“Open my eyes,” says the Psalmist, “that I may see wonderful things in your law.” Clearly there is more to the “Law” than just a list of rules. If not, what wonderful things could one find in a list of rules? No, the psalmist is referring to God’s Word. He is referring to as much of God’s Word as they had at that time which would probably have been the first five books of our Bibles, what the Jews referred to as ‘the Law’ (Hebrew: ‘the Torah’). The word ‘law’ for them didn’t just mean ‘rules’. It denoted something much richer than this. It includes the sense of being a kind of ‘user’s manual’. We wouldn’t refer to a user’s manual, say, for a Thermomix (kitchen appliance) as a ‘rulebook’. The manual is something to be studied with excitement by those who have spent the vast amount to buy one of these kitchen contraptions and who want to get the most out of it. The Psalmist refers to God’s Word here with many terms that might sound as though it were merely a rule book: “commands”, “statutes”, “law”, “decrees” etc. But why would he then delight in it so much? And, why would he be praying for a deeper understanding of God’s law? He delighted in God’s law because it was giving him access to a greater and more wonderful experience of life; it was empowering him. And the more he tasted of life lived according to God’s instructions the more he longed to experience of this.
Ask God to give you a deeper understanding of, and longing for, his ways.
Read Psalm 119:17-24
