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The Book of Proverbs has the same figure (Proverbs 6:23). For the "commandment is a lamp, and the law is light." And Wordsworth calls duty "a light to guide." The "lamp" is kindled specially for the hours of darkness; the "light is the natural light for all time. The need for the lantern on dark nights is well understood by those who live in country districts. A minister without a lantern, one dark night, got over a stile, intending to take a straight line across a most familiar field; but in a little while he found he had wandered round to the stile again. In the East the figure of the text is even more expressive. The streets of the towns are narrow, unlighted, ill-kept, and specially dark at night, because of the high walls of the houses on either side. The causeway often has dangerous holes, and soft muddy places, and great loose stones; and if a man is to pick his way safely, he must not only have a lantern, but hold it right down to his feet, so that its light may guide his next footstep. That gives point to the text. God's Word is not just a general light for the guidance of our route; it is something to hold close, for the direction of each step in life that we take.

I. LIFE IS TOO FULL OF PERILS FOR A MAN TO TRUST HIS OWN EYESIGHT. What can a man do with his eyesight in a dark Eastern street in the night-time? He may have the best eyesight, but it will not serve him then and there. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Human life is dark relative to human experience. "Ye have not gone this way heretofore." Human life is full of perils. Such as affect everybody, and such as affect particular dispositions. Every man is in danger of being taken at unawares; tripped up by some stone of offence; sore wounded by slipping into some hole of neglect. Some can manage life better than others; but every man is beaten by life in the long run, if he undertakes it himself.

II. LIFE-PERILS CAN BE PASSED SAFELY THROUGH WITH THE HELP OF GOD'S LAMP. The Word of God is relative to all possible human experiences and dangers. Its light acts in two ways.

1. It gives the man general principles and moral strength, so that he is ready prepared for every testing-time.

2. It gives precise counsels guiding actual conduct in every emergency. It is the lantern held down close to the feet, so as to direct the next footfall. The adaptation of the Divine Word to a man's every circumstance and need is the surprise of religious experience. - R.T.

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KJV: NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

WEB: Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.