Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
I have suffered much; preserve my life, O LORD, according to your word.
Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.
Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law.
The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts.
Your statutes are my heritage forever, they are the joy of my heart.
My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.
(NIV84)
Each of these verses start with the Hebrew letter nun...and I'll be honest, I had to pull out my magnifying glass to see the difference between nun and gimel. They both consist of a vertical line, with a stroke to the left on the top and bottom. The only difference I could see is that the bottom stroke on gimel is a diamond shape, while the bottom stroke on nun is a square.
And they didn't have bifocals back in those days....
Anyway, here's what I came up with after digging through the dictionaries...
[A] lamp to my foot [is] your word and light to my pathway.
I have sworn and will fulfill to observe your righteous ordinances.
[I] am excessively afflicted; Yahweh, preserve my life by your word.
The free will offerings of my mouth accept, I pray, Yahweh, and your ordinances teach me.
My soul continually in my palm, yet [I] forget not your law.
Guilty [ones] have set a snare for me, yet from your precepts [I shall] not go astray.
[I] have claimed possession [as an inheritance] [of] your testimonies for all time, for they are my heart's joy.
I have inclined my heart to accomplish your statutes continually to the end.
I think the verse that struck me most this week is I have claimed possession as an inheritance of your testimonies for all time, for they are my heart's joy. It's...active. Intentional. In the NIV, it reads as a transaction accomplished, a description of the status quo. But the Hebrew is much more dynamic. The Psalmist went after something, because it was precious to him.
How hard to we go after the testimonies of God? Are they worth an intentional pursuit...to us? To me? Have I made them a part of my inheritance...or my legacy?
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