Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

17 Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
19 I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
22 Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.
(Psalm 119:17-24 ESV)

Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
(Psalm 119:11 NKJV)

to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah 42:7)

And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26:15-18)

Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:31-32)

Psalm 119 is an amazing prayer to God glorifying Him for the revelation of Himself through the Word of God.  In all but five of the 176 verses the Word of God is referred to using words such as Law, Word, Judgments,  Testimonies, Commandments, Statutes and Precepts.  The author of the psalm appears to have taken time to develop it, using an acrostic pattern.  In the Hebrew each section of eight verses is given a letter from the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, running in alphabetical order and each verse begins with the same letter.

The Psalmist asks God to deal bountifully with him, to receive the mercy, compassion and grace that we all need to live and keep God’s word.   In ourselves we can do nothing, our spirit may be willing but our flesh is weak.  We need God to open our eyes that we may behold the wondrous things He has for us to see in His word.  Earlier in psalm 119:11    we read that hiding the word of God in our hearts will help prevent us from sinning against God.  All sin however big or small we think it is is an offense against God.  He is Holy and cannot look upon sin.  He sent Jesus to die on the cross at Calvary for the sins of the whole world so that whoever calls upon the name of Jesus might be saved. When Paul had a revelation of Jesus on the road to Damascus he was told he would go to the Gentiles  “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me”  In order to see God we need our spiritual eyes to be opened.  Another couple of followers of Jesus met Him on the road to Emmaus after He was resurrected.  Jesus explained things to them out of the scriptures and their eyes were opened and their hearts burned within them in response to the revelation of the Word of God spoken by the resurrected Jesus taken from the written word of God.  As we allow the word of God into our hearts by reading it, thinking about it, studying it, meditation on it we grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and we receive strength and courage through the power of the Holy Spirit to honor God by walking in paths of righteousness, strengthening our character so that we might not sin against Him.

If you want to know more about how to enter a relationship with God, how to be forgiven of your sins and how to become a Christian please take a look at the Gospel section above or get in touch with me through the contact me page.