Thursday, August 15, 2013

"Lamp unto our feet...not a...Crystal ball into our future"

This phrase was taken from an excerpt by Max Lucado......

 Well, I am familiar with the song: "Thy Word is a lamp into my feet and a light unto my path....", and it is a song designed from the words of the Sacred Scripture. I must say, Mr. Lucado is right...there is no mention of a crystal ball.

 "Light unto my feet"..."Light unto my path"....I got to look into this a little more. Anything helps in trying to grasp how God communicates to us in our daily lives and how to receive what direction we might be needing... from this One who calls Himself...the Holy Spirit.

 Lamp Unto My Feet...years ago there was a TV program brought by CBS that carried this phrase as the title of their program. It came on Sunday mornings and ran from 1948 through 1979. This program would use drama, music, and dance to convey history, cultures, and theological philosophies from the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish way of life.{Wikipedia}.

 So, what is exactly meant by "Lamp unto my feet..."? Obviously...this phrase originates in...the Sacred Scripture.
 It comes from the Book of Psalms...Psalms 119:105. 

 During the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, around 500 B.C., the Jewish people gathered their collection of "old" Psalms, written by Moses, David , Solomon, and others to use in their worship service at the Temple.
 They also made the decision to create "new" Psalms, and add them to the ones already existing.  I think it would be like we do today...having the old traditional hymns of the church and adding the contemporary songs to compliment our worship...to Him.
 Historians think Psalm 119 was one of the "new" Psalms. Some think it was entirely written by Ezra during the time of the rebuilding of the Temple, while other historians think that perhaps Psalm 119 was written by 176 different people, each expressing their love for Him in a verse. Honestly...I don't know...
 Yet, here is what I do know...this is one long Psalm and has 176 verses: that is more verses than you would find in 13 different Old Testament books and 16 New Testament books.
 So...were they bored?...or what?

 No...the thing about a Psalm that I always keep in mind: a Psalm constitutes a form of a prayer...and is ruled as a promise...of a word given. Often times in the Temple a Psalm is chanted, giving this promise time to enter the heart and mind of the person singing or saying a particular Psalm.

 So, Max Lucado is right...the Scriptures are very different than a crystal ball. A crystal ball is a glass ball that predicts the future....the words of Scripture from the Ancient One...is a Promise that was said in the past, available to us in the present, and by embracing His promise...will affect our future. Instead of gazing into a ball to see our future, we simply sing the psalms in our hearts...for our future was already made for us...long ago....by Him.

                                          A Gleaning from Psalm 119:105

 From the Ancient One (the Lord God of Israel) , comes His Word of Promise...to us. His Words  are the very lamp we need to see where we are going, and provides a beam of light along life's journey that has incredibly dark paths."

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