June 21, 2026
Beulah UMC & Oak Grove UMC
Not that this is a competition, but Psalm 119 is the spiritual stud of all the 150 Psalms. And here’s why.
First of all, Psalm 119 has the most verses of any other Psalm. It has 176 verses.
Secondly, Psalm 119 appears more times than any other of the Psalms during the three-year cycle of scripture readings that we call the lectionary.
And thirdly, church tradition has always encouraged this psalm to be read more frequently than any of the other psalms. In the Anglican and Episcopal church’s daily scripture readings which always includes a Psalm reading, it always lists Psalm 119 as the Psalm to be read every Wednesday.
No other Psalm gets repeated on a weekly basis like this. And the reason for this is because Psalm 119 is a Psalm that celebrates God’s Word, which is God’s revelation that has been made known to us through the scriptures.
So, Psalm 119 is a really big deal. Not that the other Psalms are less important. It’s just that Psalm 119 serves as the centerpiece of all the other psalms.
The other really cool thing about Psalm 119 is that it is in written as an acrostic that includes each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of those Hebrew letters includes eight lines. Psalm 119 isn’t the only Psalm that uses an acrostic approach. It’s actually one of seven Psalms that use this method. The others are Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, & 145.
And on a personal note, I can’t read verse 105 of Psalm 119 without thinking of Amy Grant. She, along with Michael W. Smith wrote a contemporary Christian song about this verse back in the 1980s which made it into our current hymnal that was published in 1989. It’s a song that was sung in youth group settings, Christian camp, and was very popular on Christian radio.
They recorded the song at the Caribou Ranch studio which is located in the Rocky Mountains. Michael came up with the melody and some words for the chorus. When Amy heard the demo, she loved it, but it still needed to be finished so Michael asked her to give it a try.
Later that night she started to walk back to her cabin. Caribou Ranch where they were recording this is 8,000 acres large, in the middle of nowhere and it gets really dark at night. Amy ended up getting lost walking back to her cabin and she was scared of bears and the wildlife that was all around her.
And while she was afraid and walking through the dark, she finally saw a lamp and started walking towards that light. That lamp ended up being where her cabin was located so she made it safe and sound. When she walked into her cabin, she sat down with a notebook and pen and wrote the verses to this song called, “Thy Word.”
When we started this series on the Book of Psalms last Sunday, I mentioned that there are five categories of Psalms which include psalms of lament, psalms of thanksgiving, royal psalms, and psalms of wisdom. Psalm 119 is one of the psalms of wisdom because of its heavy and I mean heavy emphasis on the importance of studying, meditating and trusting in God’s laws.
What are God’s laws? When we think of God’s laws, we might first think about specific rules and commands like the Ten Commandments, but that’s really only one part of a much bigger meaning when we refer to God’s law.
The Hebrew word for “law” is “Torah” which refers to the first five books of the Old Testament which is known as the Pentateuch. Those five books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Even though these are five separate books, they are meant to be seen as one unit that tells the story of how God has created us and formed us into his people, and how God saves and redeems us. So, when Psalm 119 refers to “law” it is referring to these two big themes of God our creator and God our redeemer and what it means to be God’s people.
Any specific commands that we might find in these books are there to serve this greater purpose, to remind us that we have been created by God, claimed by God, and redeemed by God. This is what gives us our identity, this notion of God’s law.
And so, I get a little frustrated when well meaning Christians think that by just putting a plaque of the Ten Commandments on the wall of a public school will somehow provide this greater context of what being God’s people really means. While the Ten Commandments are important, it doesn’t offer the larger context that God has created us and that God has redeemed us.
Which brings me to my next thought about wisdom Psalms like Psalm 119. Wisdom, in the biblical understanding isn’t about memorizing bible verses and commands so that we can get an A plus on our faith exam. It’s also not about seeing the Bible as some kind of simplistic answer book where if you have a question, it will always provide a neat and tidy answer.
That’s not how the Bible works. That’s not how biblical wisdom works. Biblical wisdom is about the studying, the meditating, the reflecting, and the applying of who we are as God’s people in our day to day living.
Or look at it this way. Biblical wisdom is a two-way street where God invites us to wrestle with our faith as we seek to be God’s faithful people in our day to day lives. God doesn’t just tell us to take two wisdom pills and call him in the morning.
We have a part to play in living out biblical wisdom and our part is through the daily habit of prayer, thinking, study, reflection, and action. And guess what? This process is often messy, confusing, and leads to second guessing. But it also can be very inspiring, transformative, and life-giving.
Which brings me to what has become many people’s favorite verse in the entire bible, verse 105 in our Psalm 119 reading for today. The Amy Grant verse of the Bible.
Sorry, I just have to use the King James Version, just like Amy did in writing the song. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
What a great verse to describe the meaning of biblical wisdom and meditating on God’s laws. The Psalmist uses the image of a lamp to describe what it means to be wise.
The Psalmist could have said something like, “Thy Word is the answer sheet for your upcoming test,” but instead says that “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
Think about that. When it’s dark outside, a lamp can only give you enough light for your next step. It doesn’t light the entire way. The lamp does its job by providing the light, but it’s up to us to take that step.
And since this is Father’s Day, I remember when I was growing up and thinking that my dad was the smartest person in the world, but when I became an adult, I realized that he had to learn wisdom along the way as well.
And what might have worked for him during his parenting years, didn’t necessarily mean that it would work as well for me as a dad. Each generation needs to work at wisdom and being the wise people that God is calling each of us to be.
The painful truth is that there isn’t a parent manual that includes easy to follow directions for each year of their lives and for every situation they might encounter.
No, instead, like the Psalmist, we were given a lamp that provided just enough light for us to figure out how to work the car seat. And then it gave us just enough light to figure out what helps them to sleep through the night. And about when they should start eating baby food.
We learned slowly but surely that parenting wasn’t a one size fits all proposition. It was hard but we just kept following the light God gave us each step of the way. And part of that was a process of learning-failing-trusting, learning-failing-trusting, learning-failing-trusting.
And the same is true in living a life of faith. It’s a process of learning-failing-trusting; learning-failing-trusting.
Sometimes people think that pastors have all the answers to life’s complexities. That’s why you don’t get sermon titles from me like “Five Steps to a Happy Life” or “Easy Parenting” or “How to Have a Strong Faith.” By the way, any time you see a sermon title that has the words, “Steps” or “Easy” or How to,” run the other way.
Like I said, biblical wisdom doesn’t offer easy answers, but it always invites us to meditate, reflect, pray, struggle, discover, and trust. I think the word, “trust” is the key word here. Trusting that the lamp will give you enough light to make the next step.
And the good news in all of this is that God is with us each step of the way. And when we fall, we just get back up and keep trusting, keep following, keep discerning.
And so, when you hear well meaning Christians say, “Well, here’s the clear direction you need to go,” or “there’s no doubt this is what this passage of scripture means” or “this is exactly what Jesus would do in this situation,” that is probably a sign to remember this Psalm.
This Psalm that says,“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light onto my path.” This Psalm that says we are given just enough light for the next step. This Psalm that invites us to walk with God. This Psalm that recognizes that life isn’t easy.
And maybe this is why this is the longest of all the Psalms. It takes every single letter of the Hebrew alphabet to emphasize the importance of following God one step at a time.
What is that lamp that will give you the light you need as you take that next step of faith?
I think for the Psalmist it definitely includes God’s Word, the Bible. I think it also includes prayer because that’s what Psalm 119 is. It’s a prayer.
I think that lamp is also other people who care about you and love you and who are here to help guide you along the way. I think that lamp can be your pastor, a family member, a good friend who knows you better than anybody else, a wise counselor, what you’ve learned from past experiences, and a loving church family.
Like the Psalmist says…keep carrying that lamp and it will be a light onto your path.
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