My favorite films may be Peter Jackson’s recent renditions of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. They tell the story of a hobbit’s quest to destroy an evil, powerful ring. He is assisted greatly by the light of a star, “a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out.”

This is what God’s Word is for us. As Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Notice three ways the light of God’s Word helps us.

1.     It Directs Us

The light of God’s Word directs us in three ways. It gives us:

• Precepts to Obey

In Psalm 119:106 the psalmist says, “I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.”

Light only helps us if we walk in it. God’s precepts must be obeyed. His direction must be followed. Understanding must be followed through by undertaking.

If we refuse to follow God’s directives and precepts, He will withhold from us further light. As someone once said, “Light received bringeth light. Light rejected bringeth night.”

Think of it this way. There are countries where it’s unsafe to walk in many places because so many landmines were planted during their war-torn years. Although the wars are over, the mines haven’t been removed, and if civilians take one wrong step, they can easily lose a foot, a leg, or even their lives.

It’s hard to imagine how anyone could be free from anxiety in such places. However, if a general gave these civilians an accurate map of every mine’s location, what relief that would bring! The danger zones would be clearly marked, and the safe pathway, however narrow, could be gladly walked in.

Similarly, our world is full of landmines of sin. Even Christians can still take wrong steps and bring terrible destruction to our lives and families. But our General has given us the Bible, a detailed map pinpointing every landmine and safely charting the narrow passageway through these dangers. That’s why God gives us precepts and commandments.[1] 

• Promises to Trust

Although God’s precepts make us conscious of our failure, sinfulness, and need, we need more than just precepts to obey. We also need promises to trust.

Psalm 119:107 says, “I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word!” The psalmist here expresses his need (I am severely afflicted) and asks for help (give me life, O Lord) based on God’s promise (according to your Word).

In God’s promises, especially, we see Scripture’s redemptive goal and theme. The message is not so much about what we should do as about what God has done—redemption.

Redemption is all about man’s ruin and God’s restoration; man’s fall and God’s forgiveness; man’s sin and God’s grace. As Bryan Chapell says, “By virtue of their inclusion in the redemptive record, all texts participate in the message of God’s adequacy and human inadequacy.”[2]

Understanding this keeps us Christ-centered in our approach to the Bible, including the laws, rules, and Old Testament stories. Look not only for the light of God’s precepts, but also for the light of His promises:

“For all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus Christ]. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Law exposes our need, which prepares us to trust in God’s promises and grace—grace which forgives sin, past and present, and empowers us for future obedience. 

• Prayers to Offer

Consider Psalm 119:108. “Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules.”  Almost all of Psalm 119 is prayer. In verse 108 we see both praise and petition, and we can take our cues for prayer from such places. We should read Scripture not only for information, but also to find help in prayer, worship, and devotion to the Lord.

2.     It Defends Us

The light of God’s Word also defends us, from dangerous circumstances as well as people. Psalm 119:109 says, “I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.” The phrase “I hold my life in my hand” is an idiom describing constant danger in circumstances.

Verse 110, on the other hand, seemingly describes dangerous people: “The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.” In both cases, the solution is God’s Word—not forgetting His law or straying from His precepts.

Does this mean that as long as we remember God’s law and remain in His precepts that we’ll be safe from physical harm? That certainly hasn’t proven true for hundreds of thousands of martyrs!

I think the idea is that no matter what danger befalls, I will not stray from or forget God’s Word. Scripture produces powerful people who are so focused on eternal realities that they can be rock solid when their heads are about to be chopped off or they’re about to burn at the stake.

This confidence is well expressed in Romans 8:35-39:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul is not saying here that God always delivers His people from suffering. The Bible does not make false promises; Paul acknowledges in verse 36 (quoting Psalm 44:22) that “we are being killed all day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

So, how does God’s Word defend us? It defends us by feeding our faith so it won’t fail in the hour of trial.

3.     It Delights Us

Finally, the light of God’s Word delights us. The psalmist makes at least 14 references to the joy and delight he finds in Scripture. Psalm 119:111 is one of those: “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.”

Our strength or weakness as Christians can be measured by this one question: In what do we most delight? This was freshly brought home to me in the following gripping statement from John Piper’s book Future Grace:

“The good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12) is at root a fight for delight. It’s a fight to maintain satisfaction in God against all the enticements of the world and all the deceptions of the devil. The fight for faith in future grace is a fight for joy. Knowing this will help us understand what is happening to us when the temptations come. Diminishing delight is a summons to war.[3]

Get hold of that! You are in a war. The battlefield is your heart, which is the ground of your desires and delights. If the world, the flesh, and the devil keep you entangled in lesser pleasures, you will be a casualty of war. But if you view diminishing delight in God as a summons to war, and if you use the Word of God against the Enemy, you will win the victory!

Why find joy in God’s Word? Because God’s testimonies are our “heritage forever” (v. 111). The psalmist says that God’s testimonies are not only his heritage but also his possession and treasure.

How do we maintain such joy in the Word? Verse 112 says, “I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.” Incline. The word carries the idea of stretching, spreading, bowing, or bending. To keep your joy in God and His testimonies, incline your heart to perform His statues.

God’s Word really is a light for us in dark places when all other lights go out. It directs us, defends us, and delights us. Are you cherishing and walking in this light?

O God of Truth,
I thank thee for the holy Scriptures,
    their precepts, promises, direction, light.
In them may I learn more of Christ,
    Be enabled to retain his truth,
    And have grace to follow it.
Help me to lift up the gates of my soul that he may come in
    And show me himself when I search the Scriptures,
    For I have no lines to fathom its depths,
    No wings to soar its heights.
By his aid may I be enabled to explore all its truths,
    Love them with all my heart,
    Embrace them with all my power,
    Engraft them into my life.
Bless to my soul all grains of truth garnered from thy Word;
    May they take deep root,
    Be refreshed by heavenly dew,
    Be ripened by heavenly rays,
    Be harvested to my joy and thy praise.
Help me to gain profit from what I read,
    As a treasure beyond all treasure,
    A fountain which can replenish my dry heart,
        Its waters flowing through me as a perennial river
        On-drawn by thy Holy Spirit.
Enable me to distil from its pages faithful prayer
    That grasps the arm of thy omnipotence,
    Achieves wonders, obtains blessings,
    And draws down streams of mercy.
From it show me how my words have often been unfaithful to thee,
    Injurious to my fellow-men,
    Empty of grace, full of folly,
    Dishonouring to my calling.
Then write thy own words upon my heart and inscribe them on my lips;
So shall all glory be to thee in my reading of thy Word![4]

 

End Notes

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