Exposition
of Psalm 119
נ
NUN
God’s Word Provides Guidance
Psalm 119:105-112
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.
Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.
My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.
Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.
We live a world that is characterized by a lack of direction. People go from one idea to another in an attempt to find their way. The Christian, however, has the blessed benefit of absolute guidance—the light of the Word of God. This is not theory or “fly by the seat of your pants,” as the expression goes. The Word of God provides perfect guidance in every area of life. In the stanza before us, we see that Scripture illuminates our path, weaknesses, worship, dangers, and inheritance.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
These verses set the stage for the whole stanza by providing three foundational principles.
and a light unto my path.
As one Hebrew authority tells us, the Hebrew behind light ('owr) “is always used as a positive symbol, such as for good fortune (Job 30:26); victory (Mic. 7:8-9); justice and righteousness (Is. 59:9); guidance (Psa. 119:105); and a bearer of deliverance (Is. 49:6).”[1] A dramatic occurrence of this word appears in the pillar of fire that was a light for the wandering Israelites (Ex. 13:21).
One of the
most graphic illustrations of this principle is seen in the Reformation. There
is no doubt whatsoever that it was the Reformation that began to bring light into the world. It was Roman
Catholicism that dominated men during the Dark Ages. Indeed, everything about
Catholicism has its roots in ancient pagan religion and it was this that kept
God’s light from shining
into the hearts of men. It was the reformers who proclaimed the light of the Gospel, and it was
this that changed darkness into light.
The Reformation was certainly not perfect, but it did bring back the truth of
salvation that had been lost for centuries.
So pivotal
was this thinking to the reformers, in fact, that that they carefully
systemized what they called the perspicuity of Scripture, which simply
means “the Bible is a plain and clear book.” As theologian Charles Hodge puts
the matter:
Protestants hold that the Bible, being addressed to the people, is sufficiently perspicuous [i.e., clear and plain] to be understood by them, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; and that they are entitled and bound to search the Scripture, and to judge for themselves what is its true meaning.[2]
In other words, flying in the face of the Roman Catholic teaching that only “The Church” (pope, cardinal, bishops, priests) can understand the Bible, the Reformation was founded on the principle of the clarity of Scripture to every believer, that every believer possessed the illumination of the Holy Spirit and could understand Scripture. Yes, some subjects are deep and require great study, and sometimes even special study is required, such as language and history. Neither does this doctrine rule out the need for interpretation, explanation, and exposition of the Bible by qualified and trained leaders. Rather it means that Scriptures is clear enough for the simplest person to understand and is clear in its essential truths.
Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in Scripture being called light. As II Peter 1:19a declares: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.” What is our light? The sure word of Scripture. This leads us to a second principle.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
While “light” refers to light itself, not the source of the light, David still illustrates with picture of a lamp. This light of which he speaks is not something mystical, ethereal, or theoretical. It is real and practical and has literal source. What kind of lamp, however, does David picture? Historically, this refers to oil fed lamps that took on various shapes as the centuries passed. What is the application for us thousands of years later?
The Bible is a reading lamp, with which we can read the very thoughts of God. It is a miner’s lamp, which illumines the darkest places in the pit but also reveals the gems that are buried there. It is a safety lamp, which, like the one used by miners many years ago that prevented the lamp flame from igniting dangerous gases, protects us from the dangers lurking unseen around us. It is the lighthouse lamp, which lights the shore and reveals the rocks of ruin that await.[3] It is a hurricane lamp, which like its namesake can never blown out no matter how strong the wind. It is a street lamp, which illumines the shadows of the night and reveals enemies that hide there. And it is the hand lamp, the simple flashlight, that we can easily carry and point in any needed direction.
I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
Here is the Psalmist’s tenacious, resolute vow that he will stay loyal to the Word of God because it is his only light. Oh, how we need to voice such a vow like today! How often we are loyal only to our changing feelings, our childish thoughts, and our humanistic ideas. We have never needed a resolve like this more than since the days of the Reformation. We compromise truth, we capitulate error, and we contradiction God’s very words. As the Hebrew for sworn indicates (shāba'), we each need “to take an oath” of our loyalty to the Word of God alone as our light and authority. There is no light in Plato, Socrates, Nietzsche, Sarte, or any other philosopher past or present.
I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.
We have seen the word afflicted several times (vs. 67, 71, 75). As noted back in verse 75, one of the meanings of the Hebrew for ('anāh) is “to be humbled, but more severally, it speaks of being oppressed, as were the children of Israel in Egypt (Gen. 15:13; Ex. 1:11-12). It is even used of raping a woman in Genesis 34:2, where it is translated “defiled.”
As David has come to realize in this Psalm, however he was
afflicted, whatever his weakness, wherever he was oppressed, there was only one
remedy: God’s word. It
alone will quicken. As we
have seen several times (vs. 25, 37, 88), quicken (hāyâ)
means to live, be alive, and to sustain life and also speaks of reviving
someone, as in reviving them from sickness or discouragement. We cannot heal
our own weakness, rather we can only be revived by God’s Word.
Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.
It is a sad fact that “worship,” as carried on in many (if not most) churches today, is based almost exclusively on man-centered methods and, more than anything else, on the feelings of the worshipper. In contrast, this verse provides a picture of true worship. Clearly demonstrating what worship is, David says two things: he asks God to accept the praises of his mouth and desires God to teach him His judgments. That is worship: praising God with the mouth and being taught His Word.
First, worship involves praising God. To illustrate, deep doctrinal hymns have all but vanished, being replaced by “praise choruses,” which are specifically designed to be simplistic, ambiguous in their theology, and a means of generating emotionalism. Literally anyone, from Roman Catholic, to liberal protestant, to staunch fundamentalist can sing such little ditties in total unison.
But that is not worship. The term freewill offerings (one word in the Hebrew, nedābāh) is pivotal here. Unlike “tithes,” which were mandatory for operating Israel’s government, freewill offerings were voluntary gifts given to God, such as the gifts given toward the building of the tabernacle and temple (Ex. 35:29; 36:3-6; Lev. 7:16; Ezra 1:4; 3:5; 8:28; 46:12; Amos 4:5). The instance in Exodus 36 is especially compelling because the people brought so much that Moses finally had to say, “Stop giving.” True praise in worship is sacrificial and selfless, not self-serving and selfish.
Second, worship involves the preaching and teaching
of the Word. This is the
climax; everything points to this and has prepared for it. There is nothing of
equal importance than the expository preaching of God’s Word. I personally love
music, but we could sing all day, but until we preach the Word, we have not
worshipped. Nothing praises God as does the proclaiming of His Word as absolute
Truth. Such preaching is not the norm today, rather today’s diet is
pop-psychology, anecdotes, entertaining stories, and emotional appeals. I
greatly appreciated these comments by the late pastor and great expositor James
Boice:
There is nothing more important for Christian growth and the health of the church than sound Bible teaching. Yet sadly, serious Bible teaching is being widely neglected in our day, even in so-called evangelical churches. Instead of Bible teaching, people are being fed a diet of superficial pop-psychology, self-help therapy, feel-good stimulants, and entertainment, and the ignorance of the Bible in churches is appalling. George Gallup has followed the rise of biblical illiteracy for decades, and he reports that although Americans revere the Bible highly—almost every home in America has a Bible, and most people say they believe it—only small percentages know who preached the Sermon on the Mount, are able to name the four Gospels, or recall even one of the Ten Commandments.[4]
My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.
These two verse greatly encourage us in two ways.
My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
The fascinating phrase, My soul is continually in my hand, is an idiom. The Hebrew literally reads, “My life [nephesh] is in my hand continually.” In other words, it is in constant danger; I am at the brink of death every hour of the day.[5] This same idiom actually appears several times in the Old Testament. One of the most vivid, in fact, involves David. After delivering Israel from Goliath, Saul became jealous of David and ordered him killed. Jonathon, however, came to David’s defense and said, “For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?” (I Sam. 19:5; cf. Judg. 12:3; 1 Sam. 28:21; Job 13:14).
What then was his protection? Never did he forget God’s law. Oh, how we need to realize that God’s Word is the only protection we have! As the Apostle Paul outlines so graphically in Ephesians 6:11-20, we are in constant danger from “spiritual wickedness in high places” and must therefore put on “the whole armour of God, that [we] may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (vs. 12-13). We put it on and never forget to leave it on.
The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.
What immediately comes to mind whenever I read this verse are the booby traps that I’ve read and heard about in the Vietnam War. The diabolical nature of some of them make me both cringe at their evil but at the same time marvel at their cleverness.
One of the most infamous booby traps of the Viet Cong, of course, was the “punji pit.” Sharpened bamboo sticks were placed in pits that were then concealed under a mat with a covering of dirt and vegetation. The punji “bear trap” was made of two boards or steel plates with spikes driven through them; when stepped on, they would pivot, driving the spikes into the leg. The “whip” was a larger piece of bamboo bent tight and wedged in place; when a trip wire released it, the spikes imbedded in it would impale the victim. Similarly, the “mace” was a large rock fitted with spikes and suspended on a camouflaged rope; when tripped, the mace would swing like a pendulum across the trail with devastating results. Even more diabolic was coating the tips of punji sticks with poison, or even human excrement, to greatly increase blood poisoning.
Cleverer still was the “toe-popper,” a rifle cartridge that was inserted into a bamboo sleeve, its primer resting lightly on a nail for a firing pin and its tip protruding out of the ground; a heavy footstep would set it off, firing the bullet into the victim’s foot. One of the simplest of all was to push a hand grenade (with the pin pulled but safety handle still in place) into a tin can, attach the can to a tree, and stretch a trip wire across the trail that pulled the grenade out of the can.
We note all those examples because, as David says, The wicked have laid a snare. How we need to see this! Each one those examples involved camouflage, making the danger blend in with the surrounding. Likewise, Satan hides the danger when he sets the snare for us. Thankfully, however, just as a good squad leader, platoon sergeant, or other trainer would teach their men how to avoid such things, the precepts of God’s Word are what illumine the far more devastating spiritual booby traps that the wicked so diabolically set for us. And also, as those trained soldiers are careful not to err from their training and multiple warnings, we do not err from God’s precepts. Spurgeon writes here:
[David] was not snared, for he kept his eyes open, and kept near his God. He was not entrapped and robbed for he followed the King’s highway of holiness, where God secures safety to every traveller. He did not err from the right, and he was not deterred from following it, because he referred to the Lord for guidance, and obtained it. If we err from the precepts, we part with the promises; if we get away from God’s presence, we wander into the wilds where the fowlers freely spread their nets. From this verse let us learn to be on our guard, for we, too, have enemies both crafty and wicked. Hunters set their traps in the animals’ usual runs, and our worst snares are laid in our own ways. By keeping to the ways of the Lord we shall escape the snares of our adversaries, for his ways are safe and free from treachery.
Especially significant in Spurgeon’s comment is that the “worst snares are laid in our own ways,” that is, it is in our everyday activities and normal situations are laid the greatest dangers.
Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.
As this stanza closes, we see two wonderful truths.
First, we see our present heritage. The word heritage (nāchal) is actually a verb that means to receive, to take property as a permanent possession. The more literal idea, then, is, “I have inherited Thy testimonies.” Many of us get very concerned about what a relative might leave us in a will, and boy do we get happy when someone does leave us something valuable! But all that is merely temporal. God’s Word, however, is the greatest inheritance that we possess? Did you get that? Nothing, absolutely nothing, equals the value of the Word of God.
Do we, therefore, say with the Psalmist that God’s testimonies they are the rejoicing of my heart? Is our greatest joy God’s Word? Do we then say with David, I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always? The Hebrew behind perform ('āsāh) “conveys the central notion of performing an activity with a distinct purpose, a moral obligation, or a goal in view.”[6] Is that our attitude to His Word? Do we obey it? Do we apply what we read and hear preached? Do we have the ultimate goal in mind? What is that goal? That leads us to a final truth.
Second, we see our future heaven. Twice David tells us that this inheritance is eternal: it is for ever and is unto the end. That is the goal! We keep our eyes on the eternal, keep on focus on the glory in Christ that awaits.
Oh, Dear Christian, I would encourage you again, do you love the Word of God? I pray so, for It is the only place you will ever find the right guidance, the only place you will find light to illumine your path, your weaknesses, your worship, the dangers that lurk, and your inheritance.
[1] Baker and Carpenter, #216.
[2] Systematic Theology, Vol 1, p. 183.
[3] The first four types adapted from an outline in Handfuls On Purpose (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004), Series VIII, p. 305.
[4] Boice, p. 1028.
[5] As John Gill observes, the Septuagint, Latin Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions are in error here with “in thy hands.” As another puts it, “this is a conjectural and useless emendation” (Clark). It is possible that these ancient interpreters simply did not understand the idiom, and so expressed it according to what they thought might be the original reading.
[6] Baker and Carpenter, #6213.