S
peak O Lord, through your
Holy Spirit, as we come to
you to receive the food of
your Holy WORD. Take
your truth, plant it deep in
us; shape and fashion us in your like-
ness. That the light of Christ might
be seen today in our acts of love and
our deeds of Faith. Speak O Lord and
fulfil in us all your purposes for your
glory. Amen.
The words of the Psalmist remind
us of the power of GOD’s word and
its inexhaustible treasures. The phrase
should not pass off as something quite
simple since it has a lot of meaning
veiled in it. There are three elements
to explore in the phrase: Word, Lamp,
Feet.
A. THE WORD
From the book of ‘The Beginning’
about the beginning, something of
prominence recorded in the sacred
writ was that GOD spoke. “And
GOD said…” occurs many times in
the creation account. The ETERNAL
being speaks the word equal to His
Nature and Power. GOD says what
he does and does what he says. His
word reflects his thoughts. As it is
in the letter to the Hebrews 1:1, this
same word was spoken through the
prophets of old – think of all the ma-
jor and minor prophets in the Bible
and how they spoke GOD’s own word
to GOD’s people with the prophetic
formula “thus says the Lord…” In an
extremely profound way, GOD’s word
was made manifest in the person of
His Son JESUS, “the word became
flesh and dwelt among us” John 1:14.
This same word is that, preached
by the Apostles in obedience to the
mandate of the Risen JESUS “Go into
all the world and preach the Gospel
to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15).
The spoken word in its written form,
divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit is
sacred scripture comprising the Old
and New Testaments.
In light of this, Verbum Domini
(The Word of the Lord), Apostolic
Exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI
says, “Christianity is a religion of the
Word of GOD”.
The Psalm 119 is a Psalm that
celebrates the Word of GOD. For the
Psalmist therefore to declare that the
Lord’s word is a lamp to his feet is
indicative of a bond with the word, a
relationship – a heavy relevance on
the thoughts of the eternal being. In
simple terms love for the Lord’s word.
Truly and rightly so, GOD’s word’ es-
pecially in its written form is the story
of GOD’s love for humanity. In a truly
loving relationship, the lover and the
beloved always want to hear the other,
melt into each other. To be in this
deep romance with the word is such
that we melt into his word and his
word melts into us. How beautiful an
adventure it is to be lost in His Word
and found in His Word? A valid lit-
mus test of our love for GOD can be
how much we yearn to hear his word.
No one surely can claim to love GOD
yet do not delight in his words.
If Christianity is a religion of the
Word of GOD – and we are Chris-
tians (Catholic) – what could be more
bizarre than a Christian who has
little or no interest in GOD’s word
or one who is definitely literate but
does not own a copy of the bible? I
hear rumours that some don’t have
Bibles and others have transformed
their Bibles into a talisman. They
place it under their pillows to have
good dreams rather than nightmares;
they open a portion of the Scripture
that deals with protection in order
to ward off evil. Should we mention
those who have Bibles but merely as
an addition to the books on the shelf?
However, the case may not as bad as it
sounds as there is another fraction of
people who indeed have their bibles,
read it and try to live by it.
As a religion of the WORD of GOD
each time the Sacred Scriptures are
read, it reminds us of the words of
JESUS which he quotes from Deut 8:3
“Man shall not live by bread alone but
by every word that proceeds from the
mouth of GOD.” – Lk 4:4
The spoken word of GOD is in no
way less important. At every celebra-
tion of the Word of GOD, a sermon
or homily is given as an expansion on
the message of the Lord. For Preach-
ers, it is not a time for them to flaunt
their grandiloquence or brandish
their erudition. GOD’s word in 1 Cor
2:4 has Paul say, “my speech and my
message were not in plausible words
of wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of Power”. This is
Paul, a veteran preacher who could
discriminate between GOD’s word
and philosophy. For Listeners, it is not
a time to gear up for a good laugh like
it were a comedy show. I have heard
some comments like “this Father too
serious…” If the word of GOD were
not serious, it would not create. He
surely has to proclaim the word seri-
ously. This is not to imply that there
is no room for the right dose of [soft]
humour to drive home the message.
It is important to explain GOD’s
word because of its immense rich-
ness. To what shall I compare GOD’s
word? In Matt 13: 45 JESUS says “the
kingdom of heaven is like treasure
hidden in a field, which a man found
and covered it up; then in his joy goes
and sells all that he has and buys that
field.” In similar fashion, I say that the
word of GOD is like a field which a
person finds treasure, gives off a lot of
excesses and finds time to dig into it.
St. Ephrem the Syrian, a Deacon and
Doctor of the Church in his beauti-
ful meditation on the inexhaustible
depths of Scripture says “Lord who
can grasp all the wealth of just one
of your words? The Lord has hidden
many treasures in his word so that
each of us is enriched as we meditate
on it.”
I had taken a listen to a Preacher
from this Archdiocese (Lagos) and
he gave a beautiful acronym to aid
anyone in dealing with GOD’s word.
The acronym is H E A R = Hear! But I
shall like to expatiate on this beautiful
acronym. H – Highlight: Asking the
Holy Spirit to highlight a point in the
written or spoken word of GOD is a
necessary action. In every word that
is spoken, three things are present:
the Speaker, Word and Breath. It is
absolutely impossible for anyone to
say a word without breath/air in it;
the wind pipe has to open to pro-
nounce that word. The speaker of
the Divine word is GOD, the word
spoken is not a what but a who, that
is the person of JESUS and the Holy
Spirit is the breath in the word. “The
Spirit searches everything, even the
depths of GOD” (1 Cor. 2:10). The
Holy Spirit has to highlight for us the
point for meditation. ‘To read and
not to select/highlight is to neglect’, it
follows that to read the word of GOD
and not ask the Holy Spirit to High-
light is to neglect GOD’s word.
- GOD’s inexhaustible and rich word
should be broken for consumption.
The mysteries should be unraveled
for our spiritual growth. I think of the
many times we have said ‘open your
Bibles’ or in a typical Jewish certain
to unroll or open the scroll; the very
word ‘open’ should instill some read-
iness in us that only the Holy Spirit
can fulfill – the opening of the truth.
A – Apply: How does it apply to my
life? How does GOD’s word teach me
to behave in the different circum-
stance of my life?
R – Response: What shall I do with
this truth that has been given to me,
shall I go forth like the Samaritan
woman and share GOD’s word with
someone who I meet? Do I under-
stand that each time I hear the word,
I in a subtle way receive the mandate
of the Apostles [in Mark 16] to go
and preach this message to anywhere
people have ears?
Approaching GOD’s word this way
implies the readiness to listen. Lis-
tening is an important art especially
in the life of a Jew. The Scriptures are
replete with these: The creed of Israel
– Deut 6:4 Sherma Yisrael “Hear O
Israel”; The blood of the Covenant
– Ex 24: 3, 7 “Moses came and told
the people all words of the Lord and
all the ordinances… and they said
‘All that the Lord has spoken we will
do and we will be obedient.” The
testimony of the Prophet – Habakkuk
3:2 says, “Lord I have heard of your
fame…” The words of the Psalmist, Ps
44:1 – “Our Fathers have told us the
story…” The sermon on the Mount –
Matt 5:21–48 “You have heard… now
I say.” The voice of the Father in the
Transfiguration episode, Luke 9:35
“This is my Son, my chosen, listen to
him.”
There is something in Biology
about a part of the ear responsible for
maintaining balance called The Ves-
tibular system of the inner ear. Once
the inner ear is active and in proper
condition, a person’s equilibrium is
steady.
In the just concluded boxing match
between Deontay Wilder and Tyson
Fury, the third round saw Fury deal a
serious blow to the side of his oppo-
nent’s face. Only a few seconds later
did everyone discover a bleeding ear;
his eardrum had been burst definite-
ly affecting the part of his inner ear
meant to guarantee his equilibrium.
The rest of the Match saw a Wilder
wobbling through and could hardly
find his balance.
When the Psalmist says “thy word
is a lamp to my feet” he means that
GOD’s Word gives him stability and
assurance in his daily grind. To listen
with the heart to the written and
spoken word of GOD assures him of
a steady equilibrium. The more our
inner ears are active and hearken to
the Divine word, the more likely our
balance on the uneven path of life is
sustained. What is this balance? It is
not some kind of emotional or senti-
mental satisfaction, it is rather, clarity
of intent and purpose.
Maybe you are here and you are
trying to find balance in your life – in
the midst of doubts and difficulties;
fears and distress; or you are strug-
gling with Holiness – GOD’s word
will see you through. How will it
happen? I can’t explicitly answer you.
However, just like Mary in John 2:5
didn’t tell the servants how JESUS
would go about the miracle, she only
implied that first they should listen to
him when she said “do whatever he
tells you,” I encourage you to OPEN
your Heart, Listen and you will find
your balance, your equilibrium.
