OPEN MY EYES THAT I MAY SEE THE WONDERFUL THINGS IN YOUR WORD

Proclamation:

“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law.  I am a stranger on earth; do not hide Your commands from me.”  Psalm 119:18-19 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this the third part, Gimel, of this twenty-two part psalm, David is continuing his conversation with The Lord God.  David refers to The Word of God as God’s law (Psalm 119:18) God’s commands (Psalm 119:19) God’s statutes (Psalms 119:22) and God’s decrees. (Psalm 119:23)  Earlier he had also referred to them as God’s precepts (Psalm 119:4 and 15) and later he refers to them as judgments (Psalm 119:52) and testimonies. (Psalm 119:46)  One can only speculate as to why he chose to use so many different words to refer to one and the same thing.  Regardless, he begins this part by asking The Lord God to deal bountifully with him, to bless him with grace and mercy so that he can obey God’s Word. (Psalm 119:17)   He wants The Lord to increase his understanding and appreciation of God’s law and to enlighten him with respect to discerning the spiritual things contained therein.

Application:

Many of us read things and do not get very much out them.  The Bible is not an easy book to read and many people get only bits and pieces out of it.  Believers should delight in The Word of God and should want to know more about it.  We need to pray that The Lord God will open our eyes and enlighten us so that as we read and meditate on His Holy Word that we will be enriched and our understanding increased.  We need to study The Word of God so that we can rightly divide the truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)  We should not rely solely on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)  Sunday School, Bible Study, and Bible courses are designed to enhance our appreciation of The Word of God.  Anything that is not growing is dead.  If we want God to reveal more to us, then we must ask Him and let Him show us the way.  Like David was, we are strangers on this earth, we are in this world but not of it. (John 8:23 and 18:36)  We are on our way to our heavenly home, this earthly journey is just part of our preparation.  Let us allow The Word of God to show us the way and be a light on our path. (Psalm 119:105)