As if no one ever told me to watch my step, I stub my toe on the uneven step, trail rock, bed post, door jam, or canted sidewalk slab, as I have untold times before, and as induction tells me I will until God coats everything in smooth, soft gold.
Experience tells us to watch the path. And in one set of tropes, scripture concurs. The most illuminating verse on the longest Psalm’s route (119) declares God’s word “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Using scripture’s light to watch the path keeps me from stalling or stumbling, from wavering or wandering.
But there are snares even on the path God shows us, and watching is not sufficient. When my feet are trapped—whether of my own doing or another’s—I need more than light. I need help. Staring at my feet is not help. Attending the problem is not the solution.
The 25th Psalm describes from where help comes, and therefore to where the ensnared should look: “Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose… My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.” David does not look at his feet, or the path, but—in the 121st Psalm’s language—to the hills.
In this week walking below, may we look consistently above for our help.