Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet | Psalm 119:97-112

Show Notes

Episode 824: 
In this episode, we dive into Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, which contains 176 verses. We focus specifically on verse 105, which states, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." This verse serves as a powerful reminder of the guidance and wisdom that God's Word provides in our lives.

What is The Bible Guys?

Whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or you’re just starting to ask questions, there’s a seat for you here.

Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.

Subscribe, bring your questions, and get to know the Bible one conversation at a time. Head over to TheBibleGuys.com for more information!

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Well, good morning, good morning. We talked the whole net through good morning, good morning to you and you and you. That is two times in one week. It is two times. And guess what. There's a reason why I did that. Actually, because somebody approached me and actually came to me and said, Chris, and I can't remember it was Tuesday or Thursday. I'm pretty sure. They said, hey, you've been singing good morning on Tuesdays and it's ruined my Thursday mornings. So could you please sing good Morning on Thursdays just so that I can have it on Thursdays on my way to work. And so I just laughed. I thought that was so funny. I'm like, I'm like, I don't even I don't even really think about when I sing it, just usually do it once a week. But so this week I sang it already on Tuesday. I thought, you know what, why not give because I can't remember Tuesday Thursday. Whoever that person was, this was for you. Yes, well I know who it was. But she asked me to and by the way she was in her twenties. Yeah, so she you know, she was a younger person who obviously listened to the Bibble guys on the way to work and said that she needed I'm pretty certain she said Thursdays. Yeah, so she says, can you please go back to sing on Thursdays? And I just laughed. It just helps her get through the rest of the week. I think, so yeah yeah yeah. So anyway, so there you go. Good morning, and welcome to the Bible guys. We are Chris and Wesley and today we are your Bible guys because Jeff is out of pocket. Yeah yeah, so, so hey, it's been great to have you so far. It's been good being here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was always good to have you because I feel platinum, yes when you're here. Not gold. Yeah, that's right, platinum, that's right. So hey, so today we are diving into Psalm chapter one, nineteen and there's a bit of trity about someone nineteen. You know what it is. After someone n teake Oh as far as it yes, yes, I do. It is the longest chapter. It is the longest chapter in the Bible. You know how many verses? It has one hundred and I'm going to get it wrong. Yeah, believe or not. I was going to say that too, one hundred and fifty it's one hundred and seventy six verses. I was off. Yeah, well, I mean it's it's still it's a mammoth right, And we're focusing on verse one oh five today. Yes, but before we get into that, Desiree has written that today is Thanksgiving. Yes. How did I not say that right out of the gates? Yeah, Happy Thanksgiving, David. I said my little song. I sing my little song. But yeah, Happy Thanksgiving y'all. Yeah, and we hope that you're having sweet potato and not pumpkin pie today, it. Says, says Wesley. I for one hope for pumpkin and for cherry. Okay, we'll go neutral apple. Oh, I can't go wrong with apple. It's American. Yeah, sure, But Desiree says, Happy Thanksgiving. Let's take some time this morning to share some of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions or funny stories. Now, do you have a funny Thanksgiving story? Oh? Man, a funny one. I just remember lots of family. You know, we used to do Thanksgiving and Christmas big. We would all meet at my grandmother's house. So I just remember just as a kid. I mean you could have I'm not joking, like forty fifty people, and she had like a finish basement, you know, the main level, and like a finished upstairs. So there were people everywhere, and that's the thing I remember most as a kid, just lots of family. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I would say, I don't think that there's been any major zar bak havoc stories that have happened on Thanksgiving. Certainly on Christmas. I have my share of Christmas stories, but I don't think on Thanksgiving, at least not that I can remember. But yeah, we used to do Thanksgiving because my mom and dad get divorced. We would actually Thanksgiving would be the holiday that would be for my dad's side of the family, So my mom's side of the family was always Christmas. And so growing up as a kid, I remember going to like my grandfather and grandmother's house, spending it with my dad's side of the family. And the one thing that stuck out to me was my grandmother would always have frozen corn. Okay, but my mom would always have corn out of the can, and I liked frozen corn better, and so I just remember thinking to myself, I like Grandma's corn better than my mom's corn. That's about the only things. Oh wait a minute, it just hit him. Wait a minute, who burned? What? Okay, No, I have a scar? Do you see is there a scar somewhere here? It's kind of hot. Your beard is growing in so it's kind of hard to see it. But I had twelve stitches on Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day because uh my, my uncle John and Aunt Kay brought this big sheep dog uh to my grandmother's house. And I remember I'm leaning down in front of it. It was very scary, like the dog was very scared of it was so big. I was only six years old. And I remember going up to it and and and and just just uh, you know, reaching out my hand and and at the same exact time, my cousin Dustin ran around the corner and jumped on the back of the dog's back. And it was already like like skeptic. It's like a skeptic dog, right, It was like really sheepish, no pun intent, right, And it was like, you know, worried, and and all of a sudden, Dustin jumped on its back. No, maybe it was Eric. It was Eric. It was Eric who did it. He jumped on his back and the dog freaked out and literally launched and bit me and like my face, he bit my face. I had to go to the hospital and Thanksgiving Day, Yeah, and got twelve stitches. Wow. Yeah, yeah, that is not a good Thanksgiving. I'm still bitter. Actually. Yeah. Even as I'm saying that, I'm thinking, who would jump on the back of a sheep dogs? Right? And he was like, oh, it seemed like a big horse. I just thought I wanted to jump on it. And I got I got stitches because of Eric. And ladies and gentlemen. That's why women live longer than men. Yes, yeah, in fact, that could be. That could be a made Chris mad Yeah. Yeah, here it is, you know, Thanksgiving, all these years later, forty nine years later, I'm still upset about it. Yeah. Yeah, she just thought it was a good idea. You know what, I'm just gonna jump on the back of the big dogs. Yep, that's what he did. So there, there it is. There's my there's my Thanksgiving moment. That was good, all right? So you know what that story ends in ruin and pain? Yes it does. But the story of Some one nineteen does not end in ruin and pain. I thought you were going to rhyme or something. No, So the story of song chapter one nineteen ends in a lighted path, and and wisdom and fulfillment is the opposite of going to the hospital and getting twelve stitches. There is truth in that statement. I can I deny. I would say, out of the whole week, that was my worst t Yes, I think you're right. I think they're getting worse and worse. But people live for these They wait for these transitions. They they do. I think transitions are slipping in the in the Bible guys, tradition. So oh, anyway, so we're doing some how about this, how about this. I'm going to assign you the transition for tomorrow. Okay, all right, so I have no idea what it is, but yeah, yeah, yeah. So so before the podcast starts, you have to think through it. Okay. I have not thought through a single transition this week. I've made them up on the spot. Okay, but we're going to give you a good transition. On the spot. Okay, all right, come up with something. Okay, good, good, all right, that'd be good. And then Desiree is gonna ban us both from transitions. All right, all right, so PalmOne nineteen today, but we're not. We're not reading all one hundred and seventy six verses. I think we should. It'll be forty minutes, said, We will be here for forty. Minutes just reading, all right, So we're gonna do just from verse ninety seven yep. And we're gonna go down to one twelve yep. Uh. And one oh five is kind of in the middle of that. So this gives some good context. So Psalm chapter one, nineteen, verse ninety seven, out of the New Living Translation, it says, Oh, how I love your instructions. I think about them all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide. Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your laws. I am even wiser than my elders, for I have kept your commandments. I have refused to walk on any evil path so that I may remain obi to your word. I haven't turned away from your regulations, for you have taught me well, how sweet your words taste to me. They are sweeter than honey. Your commandments give me understanding, no wonder. I hate every false way of life. Your word is a lamp to Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I've promised it once, and I'll promise it again. I will obey your righteous regulations. I have suffered much, Oh Lord, restore my life again as you promised. Lord, accept my offering of praise and teach me your regulations. My life constantly hangs in the balance, but I will not stop obeying your instructions. The wicked have set their traps for me, but I will not turn from your commandments. Your laws are my treasure, They are my heart's delight. I am determined to keep your decrees to the very end, and I wanted to do it again. Switch to King James. Yes you did. You said You're like, the word is a lamp to it. Yeah, you had to stop. Yep, So we learned is thy word is a lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path. Like wait a minute. It doesn't read yeah, yeah. Yeah, but it says in this new Living translation, your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. So it talks about the guidance, right, because we're talking about God's wisdom and God's guidance, and all the way through just this one section of the chapter he talks about following instructions. In verse number ninety seven, he says, your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, and they are my constant guide. Right. So the psawmist and we don't know who the sawmist actually is. We don't know if it's David, we don't know who it is. But the psawmist is talking about how it's God's word which is the guide, right, which is pretty cool because we know that, you know, you know, God can like just like you said yesterday, you can pray about something and God can give you supernatural insight. But just always know that God's word is reliable today just as it was you know, thousands of years ago. It's just as relevant for our lives. It's just as practical, it's just as clear, and it's just as powerful. Right. So God's promises, his word, his advice, they are the things that should guide us more than anything else. Yeah. Now, what's interesting though about this verse is it kind of breaks it up. It says, your word, the Bible is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. It almost seems redundant at first, like, Okay, if it was a light for my path, it would also be a light for my feet. But God distinguishes those two. Your word is a lamp to God my feet and a light for my path. When I read that, I think about what could happen to your feet. So like, if you've ever walked along the trail or something like that, you can kind of step on a rock or something like that, and you can kind of twist an ankle or something. So it's kind of like this is saying God's word will be a lamp to guide your feet so you can avoid those potholes in life that you might come up against. But not just that, it will also guide you as it relates to your future, what's ahead of you, the path that's down the road and around the corner. So not only will God's word help you navigate the immediate potholes in your life, it will also help with the guidance for the road ahead. Right, which means the trajectory of your life. Yes, right, So you may make a small adjustment in your life. You may step slightly to the right slightly to the left. That's the trajectory over time and distance is going to put you exactly where God wants you. And you know, it's interesting because again this was written, you know, thousands of years ago, and back then in ancient Israel, a lamp was only a clay bowl or a clay structure with a hole in it with a tiny flame which was just enough to take the next step, which again is a word picture that God uses, which is symbolic of you know, sometimes we don't see anything beyond just the next step, right, Like I remember going whitewater rafting one time, and I remember being in a river with cliffs on either side, and it was so windy and and so it's like you could almost you know, you could almost only see what was coming up, and you didn't know what was around the bend. So you can see the rapids, but you only knew the rapids were there once you turned a corner. You know, you turn this corner and you're like, oh, no, there's a rapid, and then you've prepared for it, and then you're like, what's around the next band, Oh it's a calm, smooth yeah, you know, and then you turn around the next band. Oh no, there's another rapid, you know, and it's it's just the way it is. You know, you get these long cliffs, this winding river. But guess what if you're in a helicopter, Yeah, you're able to see where all the rapids are. Yeah, You're able to see every twist and turn, every you know, you're able to see every danger and everything else. Unfortunately, life isn't that way. But God sees it that way. Yeah, God sees our life from the helicopter. But here's the thing, Chris, I appreciate the fact that we can't see everything. Just think about your own life, and I could say this the same for me. If God had told you what you would go through to get to where you are now, the trauma, the tragedy, the people that would lie on you, people that would stab you in the back, just the ups and downs of life, you may have said. You know what, God, this ministry thing, you know what, I'm just gonna be ass on that one. So I thank God that he doesn't show us all the pieces. Now we think, we we think that we want to know the the helicopter view of everything, But if we really saw the helicopter view of what was ahead of us. We might say, God, I'm good, I'll pass on that one, right, yeah. Right, yeah, I agree with that. Actually, it's it's it's a relief in that way. Is Yeah, you're like, you know, I don't even want to know. I can only handle one one of the time. I don't need to see the next eight calamities. You know, right right, yeah, And then you get exhausted, You're like, I don't want to do it. Yeah, I don't want to do it. You know. It's so funny. Is have you ever gone whitewater rafting? No? I've never had. Yeah, so I remember one time this this this guide that we had. He was just a crazy guy and he goes, hey, who wants to ride on the front of the raft? He goes, he goes, yeah, this is like a class four rapid. But he goes, if you're really brave enough, you can sit on the front of the raft and just hang on. And I was like, yeah, I was young and stupid enough to say, yeah, do it. But anybody who's been here's class four rapid and they're thinking, are you crazy? Plus four rapid is like dangerous? But sure enough I got on the front of the raft and we hit this rappid and I just flew. I could not hang on. I just flew. And then I landed in the uh water and and I actually was. Caught in a like one of the whirlpools. Yeah, I just kept on spinning and spinning and spinning, and I thought, oh no, And then I had to remember my training where they said if you if you're in the water, you got you just just curl up in a ball and eventually it'll spit you out. But it took so long for it to spit me out that almost ran out of breath. And so and so I I am lucky I survived, right, And and uh, yeah, had you had you told me that that was coming, I would have opted perhaps maybe not even to God going on the trip. Yeah, I would have been like, you know what, I'm gonna sit this one out. I'm gonna take my car, I'm gonna take the road. I'm gonna drive and meet you all there, right, because that because that's uh, that's the easy way. But but yeah, you're right. I think that sometimes if we knew it was coming, well, you know, it's a blessing not to know, right, So it says. It says that God guides us and he illuminates the path by the way, I have to throw this in you do you know the song about this verse, thy word is a lamp onto my feet? Now, I know that one. You didn't grow up listening to Amy Grant. I did not grow up listening to Amy Grant. I did not really know. So so Amy Grant's thy Word is a lamp into my feet and a light and to my path. Okay, nothing will I fear. As long as you are near anyway. So the point is, so the point is is that I have to mention this. So here it is this this song, Thy Word is a lamp into my feet. I bought tickets to go see Amy Grant. I think it's in a week and a half. Yeah. So she she's in down downtown at the Detroit Opera House with a Michael W. Smith and c Wow. Yeah. So yeah, and I got like really good seats too. So anyway, it's the music we grew up on. Yeah, but I'm going to look forward to this verse, this song. Yeah, right, So now what if she doesn't sing that song, Well she might not. She might not since there's three artists and it is a Christmas special. She might not get to it, but it was one of the main songs of my youth. Many I listened to this sucker all the time. So I you know, when you put versus the music, it's just another way to always remind ourselves of what is true. So you can either put versus the music, or you can memorize scripture. Right, so Psalm one nineteen one five is a phenomenal verse to memorize. Your word is a lamp to my guide, guide to my feet, and a light to my path. I've promised it once, and I'll promise it again. I will obey your righteous regulations. Yeah, yeah, it's really good. Yeah. I want to swing back really quick to verse ninety seven, and it kind of tie into what we're talking about. It says, oh, how I love your instructions. I think about them all day long. Just meditating on God's word. I think that is probably a great prescription for everyone, to just meditate on the positivity of God's word versus the problem that's right in front of you. If we could spend more time just focused on Him in his word, that would leave us less time to focus on the issues and the problems that we have. So I think that's just an important tip for everyone to just spend more time meditating, thinking about rolling God's word around your mind. How does this word apply to me? How can I use this word in every aspect of my life? I think that's just a healthy way to live. Yeah. Hey, another thing that just a random thought that I had was when the Psalma says your word is a lamp to my feet. That indicates that it's dark, right, and so light is only needed in the darkness. Right, So if the sun is you know, if the sun is out, you're not going to need a lamp when you're walking, But in the darkness, you're going to need that lamp. And isn't amazing the darker it gets, the brighter one flame can get. Right, So, if you think about it, like if you're in like a dimly lit room and you light one candle, that candle isn't going to illuminate that room all the much. But have you ever been in a room where it is so pitch black there's nothing you can't even see the hand in front of your face. The tiniest match, you can light a match and it will illuminate the entire room because light, the smallest of light, pierces the most darkness. And so I think about it that way, how powerful that word image is. But then also here's what I'm also thinking. Have you ever known that light eliminates shadows? Right? So, like, for instance, have you ever have you ever like seen a shadowy area and you've been creeped out and you're like, ah, that creeps me out a little bit. But then you turn on your headlights on the car or you you know, you shine a flashlight in something, right, you're let's just say you're in the basement, and you're like, that's a shadowy area, and then you turn on the flashlight and everything else, you know, just goes away. And and so I certain to think about like feelings, Our feelings, our emotions are like shifting shadows, right, and and and and so light eliminates and overcomes feelings. So a lot of times what we do is when we when we depend on our paths, we think about our own feelings and what makes us happy, our own wisdom, you know, and things that that are rooted in us. But then light shifts those and and all of a sudden, depending on where the light goes that shadow will shift and eventually it gets eliminated altogether. And so it's just a great word picture that says that God's word trump's feelings and our own advice. Yeah no, that's good. That's pretty good, right, Yeah, I think that's our time. It is our time. So hey, I've enjoyed this series so far, and so we're going to be wrapping up tomorrow on God's wisdom and guidance and hopefully we'll see you then. Yeah, happy Thanksgiving again. Yeah, yeah, that's right. I'm the Bible, guys,