“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)
What we require is light. Darkness will not do. Death happens in darkness. Light gives life! We simply must have light.
God knows this. For this reason He imparts His light to us through “The unfolding” of His words in the Scriptures. The Hebrew word for “unfolding,” depending upon either of two possible pronounciations, has the notion of either “door” (thus the KJV’s “the entrance of Thy words”) or to “unfold” (as in ESV and NIV). The Hebrews were a nomadic people who made their homes in tents. Thus to “open the door” one “unfolded” the tent flap (Boice, 3:1041). When the tent flap was “unfolded” light poured into the otherwise darkened tent. Those things which previously were veiled in darkness were exposed and laid bare to the light of day.
God the Holy Spirit is pleased to use the faithful exposition of His Word to bring light to the otherwise darkened interior of our lives. What we desperatly need is the “unfolding” of the Scriptures. The need of the hour is not cleverness, novelty or sensationalism. The Word of God cannot be improved upon or “made relevant.” The great essential is the faithful “unfolding” of God’s always-relevant Word by the enablement of God’s Spirit.
This, the psalmist demands, “gives light.” Light to see. Light to live by.