I Want to See

Psalm 119:17-24

Verse 18  Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law.

    As we continue our journey through this psalm about the Word of God we will do well to take a moment and talk about God’s law as the psalmist saw it.

    The psalmist would have been raised in a Hebrew home (this is especially notable in this psalm where each section is listed under a letter of the Hebrew alphabet) and so would have been quite versed in the law that was given to Moses.  This law wasn’t just the 10 commandments as we know them but also the detailed laws that God gave Moses that had to do with all the worship requirements.  Though Jesus fulfilled the ritual laws of sacrificing for forgiveness He endorsed keeping the moral law that we call the 10 Commandments.

    These laws are often thought of as restrictive.  We don’t like hearing that we shouldn’t do something, yet the psalmist asks God to open his eyes to see the wonderful things of the law.  How would it change our feelings about the Word of God if we asked Him to show us the wonderful things in it?  How much deeper would our love for Him grow if we sought to learn all the depths of His teachings?

    The psalmist knows that it takes opening our eyes to the wonderful things of God to see the beautiful nature of His law.  He gave the law as a guardrail to keep us on His path.  When we fail to see the beauty of His law we are really saying that we don’t see the beauty in His way of life.

    If we are to be people abiding in Him, then we should be wanting to see the beauty of His law and the beauty that is ours when we abide in it.  We should be asking Him to show us the beauty of His law so that we can obey without reluctance.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could come to a point in our lives that obedience to God is something that we long for?  What a difference it would make in our fruit of faith if we were to obey willingly.  To know Him should mean wanting to obey Him.

    We can’t come to love something we don’t know and so it is important to remember that if we are to be loving His Word as He desires, we need to be spending time in it and be asking for open eyes to see the truths He has for us to learn.

Making It Personal

    How would you rate your level of love for the law?  Is it a lack of love because you don’t like to obey the law?  What does your opinion of the law say about your love for God?

Making It Personal Kids

    Why should you obey Jesus?  Should you love obeying Him?  Why is it important that you learn to love obeying?

Closing Prayer

    Father, thank You for giving us the law.  Please help us come to love it as evidence of the love we have for You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.