Psalm 119:105-106 Pt. 2: A Lamp Unto My Feet

Scripture Reading

Psalm 119:9–12 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes!

Intro

The Bible says All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable… (2 Timothy 3:16).

Profitable… that is beneficial, useful.

Something good for us!

How is the Word of God profitable for us?

Last week, we looked at how the Bible is truly the Word of God.

God’s gracious revelation of Himself.

The Lord of the Universe… Our Creator and the whole purpose of everything breaking into our world to give us His Word and draw us near to Himself.

And this week… I want to look at the implications of that.

If God has really spoken what does that mean for us?

if we really believe that the Bible is the Word of God… what difference does that make?

And I think the difference is Psalm 119:105…

Psalm 119:105–106 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.

If the Bible is truly God’s Word then it is a light to our feet.

And as a light to our feet we should live all of our life in light of it.

Make it the highest authority… the final say…

The guide of every step…

In short… if the Bible is truly God’s Word, then we should build our whole life on it.

Hold fast to it.

Keep it no matter the cost… when… more times… than not that cost is going to look like self-denial, crucifying the Old Man, and dying to the flesh.

Persecution/Self-Denial

We like to think of keeping the Word as faithful under persecution… and Lord willing we will have that grace when it comes to that.

But keeping the Word comes way sooner than persecution.

We’re willing to suffer for the Word… but are willing to suffer self-denial and saying no to that temptation of the flesh.

Are we willing to suffering giving up that momentary pleasure or the cost of doing the right thing?

If we aren’t willing to suffer to keep the Word in times of temptation what makes us think we will be willing to suffer in times of persecution

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path… in practice… looks like self-denial and living unto God and not for our own desires and according to our own wisdom.

Big Idea

And that’s ultimately what I want to get to today.

What I want for this sermon… what I want for myself… for my family… for my sons… for our church…

Is that we would live all of our life in the light of God’s Word and not according to our own wisdom.

We all say we believe the Bible… but do we live like it when the rubber meets the road?

Whose light are we living according to?

What is the Lamp we use to light our path?

The Lamp and Light of our own wisdom or the Lamp and light of God’s Word?

Let’s look at Psalm 119:105.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

The idea here is that Scripture is a Lamp that lights our way in the darkness…

That shows us the way to go and illuminates any stumbling blocks in our path.

That without God’s Word we are blind and can only hope to stumble in the darkness.

Remember the whole Psalm is celebrating the grace of God’s Word.

And so in the context of the Psalm, the Psalmist is saying I want to live my whole life in light of your Word.

I want every step to be illuminated by your truth guiding me in the path.

There’s a step-by-step idea to this Psalm.

Its not just a general… I believe in the Word… I try to follow the Word.

Its an intentional every step… every thought… every word, decision, and action is lived in light of God’s Word.

We don’t take a step without it.

That’s the mentality of the Christian… we are living our whole life with the torch of God’s Word in our hand to guide our every step.

Contrast this with what Isaiah says in Isaiah 50:10-11.

Isaiah 50:10–11 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.

Light and Salvation

So there is a sense in which… before faith in Christ… we all walk in darkness.

He is the Servant prophesied in Isaiah.

The same Servant Isaiah said would be a Light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness (Isaiah 42:6-7).

We have to get first things first.

Everything in this sermon assumes faith in Christ.

You can’t come to the Bible hoping it will make you a better person.

The Problem is your dead in your sins.

You don’t need just a little bit of help to get a little bit better.

There’s no amount of “better” that can forgive you of your sins.

You need to be reborn.

Jesus said, “You must be born again.” (John 3:3).

The Light of God’s Word has no use to a blind man.

Before you can walk by the Light… you need to have faith in the Light.

Man in our fallen and sinful state are lost, blind, and dead in our trespasses sins.

But Jesus said I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life …I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness (John 12:46).

Its what Isaiah said in Isaiah 50:10: Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

That’s faith in Christ.

Eternal life!

Light… Salvation and the forgiveness of our sins.

So to walk in Light you must first be saved from Darkness through faith in Christ and His sinless life, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection.

As John said In him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4).

Light and Man’s Wisdom

But here’s the contrast I wanted you to see in verse 11.

Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.

There’s two choices.

We can live by the light of our own wisdom or we can live by the Light of God’s Word… both faith in Christ and walking in obedience to Him.

One leads to life… the other to destruction.

Just look at the emphasis and how God drives the hammer home.

Behold all you who kindle a fire… its a fire of our own making.

Walk by the light of your fire and the torches you have kindled.

In other words… have at it. See how far it gets you.

This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment… Sin leads to death.

The Proverbs say, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 16:25).

When we live by our own wisdom we walk by the light of our own paltry torches.

They don’t lead to life… they can’t!

Its been that way ever since the Fall!

The Fall

In the Book of Genesis God made the world and He made it very good (Genesis 1:31).

He made man and woman in His own image and God blessed them (Genesis 1:26-28).

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food” (Genesis 1:29).

But Genesis 2:16, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17).

And what happened is that Satan in the form of a serpent came and tempted Eve with her husband Adam standing right there.

And…

Genesis 3:2-5 He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Verse 6…

Genesis 3:6–10 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked… And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord…

And just like that everything was broken.

Now here’s what I want you to notice.

The tree was to be desired to make one wise…

You will be like God, knowing good and evil…

The temptation of the Fall was that you could be your own God.

You could live by your own wisdom.

You could determine for yourselves what is good… what is evil… what is true and what is right.

You don’t have to listen to God… you could be a God unto yourselves.

Why live for Him?

Live for you!

Do what you want!… Live however you see fit!

And so she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.

The whole Fall was us walking by our own wisdom and not the light of God’s Word.

And the same thing happens every time we choose our way over God’s way.

We kindle ourselves a fire and we equip for ourselves burning torches.

We say we will be our own gods determining for ourselves good and evil.

We walk by our own light and not the light of God’s Word.

Every time we go by our own wisdom and not the wisdom of God’s Word we live out the Fall all over again.

And what did God say?

You will surely die… sin leads to death.

Big Question:

So the Big Question is… what is the lamp to your feet?

What light are you walking by?

God says in Isaiah 66:1–2 Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look:

What can we give God?

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? (Romans 11:34-35).

All belongs to the Lord.

But what is it the Lord wants?… What is it the Lord is looking for?

he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

This is true worship!

He who trembles at my word.

Honors it… treasures it… reveres it with a holy fear and reverence.

That’s the heart God is looking for.

One that… in everything… down to the smallest step… trembles at His Word.

Is that your heart towards God’s Word?

Is that my heart?

Your Family’s heart?

Our Church’s heart?.

I know for most of us… we love the Bible.

We love God’s Word.

We want to follow it.

You are a faithful church.

So this is not a beat em up sermon.

This is a heart check.

Am I really living by the Light of the Word in every area of my Life?

Down to the smallest detail, am I living by the light of my own wisdom doing what seems best to me kindling a fire of my own making… walking by the torch of my own light?

Or do I tremble at God’s Word?

Now what does that look like?

What does it mean that Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path?

That’s verse 106.

Psalm 119:106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.

This is what it means that God’s Word is sweeter than honey and more precious than fine gold.

We keep it.

As James says But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22).

This is what it means to build your house on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27).

When we hear that parable of the wise man who built his house on the rock, and the foolish man who built his house on sand, we assume that that rock is Jesus.

And there’s a sense where that’s true.

When the storms and the wind came the Wise Man’s house stood strong while the Foolish Man’s house fell.

Without faith in Christ, God’s wrath will come on you like a flood.

The only way to be saved and have eternal life… the only way to have the house of your soul stand forever… is by believing in Jesus.

Receiving Him as your Prophet, Priest, King… Lord and Savior and resting the full weight of your soul on His person and once for all finished work.

But that’s not what the Parable’s about.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:24 Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Hearers and doers.

I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules.

Big Summary

So what this means for us… as Christians… to live with God’s Word as a Lamp to our feet… is that we should seek… in every way… to live all of our lives in submission to the Word.

To lean not on our own understanding… to not walk by the torch of our own light… but to bring more and more of our life into conformity to the Word.

With every step… what does the Word say… how do its principles… how does its truth… light my path… my thoughts… my words… my heart… and my actions?

If it truly is God’s Word we should live all of our lives according to it.

This is why God’s Word is so necessary… so essential in your life… God has spoken and life is in His Word… not our own wisdom.

Matthew 4:4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

And feeding on the word… like we’ve seen is not just hearing the Word or knowing what the Word says.

Feeding on the Word means actually living out what it says.

It means believing all of its truths and promises and doctrines and living out its principles.

The light of God’s Word lights the path and we walk in it.

Application?

Now what does that mean for you?

Just like last week, the easy way to apply this is to “read your Bible more.”

And that’s good, necessary and important.

How do you walk by the light of the Word if you don’t know what it says?

We need the Word preached… we need daily reading in personal worship… and we need holy conversations building our families and one another up on the foundation of the Word where we bring the Word to bear on hardships and situations of everyday life.

And if you don’t have a Bible Reading Plan and don’t know where to start you can find one I made on the website.

However… I want to go beyond that.

The rest of this sermon assumes you studying the Word.

I think we all know we should read it… like we talked about last week… if its truly God’s Word then its one of His most precious gifts to us.

Something men have died for and we should treasure with all of our life.

What I want to do is help motivate you in the Word.

What does the Word actually do?

How does it work?

Tell me if you’ve been here before… you read it and… I got nothing.

What’s the point?

People talk about reading the Bible being such a blessing but I don’t know where the blessing is!

What difference does it make?

And that’s because so many Christians don’t know how to read it.

They don’t know what they are reading for!

The Bible is not just a bunch of theological facts and a list of commands.

We read the Bible to know the Lord…

To know His grace… His love… His mercy, His will.

This is the difference between reading the Bible for Transformation and not just Information..

Its not that the information is not important.

Its that the information isn’t the point… its not an end in itself.

We don’t just read the Bible for mere informational knowledge.

The true way to read the Bible is to read the Bible to know God and be Transformed from the heart.

Its Transformation versus Information.

That’s how to truly live with God’s Word as a Lamp to your feet.

Paul said in…

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

God’s Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).

Paul says it is at work in you believers.

Well how is the Word at work?

The Word is at work to transform you and conform you to the image of Christ.

Look what Paul says in Colossians 3:9-10.

Colossians 3:9–10 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Paul is talking about the New Self.

The New Man.

You are a New Creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Now here’s what’s interesting.

Paul says your new self is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.

That image is of course Christ’s own image.

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God… and just as Adam was made in God’s image we are remade in the image of God as we grow in conformity to Christ.

Christlikeness is the aim.

And this knowledge transforms the mind and the heart.

What do we want? What do we desire?

What is True, Beautiful, and Good?

What is right and what is wrong?

What we think and the way we think controls all of our life and our actions.

Ice Cream Example

Do you like chocolate ice cream?

No I don’t?

Why not?

Because I like vanilla.

That’s knowledge working itself out in your life.

Will you ever choose chocolate ice cream?

No! Because you know you like vanilla.

Sin and holiness works the same way.

This is why the Bible is so important.

The New Self is renewed in knowledge.

The Bible renews our Hearts and our Minds and transforms us into the image of Christ.

First…

I. The Bible Renews Our Hearts

Love is the power for a holy life.

The secret to holiness is not “Do better, try harder.”

Its love for God and sin becoming bitter.

Well how do you grow in your love for God?

We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

God’s love for us in Christ is the flame that ignites our love for Him in return.

When you read the Bible its not just doctrine and information that you’re reading for… its doctrine that leads to worship.

Theology leads to Doxology.

Jesus said This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).

The goal is is to know God… His grace… His glory… His kindness, goodness, and works.

Its what Psalm 145 says…

Psalm 145:5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

This is the same Psalm that says I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. (Psalm 145:1–2).

Seeing God’s glory… His love… His works talking about His mercy, His grace, His faithfulness, and His redemption most ultimately in Christ and His death on the cross…

When we read the Bible and see God’s glory and our sin and how good God is… It makes us say, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:4).

Who am I that God would love me and send His Son to die for me?

And that’s what ignites our love for Him and that love renews our hearts and empowers us for a holy life.

We don’t want sin… who would want sin when you compare it to the glory of God!

So the Bible does help you live a holy life not just by giving you a list of commands or just going through the motions of reading it but by literally changing your heart to love God more and more.

Number 2…

II. The Bible Renews Our Minds

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The Bible teaches us God’s will.

It gives us a whole new way of thinking and understanding the world.

Its what we’ve been talking about the whole sermon… without God’s Word we walk by the light of our own wisdom… our own torches.

And because of total depravity we are not capable of doing anything different.

The Bible says that outside of Christ we were darkened in [our] understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that [was] in [us], due to [our] hardness of heart (Ephesians 4:18).

But through the Word God shows us His will and, as New Creations, completely transforms our way of thinking.

What seems so normal to the world is no longer normal to us.

Take Sexual Immorality…

For you young adults and single people… its almost just a given.

No one takes sexual purity seriously, but Scripture gives us a new way of thinking.

Or Take Divorce…

For the world… totally normal.

If you’re unhappy… just give up and try again.

But for Christians… our God is a Covenant God.

He keeps covenant and our marriage is a covenantal relationship through thick and thin.

So how Scripture renews the mind is when the unbeliever is in the 18th fight of the day thinking of divorce we are thinking divorce is not an option.

We’ve got to find a way to forgive and move on.

Our last big example would be Suffering.

The Bible transforms the way we see pain and suffering in our life.

For the Christian God uses our suffering to sanctify us and conform us to the image of Christ.

The Bible says He disciplines us for our Good (Hebrews 12:10).

Not only that… but Scripture also gives us all the promises of God’s faithfulness and sovereignty to comfort us in our suffering.

Fear not!… Jesus said… you are of more value than many sparrows (Matthew 10:31).

Scripture renews our minds.

Conclusion

The idea here is that we would start seeing and filtering everything… all of our thoughts… all of our words… every step… through the lens of Scripture…

That our default mode of thinking would just start being… Bible… with a love in our heart for God from the knowledge of His glory and His works and HIs ways… that actually makes us want to live out the Bible.

That’s how the Bible changes you.

It renews us both in heart and mind to conform us to the image of Christ.

It doesn’t all happen at once.

Conversion does but sanctification is a process.

The Bible renews you day by day… slowly but surely by the Holy Spirit showing you more of God and showing you more of His ways…

And as it renews… your word is a Lamp to my feet and a light to my path…

And the more we know the Word… the brighter that path becomes.

Torch vs. Lamp

My goal for today was for us to have that question in the back of our mind in any given situation…

Am I going to live by the light of my own torch or am I going to live by the light of God’s Word.

I think its such a helpful picture of spiritually what’s really going on in any temptation or any given situation.

We have a choice… we can go to the Word or we can kindle a fire of our own making.

What will we do? How will we live?

What will be the light that lights our path?

Sin leads to death.

Our own wisdom… doing what is right in our own eyes… remember, be transformed by the renewal of your mind… our way leads to our own destruction.

But look what Psalm 119 says…

Psalm 119:1–3 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

Let’s Pray