WATCHWORD:
Your Word is a lamp to my feet,
And a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105
Meditation:
Ancient Clay Lamp
True story. It was in summer, 1936, amidst the rumblings of a world war, that my great-uncle, Harold Davis and his wife, were spirited out of China after years as missionaries. They returned to New Jersey, but late in 1938 were invited to be part of an archeological ‘dig’ in the Holy Land, near the city of Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean coast. In the course of that ‘dig’, my uncle uncovered a clay lamp. In succession, I inherited the lamp from my father. It had been carefully stored for years in a metal container and inside was a yellowed piece of paper which read:
“Lamp – oil. Ancient – est. 2500 BC.
Found within the project near Tel-Aviv, 1939-40”
It’s a small lamp, bird-shaped, 3” tail to beak, hand-made of clay. I suppose removing the lamp from the Holy Land project was some kind of violation. Maybe so, but the act of holding a 4500- year-old lamp carries with it a compelling sense of history, and the fact that it was made by a person during the time of Moses! Well, wow! (If you would like to see it, just ask me.)
On occasion, when I read the words of Psalm 119:105, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”, I do think about this little clay lamp, over which I serve as caretaker. For me, this Psalm reading is a most helpful passage.
In Bible times, the traveler carried a small oil lamp, like this one, whose flax wick gave only a tiny light but enough to see by. Not enough light to see what lay far down the path, but enough to take the next step, without stumbling. That is like God’s Word, a help for our now, while anything beyond that, rests on our faith.
Do we feel that way? At the start of this brand-new day, does God’s Word become our light, our compass? A light for our path into this new day? Not the whole path, just the next step. Did you wake up this morning feeling excited for what the day may bring? Or, was there a dull sense of dread about what the day may hold? At that point, did you rely on the Lord’s Word?
We may recite “This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice”, but do we rejoice, every day? The dawning of each new day is a gift from God, it’s not something that we should take for granted. But, often times, we do.
As the years go by and our pace of life slows, we should find Him anywhere, everywhere, in the smallest of things and the largest elements of the day. James 2:1 tells us to “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds”. Joy? Can you find your joy in The Word?
In my book, Middle of Nowhere, there’s a scene in an old, deserted chapel in the Wyoming prairie. My heroine stands at the pulpit:
“On the pulpit she had placed her Bible, the one she received on confirmation. She lifted it, then set it down on edge and let it fall open. Her eye rested on a passage from Jeremiah, and she read it aloud: ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
This is the start of a pivotal scene in the story, but it does suggest something about our relationship to the Word. I have never been one to memorize scripture. I have a friend who seems to know the Bible inside and out, and I marvel at how a car salesman can have such an intimate knowledge of God’s word. There have been times when his gift has been intimidating to me. Give him a theme, and he can probably find the right scripture.
That’s not something that I can do. Oh, I have my favorite passages, and one or two I could recite, but not like my friend. How about you? Could you, like my heroine, let your Bible fall open and find meaning in a randomly selected passage? Question: Who randomly selected the passage? Your eyes? Or, perhaps, His?
So, it is morning and you have this bit of dread about the day before you, how do you deal with that? Meditational readings help. Prayer helps. Sometimes music can help. This morning, because of that passage, in my mind, I can hear Amy Grant singing that beautiful, blessed, and very sing-able song:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
When I feel afraid,
And think I’ve lost my way.
Still, you’re there right beside me.
Nothing will I fear
As long as you are near;
Please be near me to the end.
An ancient lamp, fashioned by hand, a connection with the very beginning of God’s plan for our lives. If I think about that too much, I can get overwhelmed, and I have to ask myself, “why am I the holder of this object that I consider sacred?” A prayerful answer comes to me: “Son, it is just a clay lamp, nothing more. However, it is My Word that provides the Light for your path.” Amen.
(An earlier version of this Watchword was posted on April 30, 2020.)
Closing Prayer:
Your Word, Lord, is a lamp unto my feet, and it is a light that illuminates my path. Whenever I feel afraid, and think I do not know where I am going or how to go on, I will follow Your will, I feel the light of Your presence and I know that you are right here beside me, calming me and giving me Your peace. Stay with me, Lord, because I know as long as you are near, I am safe. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
