A stranger does not know everything about the area or the people that he is associated with.  He is not in the know for all of the normal and necessary things that one who lives in the area is privy to.  There is knowledge that is hidden from him; things he does not know and cannot discover.

This is why David finishes off this verse with an appeal for God to not “hide” His commandments from him.  “Hide” translates a word that refers to concealing or withdrawing.  It is in its most frequent form, the causative and speaks most often of God “hiding Himself”; a context similar to this one.

There is no implication here that God actually does hide Himself or His Word from His people.  This is much like the passage in the Disciple’s prayer, “Lead us not into temptation”.  There is no implication there that God does or would ever lead His people into temptation, just the recognition that it is the hand of God which is the sole power which can prevent people from falling into temptation.  The thought here is similar.  There is no hint that God actively hides His Word from us, His children.  Rather this is only an admission that it is hidden from us and that we need God’s help to discern it.

David wants to know the commandments of God.  The word is used of one who has natural and genuine, intrinsic authority over another.  The substance or particulars of that authority are mitzvah, or commandments.

David does not know these commandments.  He must be instructed in them by God.  He must be taught them from outside of himself as he has no natural or innate ability to discover or know them of himself.  Regarding his humanity, they are hidden, and unless God reveals them in His Word, they will remain hidden.

It is interesting to note that David has some portion of the Word of God in his hands.  It was readily available to him – yet it was not so simple a matter as reading it.  He had access to prophets – yet it was not so simple as hearing from them.  He heard fro God himself – yet it was not that simple either.  He needed God to specifically and specially minister to him and teach him the Word.  Possession is not nearly the critical aspect of learning the Bible’s commandments.  It is the personal interaction and seeking of God’s direct instruction that is significant.

This is not to make our pursuit of the world entirely mystical or subjective – it is not.  It is firmly rooted in the objective use of the revealed Word of God.  But yet there is this matter of our interaction with it to be grappled with.  There is no causality here, but rather only an instrumentality that God uses to accomplish His purpose.  God uses the diligent and zealous pursuit of study and the knowledge of the Word to be build into His people the spirituality and maturity that is essential to growth.