May 7. 2025-Meditation, Psalm 119:97–112 “The Word Is Light”

 Today’s meditation begins with the Hebrew letter Mem (מ).

In verse 97, the psalmist says:

“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.”

Here, “your law” refers to God’s Word. To say “I love your law” is a remarkable expression.
Normally, laws and statutes may feel like things that regulate or restrict our lives.
But loving God’s Word means thinking of it not as a burden, but as something beloved—like how a parent loves their child or how God loves His people.

To love God’s Word is not to keep it out of obligation or fear, nor to view it as a cold set of rules that control our lives.
Rather, it is to desire to be near it, to have our hearts aligned with it, because we cherish it. That is the heart of the psalmist who says,

“I meditate on it all day long.”

When you love someone, you always want to be near them.
In the same way, when we love God’s Word, it becomes not a burden, but the very object of our affection, something we want to be close to at all times.

So, what does God’s Word mean to you today?
Is it a law that binds your life?
Or is it something you long for and love, something you want to walk with every day?

The following verses describe what happens when we live a life that loves and meditates on God’s Word daily:

• The Word keeps our feet from walking down evil paths.

• The Word gives us understanding and wisdom, equipping us to live wisely in this world.

• The Word keeps us from sin by guiding our steps away from temptation and danger.

When we face trials and temptations that feel too overwhelming to handle, we are often shaken.
But if we live closely with God’s Word, we will gain the discernment and wisdom to overcome them.

Let us be people who love and long for God’s Word, who meditate on it daily and walk in its light.

The next section, verses 105–112, begins with the Hebrew letter Nun (נ).

Verse 105 declares:

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

Here, God’s Word is compared to a lamp and a light.
Today, we seldom experience total darkness.
But in the past, people relied on oil lamps and the moon at night. On a moonless night, walking without a lamp was impossible—you couldn’t see anything, not even a few feet ahead.

In that kind of darkness, even a small lamp became a source of hope.
In the same way, God’s Word is like a lamp in our lives.
Don’t we often say that life is so uncertain that we can’t even see an inch ahead? In traditional Korean expression, “one chi (치)” is about 3.3 centimeters—a symbol of our limited foresight.

Our lives truly are like that—we can’t predict what’s just ahead.
But God’s Word becomes a lamp and a light to guide us through the unknown.
We are able to walk paths we cannot otherwise see because God, through His Word, leads us.

Therefore, God's Word is not a trap or burden in our lives; it is a delight.
It allows us to walk the dark paths of life in the light.

Today, let us hold on to God's Word, meditate on it with love and longing, and walk by its guidance.
Then we will walk not in darkness, but in the light, even in the midst of the darkest nights of life.