Enough light for the next step
A lamp in the ancient world was a small clay dish of oil. It lit the next few steps, not the whole road. God’s word often works the same way, giving us enough light for today.
We often ask to see the end of the road before we move. The psalmist is content with the lamp, which means trusting the One who holds the lamp with the part we cannot yet see.
Lord, thank You for Your word. Light my next step today, and help me to walk by what You have shown me rather than worry about what I haven’t. Amen.
נֵר (ner (NAYR)). “Lamp.” It means a small oil lamp, the kind carried in the hand. It lights close to the feet, which is exactly where the psalmist says God’s word shines.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It is an acrostic in 22 stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and almost every verse mentions God’s word in some way.
Alexander Duff and his wife Ann sailed from London as the first Church of Scotland missionaries to India. Their ship was wrecked on the way and they saved little but the clothes they wore, a Bible and a psalm book. He went on to found a college in Calcutta.