"Open my eyes"

Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law."

When David wrote it, he probably had only the first 5 books of Moses, therefore he calls it "law", in Hebrew Torah. So law in this Psalm would simply mean "instruction".

For the believers in the New Covenant we not only have Torah, but also the Prophets, the Psalms and the New Testament. And it is God's word, his word, his special revelation inspired and breathed out by God's Spirit given to us, to instruct us in the way of salvation in his Son Jesus Christ.

In the Scriptures are "wonderful things" for us to see, but not with our natural eyes, "For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7). In Isaiah 9:6 we read about the Son, God's Son Jesus Christ, and one of the titles given to him is "Wonderful Counselor". The Scripture say that God is wonderful, his works and deeds are wonderful, he does wonderful things for his people, written everywhere on the pages of the Scriptures.

But do we see how wonderful he is, how wonderful are the things he does? There are "wonderful things in your law [word]" the Psalmist says. Have we seen them? Do I see them? When the prophet Isaiah saw the wonderful things God does, he praises and rejoices in his God. Isaiah 25:1 says, "O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure." Joy and praise in God is the evidence of seeing the "wonderful things" in God's word.

Do I rejoice when I read the Holy Bible? Do I have the eyes of faith? How did the Psalmist see the wonderful God and the "wonderful things" the Lord does? By calling on God, to open his eyes.

And why do we need for God to open our eyes? In Matthew 6:22-23 we read, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Here Jesus talks about what we treasure determines our destiny. One is earthly, the other is heavenly.

What do I seek, look at and treasure in life? Are they perishable things, like the love of money, riches, fame, pleasures of sin, which lead to destruction? Or do I seek after God, his kingdom, his righteousness and the "wonderful things" in his word, which lead to life everlasting?

By birth we all naturally seek after everything else, but God. Because we do not see how wonderful he is. And that's because we are dead in our sins and trespasses.

"But God", loved us, and sent his Son Jesus to die for our sins, so we may be forgiven and justified from all our sins and receive his Son's righteousness as a gift, by grace through faith, simply as a free gift.

And now we can pray to God, "Open my eyes that I may see". The Hebrew word is literally "unveil my eyes". We have a veil over our eyes, because we naturally look with our physical eyes, though we as his people should be looking on life and all with the eyes of faith. But, "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." (2 Corinthians 3:16).

May we not turn to the Lord only once, but every day and every moment of our lives, so we may see our wonderful God, and his wonderful works, and be able to rejoice and praise him, always!

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18).