow it “forever, even to the end” (Psalm 119:112). We must not leave Christ to follow “a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). Those who would preach such are “to be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9). The gospel that was preached in the first century by the apostles is the same gospel we must preach here in the twenty-first century.