Thy Word is a lamp to my feet,A light to my path alway,
To guide and to save me from sin,
And show me the heav’nly way.
Thy Word have I hid in my heart,
That I might not sin against Thee;
That I might not sin, that I might not sin,
Thy Word have I hid in my heart.
Forever, O Lord, is Thy Word
Established and fixed on high;
Thy faithfulness unto all men
Abideth forever nigh.
Thy Word have I hid in my heart,
That I might not sin against Thee;
That I might not sin, that I might not sin,
Thy Word have I hid in my heart.
At morning, at noon, and at night
I ever will give Thee praise;
For Thou art my portion, O Lord,
And shall be through all my days!
Thy Word have I hid in my heart,
That I might not sin against Thee;
That I might not sin, that I might not sin,
Thy Word have I hid in my heart.
Thro’ Him Whom Thy Word hath foretold,
The Savior and Morning Star,
Salvation and peace have been brought
To those who have strayed afar.
Thy Word have I hid in my heart,
That I might not sin against Thee;
That I might not sin, that I might not sin,
Thy Word have I hid in my heart.
Psalms 119:105
Psalms 119:89-90
Psalms 119:62
Psalms 119:44
Psalms 119:11
This popular gospel hymn was based on portions of Psalms 119, a chapter of Scripture containing 176 verses, the majority of which the Lord speaks to His children regarding the importance of knowing and obeying the written words of God.
The author and composer of this hymn, Earnest Orlando Sellers, was born on October 29,1869, in Hastings, Michigan. After finishing high school, he was appointed city engineer and superintendent of public works in Lansing, Michigan. After his conversion Ernest enrolled as a student at the Moody Bible institute in 1895. After his graduation he served at the Lansing Y.M.C.A as secretary throughout the country. From 1908 to 1919, Sellers once again became associated with the Moody Bible Institute as an assistant to Daniel B. Towner, the first director of the school’s music department. Sellers was also very active evangelizing during this time and also was song director for such well-known evangelists as Reuben A. Torrey, Gypsy Smith, A.C. Dixon, and J. Wilbur Chapman. During the early years of World War I, Sellers served with the armed forces overseas as a special Y.M.C.A. Representative. In 1919, Ernest Sellers accepted the position of director of the Music Department of the Baptist Bible Institute of New Orleans, now known as the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Here he remained faithful until his retirement in 1945. He was a highly respected teacher, song director, the author of numerous articles and poems ,and the composer of a number of hymn tunes, including the still popular hymn “Wonderful, Wonderful Jesus!”
"There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in His service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have juice from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the juice of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve today, 'I will meditate in Thy precepts.'" - C.H.Spurgeon More...
