Open My Eyes To See Wondrous Things

 “Open my eyes” continues the thought of the prior verse and develops the thought of the section thus far.  This “opening” is a part of the “bountiful dealing” he spoke of in verse 17.  The verb is in the “Piel” which speaks of intensive or intentional action.  This is further borne out by the use of the imperative mood as well.  As we have noted, the use of the imperative when addressing God reflects not a command, as would be the normal way of understanding it, but rather expresses the strongest of desires on the part of the speaker.  When combined with the Piel verb form this would intensify to the strongest possible point the expression of the desire.  In David’s mind it is far better to have the eyes opened by God than to be placed in the midst of the grandest and greatest human circumstances and yet be blind to spiritual reality.

We need to note a couple things here.  “Eyes” usually refers to the physical organ of sight, but is also frequently used to refer metaphorically to the understanding and the obedience.  That is the sense in which it is used now.  David is not pleading for normal, physical sight – rather he is asking for spiritual insight or enlightenment from the Spirit concerning God’s Word.

Further we need to note that here again we are seeing David acknowledge that the ability to “see” spiritual truth is not his to presume upon – it comes from God.  We should note that this ability comes from God in an ongoing way, it is not a one-time gift.  Rather we are here speaking of an ongoing spiritual ministry of the Spirit of God to His children.  It is another one of those “Daily Bread” issues that requires us to return to our Lord time and again to receive the enlightenment needed.

That points us to two other ideas.  First we ought to note that David already has some portion of spiritual insight and ability.  He was already closely in touch with God and was a spiritually alive and vibrant person.  This ought not be taken to imply that he had none or that he was defective or negligent in some regard.  The Psalmist was an excellent example of a believer for us.  Flawed yes, but a good example none the less.  He is particularly good because he is much like we are.  He fell into sin, grave at times, yet very obviously craved rightness and was zealous for God; and God recognized and rewarded him for it.

David knew that he did not have the tools necessary to understand the Word.  He knew that that was the express province of the Holy Spirit and that such understanding comes from God alone – He “gives” it to no man.  Men must be redeemed and in the place of blessing in order to “have their eyes opened.”  They must be a saved child of God; and they must be walking with God.  There was no question in David’s mind that he had to depend on God for enlightenment.

It is significant to remember that David was no stranger to the Word.  He already knew the Word and had heard from God numerous times.  He was confident that he could hear from the Lord and had indeed heard from Him correctly numerous times.

But as confident as he was and as sure of his standing before the Lord as he was, he knew of a certainty that he needed more that he had already.  He needed God to opne his eyes yet again so that he could see.

It is interesting that his eyes till needed opening.  It is a humbling thing for us to realize that no matter what our level of maturity, we never surpass the need for God to explain His Word to us.  We never arrive and never get to the place where we are self-sufficient.  That is not the design of God.  He has not designed us nor His economy such that we can ever get to the place where we can operate independent of His enabling power.  That is simply the way it is!

“Open” is translated by at least three different English words.  “Uncover” speaks to the idea that God reveals that which would have, else, been unknown and remained unperceived.  God shows us things that we could not have otherwise known.  Jeremiah said it well when he said Show me great and mighty things which I know not!

“Discover” is another English word that conveys the idea that we find out things in a systematic fashion, working to uncover them.  It is not that God “zaps” us so that we perceive.  Rather, he uses the natural and normal human process of study and applying ourselves to the apprehension of the meaning and application of the Scripture.  It is, by and large, communicated to us by the natural means as God enlightens our minds.

Further, it is translated by the English word “capture”.  The knowledge of the meaning of the word is elusive and its perception is not natural to us.  Our humanness works to prevent us from getting hold of the intent of God and we must see to it that we grasp it and keep it!  We must “capture” the meaning of the Word as if it were something of great price and worthy of great effort.

“Behold” expresses the causative aspect of the relation of enlightenment by God and human effort.  We work and apply ourselves, gaining insight into the Word because God has opened our eyes.  The goal of David in seeking to have his eyes opened is in order that he might see wonderful things in the Word.  Again we are reminded of the purity of his motives here.  He is after the knowledge of the Word, pure and simple – not even after the resulting blessedness that comes from knowing and applying the Word.  We cannot say that that blessedness was not at all a part of his thinking – it surely was.  What we can say is that it was not his prime motive.  He desired to know the Word for the reasons discussed in the prior verse – that he might live righteously and keep that which God has commanded.

It is a shockingly common thing for us to see people who profess to know and love God, and yet have never applied themselves to knowing the Word.  How can we live for God and love Him if we do not know what He has commanded and how He wants us to live?

“Wondrous things” is actually a verbal construction.  It is a passive participle that translates a word that refers to the idea of being wonderful.  The idea here is that the things that are contained in the Word are wonderful because God has said them, making them wonderful!  The words of the Scripture are not wonderful because of any quality found in and of themselves.  They are no different than any other words.  Their wonder is found in that they are God’s Words.  That is what sets them apart from all other words is their origin – they are the very words of God Himself!

This is underscored by the use of the term “Law” at the end of the verse.  It is the Hebrew Word “Torah” and refers to the instructional nature of the Word.  The Law is the teaching or instruction of God – it is “they” Law.  It is not the teaching of men or the traditions of religion.  The Word can specifically refer to the Law of Moses, or to the Law in general or even to the entire Old Testament revelation.  The point here is that it is the revealed word of the One, True God.  As such it carries great authority and is of great import.  David understood this and knew that the Word was wondrous precisely because it came from the most authoritative source in the universe.

David’s desire was that his eyes be opened, as God dealt graciously and bountifully with him; in order that he might truly see, understand and obey the wondrous things that were contained in the Word and thus be enabled both to live they way that God desired him to live and be enable to keep or obey the Word fully!