Psalm 119:18

[ 2 minutes to read ]

Open thou mine eyes,
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
~ Psalm 119:18

[L]ife has been sought and now he seeks light. Life is a first thing. You cannot do anything without life. Having life makes light a first thing. When there is little or no light, you don’t know what life you have nor what to do with it. The request here is a naturally and logically ordered request.

Open thou mine eyes
God formed the eye (Psalm 94:9) and He opens the blind eyes (Psalm 146:8). The Psalmist seeks eye-opening from God. If the light of truth and wisdom is sought, it is best sought from the source of truth and wisdom, God. He begins at the right starting point in acknowledging God as the One who opens eyes.

The words of this verse come from the mouth of a humble learner. Humility is required in learning anything. You have to acknowledge that you don’t know something and seek out someone who does know that you may be instructed (Proverbs 1:7). If you’ve ever taught a class, coached a team, or tried to train someone on a job, you know that if they are proud and stubborn, they are unteachable. Many such come to hard knocks that wisdom could have prevented. The fool thinks he knows everything, or at least all he needs to know, and so sets wise instruction aside (Proverbs 12:15). The sluggard, who is a special brand of fool, knows better in his own mind than seven men who actually know what they are talking about (Proverbs 26:16). The fool’s folly is his own undoing.

That I may behold wondrous things out of thy law
The Psalmist manifests wisdom in this request. He knows God’s law is filled with wondrous things. The word signifies depth, beauty, hidden, high, and wonderful. You could also infer valuable from the description, like a prize treasure (Psalm 19:10). He will go on to speak of God’s Word as something he savored (Psalm 119:103).

His desire is to the Word of God and not something else. He is not bored and clamoring after something new and different. He assumes the posture of a humble disciple at the feet of the Master. Too often we approach the Word of God like we do a dictionary. We want to turn to the precise page to find only the definition of the word we are interested in. Thumb tabs help and so does alphabetical arrangement. God’s Word is not alphabetized nor indexed. It is meant to be read, savored, and treasured.

This is the proper posture of the humble learner. “God, open my eyes. Teach me what You would have me learn.”

Listen to Psalm 119 Sermon Series

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