Psalm119:105

Psalm 119:105

The lamp and its light

And now to 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet – Nun. Nun represents the number 50 and it is an expression of life often associated with a picture of a fish swimming in water! It is first mentioned in Exodus 33:11 where we meet Joshua “the son of Nun.” Joshua was the man chosen to succeed Moses and he was able to enter the Promised Land where he made incredible progress in conquering the local tribes and clearing the way for Israel’s occupation. Joshua was literally “the son of life” – a representation of Yeshua our Messiah.

The words that begin this section of Psalm 119 are the best known in the Psalm, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” This talk of the author being on a journey and choosing to walk on the right path has been mentioned before, indeed in the previous verse he declares how he hates every wrong path. So, what is the best way to stay on the right path?  By reading and obeying the Word of God. Without the Word we stumble along in darkness, there is no clear route before us, and obstacles constantly hinder our progress. In ancient times there were of course, no artificial lights or lamps and the only natural light at night was from the moon. Lamps burned oil and had to be handled carefully but to move around outside without one was very difficult.

In the darkness of the moral maze that surrounds us all today we need the constant light of God’s Word and when we have it we should live by it! We cannot claim that the Word is a lamp and then completely ignore what it says, as is the case of so many in the churches in these days of cultural immorality. Our predecessors often talked about staying on the straight and narrow; that’s impossible without the light of the Word. 

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