A Lamp Unto My Feet

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. ~Psalms 119:105

Let us think about the world when this psalm was probably written. At the latest it was the 5th century B.C. There were no electric lights, no ambient light reflecting from clouds near metropolitan or urban centers. If there was no full moon it was difficult to see at night. If it was a new moon it would’ve been near impossible to see at night. To have been able to even see where you were going you would’ve need a lamp to see at night. Most of the lamps used at night in the 5th century B.C. and older were not very bright. At best it illuminated your path a step ahead when walking. If you were lucky it would illuminate two steps ahead.

"I am the Light of the World" ~John 8:12

If Jesus is the light of the world, and He is, the intensity of the light that we allow to illuminate our path is directly proportional to our faith. The stronger our faith the more Christ illuminates our path. So why is our faith so important? Why do we need the lamp to begin with? We live in the darkness of this world. It behooves us to strengthen our faith in Christ to be able to see deeper into the darkness so we can discern our path farther ahead so that we do not stumble and fall in the darkness. Additionally, the more lamps (believers) you have concentrated in a single area the brighter and more intense it is and the more effective it is pushing the darkness away.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ~Ephesians 6:12

Until the day when Christ returns in power in His second coming, the darkness of this world’s system rules in power and people will need a lamp in this darkness. The only place it does not rule is in the Christian who act as lights to the world and an illuminating outpost of the kingdom.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden”~ Matthew 5:14

We do not belong to the darkness and this is why we stand out.

…for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness~1 Thessalonians 5:5