Devotions with Holly Woodbridge

Lamps and Commitment: A pondering by Holly Woodbridge

Psalm 119:97-112, (actually if you read the whole Psalm instead of this devotional, it’s way better than anything I can write.)

Psalm 119:105 ESV  
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Many believe David is the author of Psalm 119, this very lengthy psalm.  There is even a tradition that he used this Psalm to teach young Solomon the alphabet, but not just for writing, the spiritual alphabet for living. What we do know for sure is that this writer knew pain and trouble, and that he also knew God and had a deep faith in God’s love, truth, and compassion.

All through this Psalm you see a first-person conversation with God. He is not talking about God. He is talking to God. And as he communes with His Almighty God, he speaks with such devotion and commitment throughout this psalm. In this particular passage, you see phrases like “how I love, I meditate,  I have, I obey, I have kept,  I have not,  I gain,  I have taken, I have suffered,  I will not forget, I have not strayed, My heart is set.”

It would be a great exercise to walk through this psalm with a highlighter or pen and mark these first-person commitments.

What is even more impressive is that these commitments are made from a man who has suffered as well as sinned, has groaned as well as gained, a man who has wept as well as won. In the very realness of life, he made a choice to commit his way to the Lord.
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That one verse, 105, “Your word is like a lamp that guides my steps, a light that shows the path I should take,” helps us get a sneak peek into this devotion to God. He has been “in the Word,” as we say.

And what a great image, a lamp. No matter how dark the world around us, our God lights our path. His Word is that light. So, if the darkness around you starts getting to you “Be in the Word!” It will light up your night.