Psalms 119:18 Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.
This simple verse is easy to memorize. I encourage you to read it over out loud 5-10 times in a row. Say the reference also. Ask God to help you to remember it.
I have prayed this verse hundreds if not thousands of times so far in my Christian life and walk. It’s the cry of my heart. “Open my eyes…” In our natural state, before we came to Christ, we were blind and foolish, rebellious and hostile to God in THOUGHT and deed. We were INCAPABLE of understanding or comprehending spiritual truth. Our hearts and minds had been programmed to love God and to acknowledge God, but sin so blinded us, killed us and made us dead to God and to the things of God. “And you who once were dead in your trespasses and sins… He made alive…”
Even now that we are ‘in Christ’, we need God’s supernatural intervention in our lives to ‘open’ our spiritual eyes to know truth. Paul prayed for the Church at Ephesus, 1:16-19 “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might…” Paul knew that God had to touch them and give them insight and revelation that they were incapable of on their own.
Solomon indicated that understanding spiritual truth came from diligently seeking and searching for that truth. Prov 2:1-7 “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;”
So, what are the conditions required to gain spiritual insight from God? The first step is prayer. Ask God, “Open my eyes….” Then, diligent study of the Word of God is required. We must ‘receive’ God’s words and ‘treasure up’ His commandments, ‘making our ears attentive to wisdom and inclining our hearts to understanding’. Then we are to ‘seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure…” Then, in the midst of our seeking, we are to ‘cry out’ and ‘raise our voice’ asking for more understanding. We are so dull and seemingly spiritually slow to learn. Then, when we have met these conditions, amazing things happen, “For the Lord GIVES WISDOM”, knowledge and understanding…”
Please memorize Psa 119:18, “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” Recite this verse and pray this verse every time you open the Word of God, every time you have a Quiet Time or devotional time alone with God. Pray this prayer whenever you start to memorize or meditate on God’s Word. We are asking our omniscient God to allow us as mortals to understand things that are incomprehensible for us in the flesh. Apart from God, we are incapable of understanding spiritual truth. O Lord, open my eyes that I may behold You and wondrous things from your law!
Related posts:
