Part 2: A Lamp... continued

When God directed Moses to lead the Israilites out of Egypt, He literally illuminated their way with a pillar of fire by night. Exodus 13: 21-22 tells us, "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people." The pillar of cloud and pillar of fire were the manifest presence of God showing the multitude the way through the wilderness. They did not have the written Word back then, other than the tablets with God's commandments. In like manner, the Word of God, is the manifest presence of God for believers today, showing the way through the wilderness called life. Yes, we have the Holy Spirit guiding us as well, but without knowldege of the Word, it is hard to correctly discern the voices that may be spoken into our souls and spirits.
I once heard this description of a person witout God and knowledge of God's Word. It would be like a blind man in an unfamiliar pitch black dardened room, looking for a black cat that is not there. Now how undone is that?! Any life will bring its share of difficulties. To face them time and time again without the hope of Christ and the light of His Word would certainly be a frustrating and futile existence. For the discouraged man, the psalmist writes, "Oh, send Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle. Then I will go to the alter of God, to God my exceeding joy; and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God." Psalm 43: 3-4. The psalmist is fervently acknowledging the need for and requesting the light and truth that comes from God. And when this is achieved, he knows that he will have encounerted God Himself -- calling God, "my exceeding joy," and he will gratefully praise Him.