God Speaking

“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”

(Proverbs 4: 19)

I am an early riser. I am not sure why I still do as I am now old, or as my little granddaughter tells me “Very old”. I have no reason to rush off to work or get breakfast for a large family, but the reward of getting up early is observing the majesty of God. That first ray of light signals the miracle of a new day beginning. Some mornings it is so spectacular I exclaim like the psalmists. 

“O. Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth.” (Psalm 8: 1)

When we look closely as to why the path of the righteous is compared to the first gleam of light, we realise that the Lord himself is speaking to us through his creation, reminding us to stay on his path through life not to stray onto the dark paths of the world. 

Light was the first most amazing gift God gave to mankind, out of the swirling darkness came light. 

“And God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.” (Genesis 1: 3) 

The word, path, is used many times in Scripture and life is a path that we all walk on through life. There are many paths to choose, but only one is lit by the light of the Lord. If we choose that one, the longer we walk on it the brighter becomes the light. 

So how do we make sure our path is lit? Again we can go to the Psalmists they learnt from where that light came from. 

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119: 105)

Reading God’s word daily and especially when we are at the crossroads with a major decision looming in which we must choose the right path, consulting his word can lead us to that well lit path. Deciding that we already know how to handle big decisions can often lead to disaster. 

Even though we choose to walk on that well lit path. It can become very rocky at times and sometimes we feel unable to cope with huge obstacles that appear. I was thinking back to when my children were small, when we as a family liked hiking the trails in the beautiful mountains surrounding our city. Our youngest was only three years old and often the path was too steep, so my husband would just pick her up, placing her on his broad shoulders and carry her until we got to our favorite picnic spot. David knew this feeling of life not always going the way we thought, but his beautiful words remind us that on that well lit path the Lord is right there with us, ready to pick us up and carry us when we are finding it too difficult to make it on our own. 

“He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23: 3)