Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet A Special Message for the Year End Psalm 119:105-112 © December 30, 2018 Pastor Paul K. Kim 2

WHY REFLECT ON OUR LIVES DURING THE YEAR END? It gives us an opportunity to make the cycles of life more meaningful. It helps us to stop and slow down before we get sucked into busyness of the year-end parties and get-togethers. It brings our “lens” back in focus as we are being ushered into a new year. It leads us to pursue what matters most in life and grow deeper in it.

Psalm 119:105-112 [ESV] 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet     and a light to my path. 106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,     to keep your righteous rules. 107 I am severely afflicted;     give me life, O LORD, according to your word! 108 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD,     and teach me your rules. 109 I hold my life in my hand continually,     but I do not forget your law. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,     but I do not stray from your precepts. 111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever,     for they are the joy of my heart. 112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes     forever, to the end.

YEAR-END REFLECTIONS ON THE WORD AS OUR GUIDE IN LIFE REFLECTION #1: To be guided by the Word, we must first DECLARE it personally. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet     and a light to my path. (v. 105) Notice the three aspects of his declaration: it is (1) truthful, (2) experiential, and (3) personal. Unless we take the general truth and occasional benefits of the Word as our personal declaration, we will not be consistently guided by the Word. In this declaration, we express our willing trust and reliance on God’s Word. Have you made this declaration—“Lord, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”—in this year end?

YEAR-END REFLECTIONS ON THE WORD AS OUR GUIDE IN LIFE REFLECTION #2: To be guided by the Word, we must make a deliberate COMMITMENT to obey God’s Word. 106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,     to keep your righteous rules . . . 112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes     forever, to the end. (vs. 106, 112) 113 I hate the double-minded,     but I love your law. Psalm 119:113

YEAR-END REFLECTIONS ON THE WORD AS OUR GUIDE IN LIFE REFLECTION #2: To be guided by the Word, we must make a deliberate COMMITMENT to obey God’s Word. 106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,     to keep your righteous rules . . . 112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes     forever, to the end. (vs. 106, 112) The psalmist’s declaration of the Word as his guide in life is immediately followed by a decisive commitment and resolve to obeying God’s Word. Note that his commitment is beyond reading, listening, and studying the Word—he is committed to obeying God’s Word as he receives it. Let God’s Word not just inform but transform you as you seek guidance. Have you made this commitment—to obey God’s Word—in this year end?

YEAR-END REFLECTIONS ON THE WORD AS OUR GUIDE IN LIFE REFLECTION #3: To be guided by the Word, we must CLING to God’s Word in times of severe affliction as well as of grateful praise. 107 I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word! 108 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, and  teach me your rules. 109 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. (vs. 107-110) Three circumstances in which the psalmist clings to God’s Word are (1) in severe affliction, (2) in freewill offerings of praise, & (3) in danger. In all three circumstances, the psalmist seeks the Word as a vital lifeline. Why? Because it gives him life/renewal, learning, and a way out/wisdom. Do you cling to God’s Word—in severe affliction as well as grateful praise—in this year end?

YEAR-END REFLECTIONS ON THE WORD AS OUR GUIDE IN LIFE REFLECTION #4: To be guided by the Word, we must learn to DELIGHT in God’s Word as our most prized possession and source of joy day by day. 111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever,     for they are the joy of my heart. (v. 111) 97 Oh how I love your law!     It is my meditation all the day… 100 I understand more than the aged,     for I keep your precepts… 103 How sweet are your words to my taste,     sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:97, 100, 103

YEAR-END REFLECTIONS ON THE WORD AS OUR GUIDE IN LIFE REFLECTION #4: To be guided by the Word, we must learn to DELIGHT in God’s Word as our most prized possession and source of joy day by day. 111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever,     for they are the joy of my heart. (v. 111) To top it all, the secret to the psalmist’s way of life of being guided by God’s Word consistently was his delight and experiential benefit day by day. Why is this delight so important? It’s because the guidance of God’s Word is primarily relational—i.e., GOD is guiding us in His good and wise will for us. Hence, it is fundamentally crucial for us to pursue the Word relationally and intimately as we walk with God day by day. Have you learned to—delight in God’s Word as your heritage of joy—in this year end?

Treasuring and Delighting the Word You notice David does not merely say, “They make my heart rejoice,” but he says, “they are the rejoicing of my heart.” He does not merely say, “they give me joy, but they are my joy, they are essentially and really the delight of my spirit.” Oh, what a difference it makes, when the man has truly taken Christ as his Savior, in the way in which he looks at his religion! Until you have taken the covenant, the testimonies and the Christ of God to be your inheritance, you may be, after a fashion, deeply pious, and yet sadly miserable over your piety . . . It is love that makes you joyful in God and, being joyful in God, nothing is too hard or too heavy for you, and you say, with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Our feet are made like hinds’ feet to leap over difficulties when we have really taken a firm grip of the eternal truths of God and have taken them to be our heritage forever. It is one of the evidences of grace when these things are the rejoicing of our heart. — Charles H. Surgeon (1887)

NOW LET’S REFLECT ON HOW WE CAN APPLY DECLARE: In what ways will you declare that “God’s Word is a lamp to your feet”? To yourself? To your family? To your spiritual community? COMMIT: What might be a deliberate way for you to commit to obeying the Word in the coming year? In your journal? In your men’s/women’s group? CLING: What would it mean for you to cling to God’s Word in your current trial? In your success/celebration/praise? DELIGHT: How will you delight in God’s Word in this year’s end? In the new year 2019? What is your basic plan for delighting in it?

FOUR PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE In what ways will you declare that “God’s Word is a lamp to your feet”? To yourself? To your family? To your spiritual community? [DECLARE] What might be a deliberate way for you to commit to obeying the Word in the coming year? In your journal? In your men’s/women’s group? [COMMIT] What would it mean for you to cling to God’s Word in your current trial? In your success/celebration/praise? [CLING] How will you delight in God’s Word in this year’s end? In the new year 2019? What is your basic plan for delighting in it? [DELIGHT]