Two Good Guides

When you live in Edinburgh, as I do, you become very aware of the number of tours that are provided for visitors. And tours need guides, so you will see lots of guides, many with flags on top of poles or wearing distinctive clothes as they hurry their followers on to the different spots of interest in the old part of the city. A good tour guide is a great asset.

God has provided us with two good guides in the form of light and truth as the writer of the psalm tells us here. These two go together very well, each helping us to know more of the richness of a godly worldview that our Creator wants us to have. Let's see how they work together for us.

The first thing God did as he created the world was to bring light into the darkness: "Let there be light and there was light." (Genesis 1:3) The light came at the command of God. The Bible tells us that without Jesus Christ we live in the darkness, the darkness of not knowing God and far away from the life of God until "God, who said "let there be light in the darkness" has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6 NLT) God's great light!

And now God's truth. "The Lord does not shine upon us, except when we take his word as our light." (John Calvin) The writer of Psalm 119 said: "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path." (v105, NLT) In the New Testament we read: "And the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus is the truth and the light. Let's follow him.