Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

[WalterandDebbie]

Psalm 119:105-112
King James Version (KJV)

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.

108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy judgments.

109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.

110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.

111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.

112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.

 

[selihah]

We are under duty to study his torah in order to understand and obtain a knowledge of his instruction. But to study it in order to attain worldly benefits is forbidden. Our teachers said: "[expounding the verse:] 'to love the Yehovah your God, to hearken to His voice, and to cleave to Him'. This means that one should not say, 'I will read Scripture that I may be called a scholar.' I will study, that I may be called Rabbi, I will study, to be an Elder, and sit in the assembly. But learn out of love, and honor will come in the end.". And "Do good deeds for the sake of their Maker, and speak of them [words of torah] for their own sake. Make not of them a crown wherewith to magnify yourself, nor a spade to dig with". And "'Fortunate is the man that fears Yehovah, that delights greatly in His commandments' (Ps. 112:1), R. Eleazar expounds thus: 'In His commandments' but not in the reward of His commandments. This is just what we have learnt. 'He used to say, Be not like servants who serve the master on the condition of receiving a reward; but be like servants who serve the master without the condition of receiving a reward.'"