Welcome. It's time for a word of encouragement from your friends at Our Daily Bread.

The devotional for today is titled God's Compass, and it was written by Marvin Williams.

During World War II, Waldemar Seminoff was serving as a junior engineer aboard the SS Alcoa Guide,

when, nearly 300 miles off the coast of North Carolina, a German submarine surfaced and opened fire on the ship.

The ship was hit, caught fire, and began to sink. Seminoff and his crew lowered a lifeboat

into the water and used the vessel's compass to sail toward the shipping lanes. After three days,

a patrol plane spotted their lifeboat, and the USS Broome rescued the men the next day.

Thanks to that compass, Seminoff and 26 other crew members

were saved. The psalmist reminded God's people that they were equipped with a compass for life,

the Bible. He compared scripture to a lamp that provides light to illuminate the path of life for those pursuing God.

When the psalmist was adrift in the chaotic waters of life,

he knew God could use scripture to provide spiritual longitude and latitude

and help him survive. Thus, he prayed that God would send out his light

to direct him in life and bring him

safely to the port of his holy presence. As believers in Jesus, when we lose our way, God can

guide us by the Holy Spirit and by the direction found in the scriptures. May God transform our hearts and minds as we read the Bible, study it, and follow its wisdom.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading comes our way from the longest chapter in the Bible.

Psalm 119, verses 105 through 112.

Your word is a lamp from my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it,

that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much. Preserve my life, Lord,

according to your word. Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.

Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. The wicked have set a snare for me,

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