Bible Studies
If we are seeking the truth then perhaps the idea of a short cut is not desirable, like it’s cheating or getting something undeserved. Maybe we go through a lifetime of suffering before we begin to look for a path; or maybe we go through a lifetime of looking, suffering from the inability to find the right path. Sometimes it feels like both but beginning with this lesson short or long no longer matters. This Psalm is the beginning of the sixth cycle of three and it is the path itself.
18. The Candle is Lit
I will love the Lord, He is my strength. The Lord is the rock I stand on, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is the strength I will trust; my shield and safe refuge, the sound of my salvation. I will call upon the Lord, who alone is worthy of praise, and so be saved from my enemies.
Sorrow and death were all around me and the flood of ungodly men made me afraid. The chains of death drew me toward visions of Hell. In my distress I called out to the Lord, I cried to my God and He heard; in his temple my cry came to Him. The earth shook and the hills moved in his anger. Smoke and fire went up, the clouds came down and all was dark. He came as an angel and flew on the wings of the wind. He covered himself in a terrible storm so that his brightness would not be seen.
Lightening and hail came out of the cloud scattering all before it. Torrents of water and mighty winds shook the foundations of the earth. He reached out from above and saved me from the calamity. He delivered me from my enemies who were too strong for me alone. They would have made an end of me but the Lord became my strength. He brought me into a place of freedom because He was pleased with me.
The Lord taught me according to the truth that I could know and by the works that I had strength to do, for I have sought the ways of the Lord and have not looked for trouble. I have found the truth and will look no farther. I have followed my conscience and tempered my impulses; and for this the Lord has given me instruction, according to what He has seen in me.
Be generous to those in need, deal honestly with hardworking people. Speak the truth to those who understand, but never lose an argument to the contentious. In this way you will save the troubled and deflate the proud.
The Lord my God has lit my candle and illuminated my darkness. With his strength I have run through an army and leaped over their walls. God’s way is perfect; the Lord’s word is tempered and sure; He is a shield to all who trust him.
Who is God except our Lord? Who is the rock we stand on unless it is our God? It is God that arms me with strength and makes my path perfect. He makes me sure-footed and takes me to the highest places. He teaches me how to fight and gives me the strength and will to win. He has given me the shield of salvation and his hands hold me up; but it is his gentleness that makes me great.
Lord, You have made my path easy to see so that I may not slip. I have overtaken my enemies and did not turn back until I had won. I have bested them all and moved on to other tasks. It is the strength You have given me that has made this happen.
You have made my enemies vulnerable that I might overcome those that hate me. They cried out, even to their lord, but there was none to save them. I beat them down as small as the dust and threw them out like dirt in the street. You have delivered me from all their efforts and now the people I fought will serve me. As soon as they hear of me they will submit, even foreigners will obey my words and they will go back to their countries in fear.
The Lord lives; blest be my rock; let the God of my salvation be raised up high. It is God that delivers me, He subdues the people under me. He saves me from my enemies: He lifts me up above them and delivers me from the violence in them. I will give thanks to You, O Lord, and sing your praise to the unknowing. Great deliverance You gave to king David and now You will show mercy to your people forevermore.
This Psalm is the story of an individual life that begins with love of the Lord and ends with His mercy. This lesson is also about the people of God; those who believe in his strength and the story of what happens to them, and this is also the story of life on earth and the whole of God’s living creation. Action, information and emotion revolve through the unfolding story of the quest for safety and salvation in a dangerous world.
This lesson is more than twice as long as any that have come before and it tells a clear story of the rewards and calamity that surround the path of living. Love, strength and trust are mixed together with sorrow, distress and death in such a way that no one can hope to make it through without help. “Sorrow and death were all around me and the flood of ungodly men made me afraid.” We know we need strength to survive but do we know where to look for that strength and help?
In the cycle, this lesson is treated as information to be acted upon. In times of trouble it is too late to stock up on belief and trust; action is required here and we must have trust that our faith is strong enough to see us through hard times. And yet, this lesson reads as if the battle is over, as if we have already won a great victory. “I have found the truth and will look no farther.” And so it is. We were like the Samaritan woman at the well who did not know what she worshipped. Jesus told her that the hour was coming when true worship would be in spirit and in truth. He explained to his disciples that his food was doing his father’s will. (Jn. 4:22-34)
The Kingdom has already come and we seek not the path that leads to it, but the paths that are in it. “The Lord has lit my candle and illuminated my darkness.” We don’t have to do anything to create the Kingdom or to get in. The work is finished and we are already a part of it. The message is that our eternal life has already begun and we are living it now. “You have made my path easy to see so that I may not slip.” We don’t need any help getting there, we only need to understand the rules of the place where we already dwell and we will know what to do. “I will give thanks to You, O Lord, and sing your praise to the unknowing.”
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