Advent Devotion – A Light Shines in the Darkness – Day 9
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Psalm 119:105,130
Laws Leading to Freedom
What does light do for us? It guides our path and provides clarity. It illuminates. It makes clear what before lay in shadow. And here we are told God’s Word is a lamp that shines light on our path, granting understanding, giving purpose, and guiding our steps. What is this understanding that God’s Word makes clear?
From nature, we see that God is a God of power and beauty. From our conscience, we feel his displeasure with our wrong actions. But it is in God’s Word alone that we find Jesus. Here we see that our God is a just and merciful God. We find the gospel, the good news of salvation, the love our God has for us, here alone.
This section talks specifically about God’s Word in his law. And this too we cannot gain merely through our conscience. Our conscience can dull. It can be tense and overeager. Only God can tell us what he expects of us, and Psalm 119 contains 176 verses dwelling on the merit and insight God’s law provides. In verses 103-104, the psalmist writes, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.”
The law enlightens us: it tells us we need a Savior, and it shows us the good we ought to do. Our salvation does not come from our adherence to the law, but living in line with God’s purpose is a natural response to the acknowledgement that our loving God created guidelines for a reason. Why honor our father and mother? Because God wills it, of course. Because it pleases him. Because out of love for him, we want to follow his purpose. Because it brings our parents joy, and we love them and want to honor them. And still yet, because this particular command comes with an explicit promise: that you shall have long life on the earth.
Good comes from good. God’s laws are for our benefit. A life lived according to them is truly enlightened if it also knows God’s love. The psalmist acknowledges our inability to fully walk in line with God’s law and our consequent need for salvation, saying “May your unfailing love come to me, LORD, your salvation, according to your promise” (verse 41). Law alone saves no one. But once the law makes clear our need for a Savior, the gospel enlightens us. It tells us we have a Savior, and it gives us life and love and joy.
God’s Word illuminates the truth. As the law, it is our curb, mirror, and guide. As the gospel, it shows us our salvation. The psalmist writes, “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts” (verse 45). Here we see a seeming paradox—laws leading to freedom—that brings light to the way we live our lives as Christians. God’s Word is light; it has clarity for the simplest and most unread, and mysteries even the most learned cannot unravel. God’s Word, both law and gospel, enlightens us.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the light of your Word. We could spend a lifetime studying its mysteries and find new insight each day. Grant that we turn to your Word for guidance and deliverance. Amen.
Written by Alyssa Ebeling
