THE WORLD IS DARK: WE NEED LIGHT!

TRIALS ARE ORDAINED BY GOD

Psalm 119:105-112
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.

This section begins with one of the most well-known verses in the whole Bible. It certainly is a wonderful description of what the Word of God is for us. It is a light unto my feet: it shows me, up close, where my feet are walking, and at the same time it shows me my path, as it prepares me for upcoming dangers or twists in the way.

I certainly need this kind of direction in my life, as I need help with both the situations I am in and preparation for situations that are coming. At times we seem so surprised by things that, if we had been reading the Scriptures carefully, should not have caught us unprepared. We easily stumble in areas that we could have avoided, if we had applied the Word carefully.

It is interesting to know that lack of care in the way we walk will also have effects in the way we love Scriptures and, consequently, the way we will obey.

1 Peter 2:1-3
          So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

The premise here is that we need to set aside sin, to be sincere in our walk, and then we will long for the pure spiritual milk. These are the consequences of knowing God, and therefore experiencing the Lord‘s goodness.  All these things are so closely connected together:  a genuine conversion, an appetite for the Word and a sincere walk. When there is one missing, we should truly be alarmed and should re-evaluate ourselves spiritually.

As I look back in my life, I can now see so clearly the way that sin squelched my desire for truth, because the Word would only expose the sin that I did not want to abandon. I am so grateful to God for His loving work in my life to bring me back to Him. The dark times in my life and the scars are certainly reminders of the need for a commitment to the daily direction and protection that the light of the Word of God gives my life.

The writer knew the value of the Word, and he had promised solemnly to follow it. Our commitment should be as serious and as resolute as his.

Again the psalmist admits to his affliction, but he confirms his commitment to the Word. He wants life and asks God for life. We should notice that he is going to ask the Word to define what life is. In our difficult times, we sometimes think that our life is not worth living - that, in fact, it is not life at all. God gives life, He defines what life is, He controls our life, He tells us how we should live it, and He uses it not only to make us more like Christ, but also for the encouragement of other believers and  for the reaching of the lost.

John 10:10
          The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

God’s intention is that we have an abundant life, that our joy may be full. For this to be true, we need to allow God to define what life is, what our goals should be, and joyfully submit to His work in us, as He guides us through His Word.

Dear friends, there has never been a trial that was not ordained by God to make us more mature in the faith, that has not prepared us to be a help to other believers and a light to a dark world. If those are our goals, then our satisfaction should be complete. May God help us to evaluate our lives in light of His Word, and therefore be completely satisfied.

The writer describes the difficulty of his life, but he states that he has found his joy in the Scriptures. We may be tempted to look elsewhere for joy, but if we are true children of God, we will not find lasting satisfaction anywhere else.

God’s Word is our sole resource for life and godliness, so we’d better do as the psalmist: incline our heart towards it! 

May the Word of God be what we look to in the times of difficulties! May the Scriptures be what we use daily to prepare and to understand the way God wants us to travel. Life here can be dark and dangerous. We really need the light of God’s Word!