February 10-11, 2017
Worship: Thy Word by
"Thy Word" Lyrics
Michael W. Smith
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
When I feel afraid,
Think I've lost my way,
Still you're there right beside me.
And nothing will I fear
As long as you are near.
Please be near me to the end.
I will not forget
Your love for me and yet
My heart forever is wandering.
Jesus be my guide,
And hold me to your side,
I will love you to the end.
Nothing will I fear as long as you are near.
Please be near me to the end.
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,
And a light unto my path.
You're the light unto my path.
This song was submitted on November 30th, 2013.
Copyright with Lyrics © Warner/chappell Music, Inc..
Written by Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith.
Lyrics licensed by LyricFind.
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Witness:
These days have passed by quickly. Sleep has evaded me, and I have been too tired to the journal. Nevertheless, tonight in the face of weariness, I press on. I will not be able to finish, hence the double date in the heading.
My mouse has been sluggish these last few days. It needs new batteries. I can identify with it. I have been sluggish from lack of sleep. I need new batteries. My body needs recharging. Our spiritual well-being can be affected by our physical well-being and vice versa. I don’t have to quote a verse in order for me to know this is true.
Today I received the normal text about men’s Bible Study tomorrow. It said, “Remember God never gives up on us, we give up on him. Share your testimony. Share your love. Men of Faith tomorrow 7:00 am.” As I read that I felt a revulsion in my spirit that was disquieting and revealing. I realized that I felt uninterested in sharing my testimony of God’s faithfulness. I realized that my spiritual state had grown cold. I was questioning whether God was still with me. I was tired and didn’t feel the joy I had experienced when I was in more pain over my life’s situation. I was stagnating. I immediately began crying out to God confessing my feelings and asking for forgiveness. I asked for a new sense of His presence. That is when this old song by Amy Grant began to play in my mind.
Nothing will I fear as long as you are near.
Please be near me to the end.
The words stood out in bold print in my spirit, and I realized that God was talking to me. He was present with me. He also reminded me that He is always speaking to me in His WORD. Therefore, I must not neglect the study of His Word.
WORD:
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Ps 26:1-8
Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the Lord
without wavering.
2 Test me, O Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
3 for your love is ever before me,
and I walk continually in your truth.
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Ps 26:1-8
1 Declare me innocent, O LORD,
for I have acted with integrity;
I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me.
Test my motives and my heart.
3 For I am always aware of your unfailing love,
and I have lived according to your truth.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved..
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Ps 26:1-3
Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.
2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.
KJV
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Ps 26:1-3
Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and my mind.
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.
ESV
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I noticed that the modern translations consistently translate the last clause as “without wavering.” The KJV contains a more literal translation but is still interpretive here. The word “therefore” is not in the Hebrew text but is added here to try to clarify what the translators felt David was saying. The NASU translates it as “without wavering, ” but in a note, it says that it literally is “I do not slide.”
Examining the commentaries I have access to, yields several different interpretations. I will try to categorize these interpretations below.
It would seem that the majority of commentaries I consulted like to separate this from the phrase that precedes it. They may see it, as the KJV sees it, as a logical inference or application or promise based on the phrase “I have trusted in the LORD.” They also chose the word “slide” rather than the phrase “without wavering.”
Some see it as a promise of God’s help and preservation.
[I shall not slide.] I shall be preserved from swerving from the paths of righteousness and truth.
(from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.) I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. (comp. Ps 18:36; 37:31). David is confident of his past; for the future he trusts in God to uphold his steps, and save him from slips and falls.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
He produces here several proofs of his integrity, which encouraged him to trust in the Lord as his righteous Judge, who would patronise and plead his righteous cause, with an assurance that he should come off with reputation (therefore I shall not slide), and that those should not prevail who consulted to cast him down from his excellency, to shake his faith, blemish his name, and prevent his coming to the crown, Ps 62:4. Those that are sincere in religion may trust in God that they shall not slide, that is, that they shall not apostasize from their religion.(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All Rights reserved.)
Some see it as the practical outcome of trusting God and/or walking in integrity.
[Therefore I shall not slide] If these are really traits of my character, if I really possess these, I shall not be moved. My feet will be firm, and I shall be secure. Or this may be regarded as a further declaration in regard to himself, as indicating firm confidence in God, and as meaning that he was conscious that he would not be moved, or would not swerve in this purpose of life.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Therefore I shall not slide. Slippery as the way is, so that I walk like a man upon ice, yet faith keeps my heels from tripping, and will continue to do so. The doubtful ways of policy are sure sooner or later to give a fall to those who run therein, but the ways of honesty, though often rough, are always safe. We cannot trust in God if we walk crookedly; but straight paths and simple faith bring the pilgrim happily to his journey's end(from The Treasury of David, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Judge me, O Lord ... therefore I shall not slide. As the second and third clauses the verse correspond, so the first and fourth. As, then, the first clause is a prayer, "Judge me," resting on the petitioner's "integrity" toward his fellow-men (the second table of the law), so the fourth clause ought to be translated, 'let me not slide,' resting on the petitioner's 'trust in the Lord' (the first table) (Ps 18:36; 37:31): "Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine (habitual) integrity." 'Let me not slide,' for "I have trusted in the Lord."(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Upon the fact, that he has walked in a harmless mind, without cherishing or provoking enmity, and trusted unwaveringly (°em±aad lo°, an adverbial circumstantial clause, cf. Ps 21:8 ) in Jahve, he bases the petition for the proving of his injured right.
(from Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.)
For I have walked in my integrity.—תֹּם (in the full form תָּמִים), here connected with the suffix of the first person, in order to emphasize the habitual and personal characteristic, indicates not the perfection of the walk, but the purity of the heart (Gen. 20:5 sq.; 1 Kings 22:34), the honesty and ἁπλότης of the soul, which characteristic is accompanied by an unwavering trust in God.2—And in Jehovah have I trusted without wavering. [“Without wavering” is an adverbial clause according to Moll, Delitzsch, Perowne, et al., and not a dependent clause in the future (A. V., therefore I shall not slide) or a clause in the future, expressing confident anticipation (Alexander).—C. A. B.]Lange Commentary on the Holy ScripturesSource: http://biblehub.com/commentaries/lange/psalms/26.htm
All these interpretations have their strengths, and certainly, none would lead us astray. It would seem that the latter translation “without wavering” is the correct translation. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary says:
The verbal phrase “without wavering” (lō’ ‘emʽāḏ, “I shall not slip”) is best taken as a circumstantial phrase, describing the kind of trust the psalmist has in his God (cf. NEB, “unfaltering trust”).(The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 5, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Copyright 1991, p. 239)
Perhaps the applications that these commentaries make can all be inferred from this verse. I will end with a high note of application in which God receives the glory.
Without wavering, David stood for what was right, but double-minded people are unstable in all their ways (James 1:8). His life revealed a balance of faith ("I have trusted") and works ("I have walked"), as commanded in James 2:14-26. When your character and conduct are attacked, it isn't wrong to vindicate yourself, as Paul did (2 Cor 10-12), or to ask the Lord to vindicate you. We aren't just defending ourselves; we're defending the name of the Lord whom we serve. Our vindication is "for his name's sake" (23:3; 25:11).
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament © 2001-2004 by Warren W. Wiersbe. All rights reserved.)
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