The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
The Light On My Path
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105
From the perspective of the twenty-first century, we have the full Word of God, the Bible, on which to rely and from which to learn about God. But when King David wrote this little verse in the longest Psalm of the Bible, his Word of God consisted primarily in the writings of Moses. In the same way, the faith of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was based on the verbal Word of God, spoken to them personally. Until Moses wrote down the history of the children of Israel, more than 2500 years of collective memory had been transmitted by oral tradition from parents to their children. People had received information about God’s dealings with man from the beginning through their families.
It is not my intent to do a dissertation on the history of the Bible here, but to remind us all that God has spoken to man in various ways since creation. And we have the record of that in His Word, the Bible. In recent centuries, the Bible has been translated into many languages. Some of those languages did not even have a readable text before the Bible was brought to them. But, as a result of the process of translation into many indigenous linguistic forms, written and readable text has also been produced and taught to local tribal groups so that their new Bible translation could be read and comprehended.
You see, “The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). He has enabled Scripture to be written and compiled so that we would have all that we need to know in order to come to Him and to know Him better.
The Old Testament Patriarchs did not have the New Testament and the gospel story of the cross to look back on like we do. But they had prophecy, along with God’s intervention and personal leading, to either believe or not believe. Hebrews 11 is replete with the names of Old Testament men and women who, by faith, were enabled by God’s Holy Spirit and acted on God’s direction, including: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Joseph, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets, and “many more who served God and suffered for their faith”.
We, like them, are not left without instruction or examples to carry out what God desires of and in us. Immediately following this list, we are exhorted to take their example, found in the Old Testament, with us in our own walk with God.
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us” (Hebrews 12:1).
In other words, set aside anything that keeps you from believing God when He says He has forgiven you. Set aside the doubts about your security in Christ. Set aside the fear that you may not be good enough for heaven. Set aside your apathy toward the Word of God.
“And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:2).
Jesus died for your sins and, if you believe in Him as your Savior, He covers you in His righteousness, your sins are forgotten, and you have the Holy Spirit in you as God’s pledge of His oath to keep you from falling. His Word is the lamp for your feet and the light for your path. Don’t be distracted from your path by not following the light, God’s Word.
