I hate getting lost. For me, few things are worse, than needing to be somewhere and finding that I don’t know where there is. My frustration level increases when the directions I’ve been given are bad . . . especially when they are from a “reliable source.” In the past few weeks I have been failed by “Google Maps” . . . not once, but twice! If you can’t trust Google Maps, who can you trust?

This morning I’m reading in Psalm 119 . . . one of my favorite parts of my reading plan . . . one of my favorite portions of Scripture . . . a love letter consumed with the word of God . . . all 22 stanzas . . . all 176 verses. And this morning I’m reminded that the Scriptures are really my “reliable source” . . .

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not Your commandments from me!
(Psalm 119:18-19 ESV)

I am a sojourner on the earth . . . or, as Peterson puts it, “I am a stranger in these parts” (MSG). This world is foreign territory . . . I’m just a temporary inhabitant trying to make my way from here to there. There are so many roads available to go down . . . so many destinations advertising for me to visit . . . so many “attractions” willing to take my treasure . . . so many potholes to try and avoid . . . so many ditches to stay out of. There’s also so much to be enjoyed . . . so much to encounter as it bears the mark of the Creator — though tarnished by a world in rebellion . . . so many opportunities to “talk to the locals” about my homeland . . . to invite them to become sojourners as well and to set their face toward eternity.

But I need good directions . . . a trustworthy guide . . . a GPS I can have confidence in . . . a reliable source that will help me navigate. LORD, says the psalmist, hide not Your commandments from me! Open my eyes, LORD, that I might see wondrous things from Your law. That, my friends, is my reliable source.

Oh, that I would be gripped with the reality that this world is not my home . . . that this is not the final destination . . . but that I would be “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” . . . that my desire would be for a “better country, that is, a heavenly one” for God has prepared such a place for me (Heb. 11:10, 16). And, in so recognizing that I’m on a journey in hostile territory, cry out to God for direction . . . seeking His mind and wisdom in navigating this place. To look for a travel guide that allows me to journey in such a way as to reflect my true heritage . . . to walk in this world without losing the distinctiveness of the one for which I am destined.

That my morning by morning plea would be, “Open my eyes . . . show me wondrous things in Your word.” That I would consciously invite the illuminating work of the Spirit within me . . . that I would be expecting fresh instruction for the day . . . that I would have eyes to see and hears to ear concerning the path that is mine as an ambassador for Christ . . . that I would sojourn in the day with confidence, knowing my way has been “mapped out” by a reliable source.

Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.   (Psalm 119:24 ESV)

Who needs Google Maps?