Psalm 119: Nurturing Passion For God
Ask God To Open Your Eyes
Psalm 119:17-24
When you read the Bible you see that people who deeply trust Jesus Christ do face problems. Becoming a Christian does not mean we are freed from problems. In fact Jesus seems to go out of his way to tell us that we will face problems, trials, and suffering.
But the beauty of Jesus Christ is that when we face problems we can turn to him – and he will meet us in powerful, heart-changing ways.
And that’s what we see in today’s passage in Psalm 119. In today’s passage, the author is facing a life-threatening problem. But as he faces this problem he tells us how he turns to God, and about how God powerfully meets him.
So let’s turn to Psalm 119:17-24. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Psalm 119 is on page 512 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Remember that this is highly structured poetry. The first letters of the first line of each eight verses begin with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So the first lines of vv.1-8 all begin with the letter Aleph, the first lines of vv.9-16 all begin with the letter Beth, and now the first lines of vv.17-24 all begin with the letter Gimel. So let’s look at what he says in vv.17-24, and as you read be on the lookout for what problem he was facing --
17 Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
19 I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
20 My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.
22 Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.
So let’s start with this first question – What problem did the author face? Did you see it? It’s right there in v.23 --
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Princes were men of great political power. So the author had princes – men of great political power – who were sitting down to plot against him.
So what were they plotting to do to him? I think we have a hint in v.17. Notice what he prays in that verse –
17 Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.
He’s asking God to help him live. So I think it’s reasonable to conclude that these princes were plotting to kill him.
So can you see that the author was facing a problem? And not just a problem – a huge problem. There were powerful men who were planning to kill him.
And the author tells us about how he faced a huge problem so we can learn from him what we should do when we face problems. But before we look at what he does – ask yourself – what do you do when you face problems? Maybe it’s problems at work. Or concerns about your children. Maybe it’s health problems, or financial problems.
So ask yourself – what do you do when you face problems? What do you do? Dive right in and try to solve it? Curl up in a fetal position on the couch? Pour another glass of wine? What do you do?
So let’s take a look at what the author does. What does the author do when he feels low? In this passage we can see him taking three crucial steps.
First, he asks God to solve his problem. I think that’s what he’s doing in v.17 --
17 Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.
So he’s asking God to protect him from these plotters, so he can live, and keep fulfilling God’s Word.
I think that’s also what he’s doing in vv.21-22 –
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.
I think these “insolent, accursed ones” are probably those princes who are plotting against him.
Then look at what he prays in v.22 --
22 Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.
I think this scorn and contempt is the scorn and contempt that the plotters have for him. So the author is asking God to protect him from their scorn and contempt.
So when we are facing problems, we should take time to stop everything else and directly ask God to solve our problems. Don’t limit this just to spiritual problems. Think of all the problems God solves in the Bible –
When Israel faced famine, God provided for them.
When Israel was enslaved in Egypt, God delivered them.
When Jehoshaphat needed wisdom, God guided him.
When Elijah needed food, God provided for him,
When Hezekiah was sick and dying, God healed him.
And the list goes on and on.
Now it’s important to point out that God knows best how to answer our prayers. Sometimes God knows we will have sweeter fellowship with him if the problem remains – and he will take care of everything we need to endure the problem.
But we should still pray and ask God to solve the problem, because sometimes God will miraculously solve the problem; and even when he doesn’t, our prayers will bring us something even better – especially sweeter fellowship with him.
So when the author faces a problem, he asks God to solve the problem. But that’s not all that he does. Second, he also asks God to open his eyes so he can see wondrous things in the Bible. You can see that in vv.18-19 --
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
19 I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
Have you ever prayed this? Have you ever asked God to open your eyes so you can behold wondrous things in the Bible? So why does the author ask God to do that? Read v.18 again, and think about what he is saying --
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
This is puzzling. He’s saying that sometimes when you read the Bible your eyes are open, but sometimes when you read the Bible, your eyes are closed. And when your eyes are closed, you can’t see wondrous things from God’s Word, and you need God to open your eyes.
Now what kind of eyes is he talking about? It can’t be the eyes of our head, because those eyes are open every time we read; we have the power to open those eyes and read the Bible. So what eyes is he talking about? To answer that, turn to Ephesians 1:16-18 (page 976) to see what Paul says –
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
17 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,
18 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 …
Here Paul is praying for church in Ephesus. And he’s asking God to do for them exactly what the author of Psalm 119 is asking God to do for him. But here Paul tells us more about these eyes that God can open. Paul calls them the eyes of our hearts.
See, you have two different sets of eyes. You have eyes in your head, which see the truth. And you have eyes in your heart, which feel the truth.
So when we open the Bible, the eyes of our heads can look at a verse and see the truth about Jesus – that Jesus died on the Cross, for example. But too often we can see the truth about Jesus without feeling the truth about Jesus. So when we read that Jesus died on the Cross, instead of feeling – the Creator of the Universe is suffering for our sins, he loves us so much that he paid for our sins, what glory, what beauty – we feel nothing more than – OK, Jesus died on the Cross.
So why does that happen? It’s because sin grows over the eyes of our hearts – clouding our ability to feel the truth of Jesus.
But when you turn to Jesus Christ and trust him – at that moment he supernaturally cuts away the sin from your eyes, and for the first time you see and feel the truth of Jesus Christ. Remember that?
But when Jesus saves you, he doesn’t remove all your sin. And as you continue to live your Christian life -- sin keeps growing up over your eyes. And how can you tell when that’s happening? It’s because when you open the Bible you are just seeing the truth about Jesus – but not feeling the truth about Jesus. Your heart is not stirred with love for him, you don’t tremble at God’s holiness, delight in God’s forgiveness, weep for the lost, rejoice in the hope of heaven.
That’s why Paul prays for the church in Ephesus that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened. And – turning back to Psalm 119 – that’s why the psalmist prays – “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from your law.” Because when we pray and ask God to open our eyes, God will cut away the sin so we see and feel the truth of Jesus.
I think this might be exactly what some of you need to hear this morning. Because maybe you didn’t know that sin can cloud the eyes of your heart, and that you can ask God to cut the sin away so you can see and feel the truth of Jesus.
So maybe you’ve been reading the Bible faithfully, seeing the truth about Jesus, but not feeling the truth about Jesus, and wondering why nothing is happening. But if sin is clouding your eyes, and you haven’t asked God to cut away that sin, then you will just keep reading, and reading, and reading and nothing will change.
So there’s good news! If we will pray and ask God to open our eyes, and then read prayerfully, earnestly, lingering over God’s Word, letting our hearts marinate in God’s Word – we will stop just seeing the truth of Jesus, and we will start to feel the truth of Jesus.
Let me give you an example from Sarah Edwards, who lived in the 1700’s. I’ve shared this with you before, but it’s is a perfect illustration of what happens when God opens our eyes. It’s not that we will all have the same experience as Sarah Edwards – or that our experience will be this intense. But the point is to help us see what God can do.
She had been reading this verse from Romans 8:34 --
“Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
Here´s what she said happened –
“When I was alone, the words came to my mind with great power and sweetness. They appeared to me with undoubted certainty as the words of God, and as words which God was actually speaking personally to me. I had no more doubts of it, than I had of my own being.
“I cannot find language to express how certain this appeared … My safety, and happiness, and eternal enjoyment of God’s love seemed as durable and unchangeable as God himself.
“Melted and overcome by the sweetness of this assurance I fell into a great flow of tears … the presence of God was so near, and so real, that I was scarcely conscious of anything else.” (paraphrased, from Ian Murray’s Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography,” p.194f.)
God opened Sarah Edwards’ eyes to behold wondrous things from God’s Word. And that’s what the author of Psalm 119 is asking God to do for him. But that’s not all that he does.
He does not just ask God to open his eyes to see wondrous things in God’s Word, he then takes time to meditate on God’s Word. That’s in v.23 –
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
It’s not enough to ask God to open your eyes to behold wondrous things from God’s Word. You then need to sit down, open up God’s Word, and meditate on it. What does it mean to meditate?
It means to think deeply and prayerfully about the truth of God’s Word. It means to linger over God’s Word. To mull over God’s Word. To let God’s Word marinate your heart, like you would marinate tri-tip steaks. And as you do this, praying at the same time for God to open your eyes, you will not just see, but also feel the truth of God’s Word.
Depending on the passage, you will feel --
The reality of God’s existence
The glory of God’s mercy in Christ
The assurance of God’s forgiveness
The comfort of God’s love for you
The power of God’s sovereignty
The perfection of God’s wisdom
The certainty of heaven
Now these aren’t the only things we should do when we face problems. Depending on the problem, you should also go to the doctor, look over your budget, get counsel from others, think through alternatives, or whatever. So there are other things that God will use to help you with problems.
But as important as those are, none of those are as important as the three that the author mentions – asking God to solve your problem, asking God to open your eyes to his Word, and then meditating on his Word.
Because as you do those things – you will meet the living God. Your faith will be strengthened. You will be encouraged. And you will receive such grace from Gdo that you will be able to tackle your problems.