Psalms 119:17-32: a reflection

17Do good to your servant. I will live and I will obey your word. 18Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of your law. 19I am a stranger on the earth. Don’t hide your commandments from me. 20My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times. 21You have rebuked the proud who are cursed, who wander from your commandments. 22Take reproach and contempt away from me, for I have kept your statutes. 23Though princes sit and slander me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. 24Indeed your statutes are my delight, and my counselors. 25My soul is laid low in the dust. Revive me according to your word! 26I declared my ways, and you answered me. Teach me your statutes. 27Let me understand the teaching of your precepts! Then I will meditate on your wondrous works. 28My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. 29Keep me from the way of deceit. Grant me your law graciously! 30I have chosen the way of truth. I have set your ordinances before me. 31I cling to your statutes, LORD. Don’t let me be disappointed. 32I run in the path of your commandments, for you have set my heart free.

In this section of the great psalm about God's word, the psalmist prays a request we all need: Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. He does not merely want to read God's word, but to truly see it, to have his eyes opened to the wonders it contains. He recognizes that seeing the depths of Scripture is not automatic; it requires God to open our eyes. And he longs for God's word, his soul consumed with longing for it, clinging to it, delighting in it.

Notice the prayer: Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things. The psalmist knows that God's word is full of wonders, but that seeing them requires more than reading; it requires God to open our eyes. We can read Scripture and see little, our eyes not truly open to its depths; or God can open our eyes, and we behold wonders. So the psalmist prays for the opening of his eyes, that he might truly see.

That is a prayer worth praying every time we come to God's word. We can read the Bible with our eyes closed, so to speak, skimming the surface, seeing little of its depth and wonder. Or we can ask God, as the psalmist did, to open our eyes, that we might behold the wondrous things in his word. Do not come to Scripture relying only on your own understanding. Pray, before you read, Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. Ask God to open your eyes to see the wonders his word contains, for seeing them truly is his gift. Come to his word longing, like the psalmist, to see, and ask him to open your eyes.

Lord, the psalmist prayed, open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law, knowing that truly seeing the wonders of your word requires you to open his eyes. Give me that prayer whenever I come to your word. I can read Scripture with my eyes half-closed, skimming the surface, seeing little of its depth and wonder. Open my eyes, that I might behold the wondrous things your word contains. Keep me from coming to your word relying only on my own understanding; help me ask you to open my eyes to see. Give me the psalmist's longing for your word, and open my eyes to its wonders, for seeing them truly is your gift. Open my eyes, Lord, and let me behold wondrous things in your word.