Through your precepts, I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.
I have sworn, and have confirmed it, that I will obey your righteous ordinances.
Parallel Translations
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Through your precepts, I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.
I have sworn, and have confirmed it, that I will obey your righteous ordinances.
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Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
Show all 3 translations
-
From Thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
I have sworn, and have confirmed it, to observe Thy righteous ordinances.
Cross-references (28)
- Proverbs 6:23 (v105) For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
- Psalms 43:3 (v105) Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, to your tents.
- Psalms 18:28 (v105) For you will light my lamp, Yahweh. My God will light up my darkness.
- 2 Peter 1:19 (v105) We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and…
- Job 29:3 (v105) when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,
Show all 28 cross-references
- Psalms 19:8 (v105) Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. Yahweh’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.
- Ephesians 5:13 (v105) But all things, when they are reproved, are revealed by the light, for everything that reveals is light.
- Psalms 119:128 (v104) Therefore I consider all of your precepts to be right. I hate every false way.
- Proverbs 8:13 (v104) The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
- Proverbs 14:12 (v104) There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
- Nehemiah 10:29 (v106) joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the…
- Psalms 97:10 (v104) You who love Yahweh, hate evil! He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
- Psalms 119:98 (v104) Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for your commandments are always with me.
- Psalms 56:12 (v106) Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.
- Psalms 101:3 (v104) I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me.
- Psalms 119:100 (v104) I understand more than the aged, because I have kept your precepts.
- Romans 12:9 (v104) Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.
- 2 Kings 23:3 (v106) The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and…
- Psalms 66:13-14 (v106) I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you, which my lips promised, and my mouth spoke, when I was in…
- Amos 5:15 (v104) Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of…
- Matthew 7:13 (v104) “Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it.
- 2 Corinthians 8:5 (v106) This was not as we had expected, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.
- Psalms 36:4 (v104) He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.
- Psalms 119:29-30 (v104) Keep me from the way of deceit. Grant me your law graciously! I have chosen the way of truth. I have set your ordinances before me.
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (v106) When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. It is better that you should not…
- Psalms 119:115 (v106) Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
- 2 Chronicles 15:13-14 (v106) and that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. They swore…
- Matthew 5:33 (v106) “Again you have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv104–106 104 By thy statutes I have acquired understanding The…
104 By thy statutes I have acquired understanding The prophet seems here to invert the order he has just now laid down. He observed that he had kept his feet from going astray, that he might observe God’s Law, and now he institutes a contrary order, beginning with the observance of the Law; for he declares that he had been taught by the word of God before he amended his faults. Yet these two things are not inconsistent, — that the faithful should withdraw themselves from their wanderings, in order to frame their life according to the rule of God’s word, and that when they are already advanced a considerable way in a holy life, the fear of God being then more vigorous in them, they should regard all vices with more intense hatred. The beginning of a good life, unquestionably, is when a man endeavors to purge himself from vices; and the more a man has made progress in a good life, he will burn with a, proportionate zeal in his detestation of vices and in shunning them. Moreover, we are taught by the words of the prophet, that the reason why men are so involved in falsehoods, and entangled in perverse errors, is, because they have not learned wisdom from the word of God. As the whole world are given to folly, those who wander astray plead in excuse, that it is difficult for them to guard against the allurements of vice. But the remedy will be near at hand, if we follow the counsel of the prophet; that is to say, if, instead of leaning on our own wisdom, we seek understanding from the word of God, in which he not only shows what is right:. but also fortifies our minds, and puts us on our guard against all the deceits of Satan, and all the impostures of the world. Would to God that, at the present day, this were thoroughly impressed on the minds of all who boast themselves of being Christians; for then they would not be continually driven about, as the greater part of them are, with such inconstancy, according to the conflicting impulses of prevailing opinions. As Satan is so sedulously exerting himself to spread abroad the mists of error, let us apply ourselves with the greater earnestness to the acquisition of this wisdom.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv105–106 Of ourselves we are but darkness and cannot see…
Of ourselves we are but darkness and cannot see except we be lightened with God’s Word.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv104–106 Psa 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore…
Psa 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
Ver. 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding] Those are the statutes of heaven; and as men, by studying the statute book, get worldly wisdom, so they may hereby get heavenly.
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Therefore I hate every false way] Whether in point of opinion or practice. I shall look upon Auxentius as a devil so long as he is an Arian, saith Hilary. And I would shun a heretic as I would do a devil, for he is sent on his errand, saith another.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv104–106 Understanding; true, and useful and powerful knowledge.
Understanding; true, and useful and powerful knowledge.
Therefore; because that discovers to me, as the wickedness, so the folly and mischief of such practices.
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Every false way; every thing which is contrary to that rule of truth and right, all false doctrine and worship, and all sinful or vicious courses.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv105–106 Observe here, 1. The nature of the word of…
Observe here, 1. The nature of the word of God, and the great intention of giving it to the world; it is a lamp and a light. It discovers to us, concerning God and ourselves, that which otherwise we could not have known; it shows us what is amiss, and will be dangerous; it directs us in our work and way, and a dark place indeed the world would be without it. It is a lamp which we may set up by us, and take into our hands for our own particular use, Pro 6:23. The commandment is a lamp kept burning with the oil of the Spirit; it is like the lamps in the sanctuary, and the pillar of fire to Israel. 2. The use we should make of it. It must be not only a light to out eyes, to gratify them, and fill our heads with speculations, but a light to our feet and to our path, to direct us in the right ordering of our conversation, both in the choice of our way in general and in the particular steps we take in that way, that we may not take a false way nor a false step in the right way. We are then truly sensible of God's goodness to us in giving us such a lamp and light when we make it a guide to our feet, our path.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv104–106 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my…
Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth,
O Lord,.... Not sacrifices out of his flocks and herds, such as were the voluntary and freewill offerings brought to the priests under the law, though there may be an allusion to them; nor out of his substance, such as David and his people willingly offered towards the building of the temple; but these are not the freewill offerings of his hands, but of his mouth; the spiritual sacrifices of prayer praise: prayer is an offering; see Psa 141:2; and it is a freewill offering, when a man is assisted by the free Spirit of God, and can pour out his soul freely to the Lord, in the exercise of faith and love. Praise is an offering more pleasing to God than an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs, because it glorifies him; and it is a freewill offering when it is of a man's own accord, comes from his heart; when he calls upon his soul, and all within him, to bless the Lord: and as every good man is desirous of having his sacrifices accepted with the Lord, so they are accepted by him when offered up through Christ, Pe1 2:5;
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and teach me thy judgments; for though he was wiser than his enemies, and had more understanding than his teachers, or than the ancients; yet needed to be instructed more and more, and was desirous of being taught of God. This petition, or what is similar to it, is often put up.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv104–106 Verse 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding] Spiritual…
Verse 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding] Spiritual knowledge increases while we tread in the path of obedience. Obedience is the grand means of growth and instruction. Obedience trades with the talent of grace, and thus grace becomes multiplied.
ANALYSIS OF LETTER MEM. - Thirteenth Division
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In this division we see, -
I. The affection of the psalmist to the law of God.
II. The great benefits he derived from it.
I. 1. "O how I love thy law." God alone knows how great that love is which I feel.
2. As true love always seeks opportunities of conversing with the beloved object, the psalmist shows his in meditation on God's law by day and night.
He gives us several encomiums on God's word: -
1. The wisdom he derived from it. It made him wiser than his enemies. It taught him how to conduct himself towards them, so as to disappoint many of their plans, and always insure his own peace.
2. It made him wiser than his teachers. Many, even of the Jewish teachers, took upon them to teach that to others which they had never learned themselves. He must have been wiser than these. Many in the present day take upon themselves the character of ministers of Jesus Christ, who have never felt his Gospel to be the power of God to their salvation. A simple woman, who is converted to God, and feels the witness of his Spirit that she is his child, has a thousand times more true wisdom than such persons, though they may have learned many languages and many sciences.
3. It made him wiser than the ancients - than any of the Jewish elders, who had not made that word the subject of their deep study and meditation.
A second enconium. God's word gives power over sin: "I have refrained:" and the psalmist was no speculatist; he was in every respect a practical man.
A third encomium is, the more a man resists evil forbidden by that law, and practices righteousness commanded by it, the stronger he grows. The psalmist refrained from every evil way, that he might keep God's word.
Lest any one should think that he pretends to have acquired all these excellencies by his own study and industry, he asserts that he had nothing but what he had received: "I have not departed," c. "for THOU hast taught me."
A fourth encomium is, that God's law gives indescribable happiness to them who love and obey it: "How sweet are thy words," c.
II. In the last verse he proves all that he said by the blessed effects of God's word upon himself.
1. He got understanding by it. He became learned, wise, and prudent.
2. He was enabled to hate every false way - false religion, lying vanities, empty pleasures and every thing that did not tend to and prepare for an eternity of blessedness.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v105 Psa 119:105-108. Thy word is a lamp unto my…
NUN.
Psa 119:105-108. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet — To direct me in all my doubts and difficulties, and to comfort me in all my fears and distresses. I have sworn, and will perform it — I have solemnly vowed, and, by God’s grace, will fulfil my vow; that I will keep thy righteous judgments — Thy commands, which are consonant to the eternal rules of equity, and which it is our duty to observe carefully. Accept the free-will-offerings of my mouth — The sacrifices of prayer and praise, which I do freely and frequently offer unto thee.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv104–106 Through thy precepts I get understanding - A true…
Through thy precepts I get understanding - A true understanding; a correct view of things; a knowledge of thee, of myself, of the human character, of the destiny of man, of the way of salvation - the best, and the only essential knowledge for man. This knowledge the psalmist obtained from the “precepts” of God; that is, all that God had communicated by revelation. This passage expresses in few words what had been said more at length in Psa 119:98-100.
Therefore I hate every false way - I see that which is right and true, and I pursue it. In proportion as I have a just knowledge of truth and duty, I hate that which is false and evil.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v105 נ, Nun.
נ, Nun.
105-112. Thy word is a lamp—The writer comes to an experience like that of a traveller by night on a dangerous road. He enters upon it with a firm resolve—a hold upon the divine law as a guiding clew; while, as with the other hand, he carries the lamp of the word.
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Freewill offerings— Voluntary confessions of the divine goodness, and utterances of praise.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv104–106 104. The study of God’s law gives him the…
104. The study of God’s law gives him the power of discernment to “prove the spirits,” and reject all false teaching and laxity of conduct. Cp. Psa_119:29; Psa_119:128.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv105–106 (105) See Pro_6:23.
NUN.
(105) See Pro_6:23.
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So Wordsworth calls Duty:
“A light to guide.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv104–106 Through thy precepts I get understanding (see the comment…
Through thy precepts I get understanding (see the comment on vers. 98 and 100). Therefore I hate every false way. A "false way" is one that leads to error and sin (comp. vers. 29 and 128).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv104–106 Ver. 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding. God's…
Ver. 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding. God's direction is our instruction. Obedience to the divine will begets wisdom of mind and action. As God's way is always best, those who follow it are sure to be justified by the result. If the Lawgiver were foolish his law would be the same, and obedience to such a law would involve us in a thousand mistakes; but as the reverse is the case, we may count ourselves happy to have such a wise, prudent, and beneficial law to be the rule of our lives. We are wise if we obey and we grow wise by obeying!
Therefore I hate every false way. Because he had understanding, and because of the divine precepts, he detested sin and falsehood. Every sin is a falsehood; we commit sin because we believe a lie, and in the end the flattering evil turns a liar to us and we find ourselves betrayed. True hearts are not indifferent about falsehood, they grow warm in indignation: as they love the truth, so they hate the lie. Saints have a universal horror of all that is untrue, they tolerate no falsehood or folly, they set their faces against all error of doctrine or wickedness of life. He who is a lover of one sin is in league with the whole army of sins; we must have neither truce nor parley with even one of these Amalekites, for the Lord hath war with them from generation to generation, and so must we. It is well to be a good hater. And what is that? A hater of no living being, but a hater of "every false way." The way of self will, of self righteousness, of worldliness, of pride, of unbelief, of hypocrisy, these are all false ways, and therefore not only to be shunned, but to be abhorred.
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This final verse of the strophe marks a great advance in character, and shows that the man of God is growing stronger, bolder, and happier than aforetime. He has been taught of the Lord, so that he discerns between the precious and the vile, and while he loves the truth fervently he hates falsehood intensely. May all of us reach this state of discrimination and determination, so that we may greatly glorify God.
Ver. 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. In this sentence the prophet seems to invert the order set down in Ps 119:101. He had said, "I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word, "where the avoiding of evil is made the means of profiting by the word; here his profiting by the word is made the cause of avoiding evil. In the one verse you have an account of his beginning with God; in the other, of his progress. Thomas Manton.
Ver. 104. I hate every false way. David saith, "I hate every false way"; I hate not only the way when I have been misled into it, but I hate to go in it; and he professes at the Ps 119:163, "I hate and abhor lying, but thy law do I love." To abstain from and forbear lying is a sign of a gracious heart, much more to hate and abhor it. A godly man not only doth that which is good, but he delights to do it, his soul cleaves to it; he is in his clement when he is doing it, nothing comes more suitably to him than the business of his duty, he loveth to do it, yea, he loveth it when he cannot do it: Ro 7:22. Paul complained much that his corruptions clogged, hindered and shackled him; he was in lime twigs as to the doing of good, yet (saith he) "I delight in the law of God after the inward man"; that is, the inward man delightfully moves after the law of God, when I am basely moved by my corrupt heart, and stirred by temptation against it. Now, as a godly man not only chooseth to do the holy will of God, but delights and rejoiceth to do it, and hath sweet content in doing it; so likewise a godly man not only refuseth to do the will of the flesh, or to follow the course of the world, but hates to do it, and is never so discontented with himself as when through carelessness and neglect of his watch he hath been overtaken and hath fallen. A carnal man may forbear the doing of evil, and do what is materially good, but he never abhors what is evil, nor delights in what is good. Though he abstain from acting those things which God forbids, yet he doth not say, with Job, "God forbid, I should act them."...To delight in good is better than the doing of it, and to abhor evil is better than abstaining from it. And if we compare the nature of sin with the new nature of a godly man, we may see clear grounds why his abstinence from sin is joined with an abhorrence of it. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 104. Through thy; precepts I get understanding. Spiritual understanding is connected with the taste of spiritual sweetness. (Compare Pr 2:10-11.) "The sweetness of the lips" as the wise man observes "increaseth learning. The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips." Pr 16:21, 23. Thus having learned "the principles of the doctrine of Christ, "we are encouraged to "go on to perfection" "growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ." For the connexion between "grace and knowledge" is clearly manifested. Charles Bridges.
Ver. 104. I hate every false way. Universality in this is a sure sign of sincerity. Herod spits out some sins, when he rolls others as sweet morsels in his mouth. A hypocrite ever leaves the devil some nest egg to sit upon, though he take many away. Some men will not buy some commodities, because they cannot have them at their own price, but they lay out the same money on others; so hypocrites forbear some sins, yea, are displeased at them; because they cannot have them without disgrace or disease, or some other disadvantage; but they lay out the same love upon other sins which will suit better with their designs. Some affirm that what the sea loseth in one place it gains in another; so what ground the corruption of the unconverted loseth one way, it gains another. There is in him some one lust especially which is his favourite; some king sin, like Agag, which must be spared when others are destroyed. "In this the Lord be merciful to thy servant, "saith Naaman. But now the regenerate laboureth to cleanse himself from all pollutions, both of flesh and spirit. 2Co 7:1. George Swinnock.
Ver. 104. I hate. The Scriptures place religion very much in the affection of love; love to God, and the Lord Jesus Christ; love to the people of God, and to mankind. The texts in which this is manifest, both in the Old Testament and the New, are innumerable. The contrary affection of hatred also, as having sin for its object, is spoken of in Scripture as no inconsiderable part of true religion. It is spoken of as that by which true religion may be known and distinguished. Pr 8:13. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil." Accordingly, the saints are called upon to give evidence of their sincerity by this, Ps 97:10. "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." And the Psalmist often mentions it as an evidence of his sincerity: Ps 101:2-3, "I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside." So Ps 114:128, and the present place. Again, Ps 139:21: "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?" Jonathan Edwards.
Ver. 104. I hate. Hatred is a stabbing, murdering affection, it purposes sin with a hot heart to death, as an avenger of blood, that is to say, of the blood of the soul which sin would spill, and of the blood of Christ which sin hath shed. Hate sin perfectly and perpetually and then you will not spare it but kill it presently. Till sin be hated it cannot be mortified; you will not cry against it, as the Jews did against Christ, Crucify it! Crucify it! but shew indulgence to it as David did to Absalom and say, Deal gently with the young man, with this or that lust, for my sake. Mercy to sin is cruelty to the soul. Edward Reyner, 1600-1670.
Ver. 104. False way. It is not said, "evil way, "but "false way": or, as it is in the original, every path of lying and falsehood. Falsehood is either in point of opinion or practice. If you take it in the first sense, for falsehood in opinion, or error in judgment, or false doctrine, or false worship, this sentence holds good. Those that get understanding by the word are established against error, and not only established against error, or against the embracing or possession of it, but they hate it. Thomas Manton.
Ver. 104. False way. All sin is a lie. By it we attempt to cheat God. By it we actually cheat our souls: Pr 14:12. There is no delusion like the folly of believing that a course of sin will conduce to our happiness. William S. Plumer.
Ver. 104. The influence of the precepts.
1. Upon the understanding.
2. Upon the affections.
3. Upon the life.
Ver. 104.
1. The intellectual effect of the Scriptures: "I get understanding."
2. Their moral effect: "I hate, "etc. G.R.
Ver. 104. The understanding derived from God's precepts begets holy hatred.
1. To the false ways of conventional morality.
2. To the false ways of a formal religiousness.
3. To the false ways of an erring theology.
4. To the false ways of hypocritical practice.
5. To the false ways of sinful suggestions.
6. To the false ways of one's own deceitful heart. J.F.
Psalms 119:105*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv105–106 Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and…
Psa_119:105
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
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The Divine lamp
Gods Word as a lamp is--
I. Ever needful. Man needs a guide through life. His mental eyes are dim, and the road is drear, intricate, and dark.
II. Always available. It Suits every path in life. The path of the young and aged, the celibate and the married, the rich and the poor, the merchant, statesman, and philosopher, etc.
III. All-sufficient. It throws light on every conceivable step in life, and the light is clear and sufficient. None need stumble anywhere who hold it before them.
IV. Inextinguishable. It burns as brightly in the hands of the youngest disciple to-day as it did in the hands of the old patriarchs. It is a quenchless light. The advancing intelligence of humanity will never supersede its necessity or dim its lustre. (Homilist.)
Gods guiding light for heavenward travellers
I. It directs the intending traveller to the starting-point--to the point whence he must set out on his heavenward journey. It takes him to the Cross, it bids him look to Jesus, and then to set out with holy resolution for the celestial city.
II. It warns the traveller--having now commenced his journey--of the perils that will beset his path.
III. It shows the traveller how he may safely advance along his journey step by step. It is not only a light to the path, showing which is the right way, but a lamp to the feet, showing whether the traveller is keeping in that path. This step-by-step help it furnishes by laying down general principles to be faithfully and conscientiously applied by the Christian (Rom_12:1). By plying him with motives, the force of which, if he is a Christian, he must feel (1Co_6:20), in all the details of his life, and by giving specific precepts, as notably is done in the closing portions of some of the epistles (Eph_4:1-32., etc.).
IV. It assures the traveller that the hoped-for termination will be reached. It is important there should be light on the travellers starting-point; of equal importance that there should be light on the goal at which he hopes to arrive. If this be shrouded in darkness he will lack the stimulus of expectation to hold on his way. He will be ready to halt by reason of the discouragements and difficulties he meets with. (J. F. Poulter, B. A.)
The lamp of the Word
I. Every man has a path of his own. God has undoubtedly fashioned our hearts alike; that is, there are certain broad resemblances which every heart bears to every other heart. There are also equally well-known and accurately marked differences. Each man possesses the same elements, so to speak, but has them in different proportions. Contend as we may, our natural bias, our education, our position, the general and trivial events of our lot, do help to make our paths, which seem outwardly parallel, like two lines running side by side, yet as two lines still, separate and distinct.
II. Our paths are manifestly divergent; yet in one respect we find them alike: they are often shrouded in gloom.
1. The very lamp itself sometimes perplexes. The Word of the Lord tries us: its principles, its promises, even its facts.
2. Perplexity arises from duty. We feel great difficulty in coming to any decision; not because we are reluctant to obey, but because we cannot quite see which has the first and Superior claim.
3. Perplexity comes from bereavement, and comes to all of us, sooner or later, from this source. We find it hard, in the first paroxysm of sorrow, to see anything but harshness in our loss. We think of others we could have better spared.
III. In all our darkness Gods Word supplies the true illumination. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. This light is pre-eminent. God has not left us without other aids to lessen the darkness. Reason is a light kindled by Jehovah Himself. Companions are as lights. But this light of Gods Word stands before all other lights. Reason helps; this helps reason. Companions help; this helps companions. When we are ready to receive them, there are no words that they can utter so cheering and so full of comfort as the words of God. (J. J. Goadby.)
Human life
Three thoughts are here suggested concerning human life.
I. It is a walk. My path. In this walk--
1. There is no pausing. Every beating pulse we tell leaves but the number less.
2. There is no returning. Every step takes us into the new and unknown.
II. It is a walk requiring light. The path of our life is not only very intricate, but, morally, very dark. Black clouds of ignorance, sensuality, and superstition obstruct the rays of sun and stars.
III. It is a walk for which light is provided. (Homilist.)
Religion the constant guide and friend of man
Wouldst thou then make religion the guide of thy life, wouldst thou have her truly to be a lamp to thy feet and a light to thy path?
1. Combine her with all thy occupations. Ask her often, ask her particularly on every critical and doubtful occasion, and ask her always in the sincere intention of following her precepts: how thou shouldst regard and prosecute thy affairs, in what dispositions thou shouldst conduct them, what views thou shouldst have in them, how thou shouldst begin and finish them, what thou shouldst do and omit at every time, in every place, according to the particular emergency?
2. Let her be thy constant companion in society, thy counsellor in thy intercourse with others. Ask her how thou shouldst regard, judge of, treat mankind, thy brethren, how thou shouldst be disposed and behave towards them.
3. Let her be thy friend and companion in solitude. There hearken the more attentively and sedately to her suggestions, her doctrines, her encouragements, her consolations, her demands. There grow more and more familiar with her and ever enjoy more completely the happiness of this familiarity. Accompanied by her, solitude will never be a burden, never seem tiresome or tedious to thee. Informed and enter-rained by her, the solemn hours of silence will be thy most delightful hours of recreation.
4. Let her be the partner in all thy joys and pleasures. She would by no means oppose or disturb thy joys and thy pleasures.
5. Let her be also thy friend and comforter in affliction. (C. J. Zollikofer.)
My lamp
In the text the Word of God is compared to a lamp or lantern such as that which is carried on dark nights in country places in all lands.
I. Like a lighted lantern on a dark lonely journey it is a pleasant companion. A lamp cannot, indeed, talk with us, or even listen to our voices, but its cheerful light, close by us, and going on continually with us, takes away our loneliness, and we feel that a light is pleasant company.
II. The Word of God is a protection against danger
III. The principal value of a lamp is that it shows us the way: and it is in this respect especially that the truth of God is most precious to us. (R. Brewin.)
The Bible a lamp
There are many kinds of lamps, all of them having different uses and yet all of them intended to give light, but in very different places. Let us look at a few of them.
1. There are beacon lamps. Out upon the coast, here and there, all along there are these lamps. They are lighted as soon as it grows dark. As the ship comes up the channel, these lights, all of them different, show the captain of the ship where he is, and he knows by their help how to steer the ship so as to get to port in safety. Gods Word does all this. It shows men the true way, and keeps them from wreck and death. I have heard of men putting strange lights on the rocks, so as to mislead the sailors, and then the doomed ship has coma ashore and been lost. Now there are spiritual wreckers, who want to have you and What you have got. These wreckers have false lights, the word, not of God, but of man. Shall I show you two or three of these false lights? When a boy or girl does not wish to go away from school or chapel these wretches will sneer, I would not be tied to my mothers apron string! But what says the beacon? See it how it flashes. Forsake not the law of thy mother. Another of these false lights is, Its only once. Just this once, I wont ask you any more. Ah! you are in peril if you listen to this. Look to the beacon. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not! There is yet another of these false lights I will show you. When you are hearing the preacher, and are beginning to think you had better be a Christian while young, the wreckers will show their false light: Plenty of time yet. But what says the beacon? I love them that love Me, and they that seek Me early shall find Me.
2. Did you ever hear of what are called hurricane lamps? There is a kind of lamp so made that you might carry it in the wildest of storms, and the strongest wind could not blow it out. Now, the Word of God is a hurricane lamp--it will not blow out. Oh! how Satan has tried in times of persecution; but you know when the Word of God gets into a mans heart there it sticks. You may, some of you, before you die, be persecuted for your religion. You may have to smart for being lovers of God, but dont be afraid. The Bible was made, like the hurricane lamp, to stand the storm. Not so with the schemes and plans of evil, they shall all be put out.
3. The Bible is an invalids lamp. When people are ill, and have to lay awake all the night in pain, they dont want to be left in the dark; and yet, they, dont want any glaring light. They want a cheerful, yet soft light, and there are parts of the Bible just suited, such as The Lord is my Shepherd. Let not your hearts be troubled. Came out of great tribulation. I will give to him that is athirst. Neither shall there be any more pain.
4. The Bible is a signal lamp. You have noticed the signals at night, when you have been in the train. There they are, white, green, red. Do you know what white means? Come on! Yes, that is it; and the Bible says to those who are doing right, Come on, you are on the right track; come on. All is well. Go ahead! But what does the green light say? Caution! Slowly! Beware! Yes; when the driver sees that he knows that it will be wise for him to slacken speed, and look about him. And so says the Word of God, when it sees that there is need for caution. When a man is wanting to be rich, and there is some danger that he may be tempted to make money at the risk of his soul, then the lamp signals: Godliness with contentment is great gain. They that will be rich fall into temptation. But can you tell me what the red light means? Stop! Danger! Shut off the steam! Yes, all of these. Oh! how the Bible calls out to men. If people would but mind the red light of Scripture we should have a great deal less of sin and sorrow. (T. Champness.)
The wonderful lamp
I. What sort of a lamp is the Bible?
1. It sheds wonderful light.
(1) The length of time during which it has been shining. When Adam sinned, the Saviour who was afterwards to come was like kindling one little thread in the wick of this lamp. And then, as other parts of the Bible were written, the lamp burned brighter and brighter, till Jesus came and the New Testament was finished. And now for near two thousand years this lamp has been fully lighted and burning all the time.
(2) The distance to which it shines. All the way from heaven to earth.
(3) The power with which it shines, No tempest that ever beat, no wind that ever blew, no atmosphere, however foul, can put it out.
2. It yields wonderful comfort.
(1) Under the trials of life.
(2) In the prospect of death.
3. It affords wonderful safety. This world is like a great coal-mine, and all its inhabitants are like miners. The sins that abound here are like this dangerous gas, and, when they come in contact with our evil passions, violent explosions are often produced, and great damage is done. We need a safety-lamp to show us where the dangers lie, and help us to escape from them. And just such a lamp we have. The Bible is a safety-lamp which God has invented for this very purpose. It will always warn us when danger is nigh, and show us how we may escape it.
II. What should those who have this lamp do with it?
1. Use it themselves.
2. Send it to others. (R. Newton, D. D.)
Lantern lessons
I. This lamp and light guides us. It shows us our lost state, how far we have wandered from God, how sad our condition is, and that we shall surely perish unless we find the way of life. It shows us Jesus.
II. This lamp and light guides us with safety. What pitfalls, what temptations, what snares and covert assaults of the wicked one it keeps Gods people from!
III. This lamp and light guides us with comfort. (J. B. Johnstone.)
The lighted lamp:--
I. For the dark. The Gospel was first brought to our land about the year 600 by a missionary named Paulinus. Eadwine was then king. His wise men gathered to consider the new faith. To many of them its charm lay in the light it throws on the darkness covering mens lives--the darkness of the future as of the past, To be without light is among the greatest of calamities; to get light after darkness the sweetest of blessings.
II. For our use.
1. This lamp is for the feet. Our museums abound with beautiful lamps taken from ancient tombs. Such-like is an unused Bible by the side of a dead soul. A lamp he has, but sees not, neither does he walk in its light. But all the light the Bible gives is meant to guide you.
2. As it is a light for the feet, you must hold it low. It is not for the head merely, to fill you with curious notions: it is for the feet, to guide you in your actions. The motto of the early Church was, Hearts on high, and they might have truly added, Light and eyes low.
3. You must use it always. Never live without its light.
III. For a time only. It is a thing of the night, not of the day. (J. Wells.)
The Bible the best parlour light
In parlours all aflash with gaslight, and gleaming mirrors, and blazing chandelier, and candelabra, there may be Egyptian darkness; while in some plain room, which a frugal hand has spread with hospitality and refinement, this one lamp may cast a glow that makes it a fit place for heavenly coronations. Gods lamp hung in the parlour would chill no joy, would rend no harmony, would check no innocent laughter. On the contrary, it would bring out brighter colours in the picture; it would expose new gracefulness in the curtain; it would unroll new wreaths from the carpet; it would strike new music from the harp; it would throw new polish into the manners; it would kindle with light borrowed from the very throne of God all the refinements of society. Oh that the Christ who was born in a barn would come to our parlour! We need His hand to sift the parlour music. We need His taste to assort the parlour literature. We need His voice to conduct the parlour conversation. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The Bible the best street lamp
When night comes down on the city, crime goes forth to its worst achievements. Not only to show honest citizens where to walk, but to hinder the burglar, and assassin, and highwayman, and pickpocket, we must have artificial lights all over the city. I remember what consternation there was in Philadelphia when one night the gasworks were out of order and the whole city sat in darkness. Between eleven oclock at night and three oclock in the morning, in the dark and unlighted places of the town, crime has its holiday. If the lamplighter ceased his work for the week the town would rot. But there is a darkness beyond all power of gaslight. What is the use of police-station, and almshouse, and watchmans club, if there be no moral and religious influence to sanction the law, and to purify the executive, and to hang over legal enactment the fear of God and an enlightened public opinion. The first want of such a city as that is the street lamp of the Bible. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The Bible the best store lamp
What is the reason so many who started in merchandise, with good principles, and fair prospects, and honourable intentions, have become gamblers, and defrauders, and knaves, and desperadoes, and liars, and thieves? They did not have the right kind of a store lamp. Why is it, in our day, merchandise is smitten with uncertainty, and three-fourths of the businesses of our great cities is only one huge species of gambling? And why are ten thousand of our business men ridden with a nightmare enough to crush Hercules and Prometheus? It is the want of a right kind of store lamp. Oh, what thrones have fallen, what monuments have crumbled, what fleets have sunk, what statues have been defaced, what barbarisms have been created, what civilization retarded, what nations damned, all for the want of the right kind of a store lamp! (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The Bible the best church lamp
Glorious church lamp, this Bible. Luther found it in the cloister at Erfurt, and he lifted it, until the monasteries and cathedrals of Germany, and Italy, and France, and England, and the world saw its illumination. It throws its light on the pulpit, making a bulwark of truth; on the baptismal cup, until its waters glitter like the crystals of heaven. It strikes penitence into the prayers and gladness into the thanksgiving. It changes into a church John Bunyans prison, and Covenanters cave, and Calvins castle, and Husss stake, and Hugh MKails scaffold of martyrdom, Zwinglius carried it into Switzerland, and John Wycliffe into England, add John Knox into Scotland, and Jehudi Ashman into Africa. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Light to get home by
In the stress and vicissitudes of our earthly pilgrimage we know it as a lamp for our own difficult way: Thy Word a lamp unto my feet. This recalls Charles Kingsleys phrase. On a dark, misty night he was cheerful, for, said he, there is light enough to get home. That is all we really need--light enough to get home--and, if we follow His Word, that at least we shall not miss. We need not too wistfully and anxiously anticipate long futures, but live and walk from day to day in the light vouchsafed. (W. R. Nicoll.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v105 This is the name of the fourteenth letter of…
NUN
This is the name of the fourteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Hebrew language, each line of verses 105-112 begins with this letter.
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Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path
These two phrases have similar meanings. They speak about God telling a person how to live as if the person were walking on a path and God's words were a light that helps the person see where to go. AT: "Your words tell me how to live my life" (See: Doublet and Metaphor)
Your word
Here "word" represents all that God communicates to people.
translationWords
word of God
light
oath
confirm
decree
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v105 119:105-112 Nun (נ): The psalmist’s devotion to God’s word…
119:105-112 Nun (נ): The psalmist’s devotion to God’s word comes from within his being (119:112) and guides his external life.
119:105-106 The Lord’s word is a lamp that provides perspective, hope, and guidance in darkness (18:25-29; 119:130). Even more, this light gives life (Prov 6:23).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.