Lenten Meditation: March 6, 2024
Daily Scripture Passage: Psalm 119:97-120
Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path. — Psalm 119:105
Prayers for divine guidance were a recurrent theme of my early childhood. During my formative years in Sunday school, we often sang hymns that asked God to direct our steps. This language provided the orientation I needed to navigate the pitfalls of life on the periphery. It became so deeply rooted that I barely noticed its disappearance in my young adult years.
In retrospect, those were the years when I felt most confident in my navigational skills. While I still prayed for guidance, I was much less likely to see God’s hand operative in my pursuits. It took the humility that comes with a procession of missteps to reawaken me to the prayers of my childhood.
Only now, the words of the Psalmist evoke a delight unimaginable to a naïve young man. “Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path.” It is fitting that we say these words as part of the church’s noonday prayers. After all, noonday is the season of life when we are most confident in our ability to see where we are going. Ironically, it is this confidence that renders us vulnerable to the perils lurking in the evening time.
We pray this Lenten season for divinely ordered steps.