Psalms 119:18

This is true wisdom in a person: to know that he is imperfect; and, if I may say so, the perfection of all the just, living in the flesh, is imperfect. Whence, also, we read in Proverbs: "To understand true justice." For unless there were also false justice, the justice of God would never be referred to as true justice. And the apostle continues in the same passage: "And if in any point you think otherwise, this also God will reveal to you." It is a strange thing that I hear. He who but a moment ago had said "Not that I have already obtained it or have already been made perfect"; he, who was the chosen vessel, who dared to say with the confidence of Christ dwelling within him, "Do you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me?" and yet frankly confessed that he had not been made perfect, now ascribes to the multitude something that he specifically denied to himself, and he associates himself with the others and says, "Let us then, as many as are perfect, be of this mind." But he explains in the following verses what he meant by this statement. Let us, he says, who wish to be perfect, according to the measure of human frailty, be of this mind, that we have not yet obtained it; that we have not yet laid hold of it; that we have not yet been made perfect. And because we have not yet been made perfect, and, perhaps, think otherwise than is demanded by true and perfect perfection, if we think of and understand anything that is different from what is consistent with the knowledge of God, this, also, God will reveal to us, so that we may pray with David and say, "Open my eyes, and I will consider the wondrous things of your law."

Terrified by my sins and the dead weight of my misery, I had turned my problems over in my mind and was half determined to seek refuge in the desert. But you forbade me to do this and gave me strength by saying, "Christ died for us all, so that being alive should no longer mean living with our own life but with his life who died for us." Lord, I cast all my troubles on you and from now on "I shall contemplate the wonders of your law." You know how weak I am and how inadequate is my knowledge: teach me and heal my frailty. Your only Son, "in whom the whole treasury of wisdom and knowledge is stored up," has redeemed me with his blood. "Save me from the scorn of my enemies," for the price of my redemption is always in my thoughts. I eat it and drink it and minister it to others; and as one of the poor I long to be filled with it, to be one of those who "eat and have their fill." And "those who look for the Lord will cry out in praise of him."

In these twelve mysteries is the whole of Scripture. In each of these there are twelve lights of scriptural interpretation, that is, the allegorical, the anagogical, and the tropological. And twelve times twelve are one hundred and forty-four, and this corresponds to the number of …

Open thou mine eyes,.... The eyes of my heart or understanding, as Kimchi; or, "reveal mine eyes" (t); take off the veil from them: there is a veil of darkness and ignorance on the hearts of all men, with respect to divine and spiritual things; their understandings are darkened, yea, darkness itself.

Open - Enlighten my mind by the light of thy Holy Spirit, and dispel all ignorance and error. Behold - Those great and marvelous depths of Divine wisdom and goodness, and those profound mysteries of Christ, and God's grace to mankind, and of that everlasting state, which are not to be known but by Divine illumination.

Life is desirable in order to serve God; that we may do so aright, we should seek to have our eyes opened to behold His truth, and earnestly desire fully to understand it.

"Open thou mine eyes." This is a part of the bountiful dealing which he has asked for; no bounty is greater than that which benefits our person, our soul, our mind, and benefits it in so important an organ as the eye. It is far better to have the eyes opened than to be placed in the midst of the noblest prospects and remain blind to their beauty. "That l may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

"Open thou mine eyes." This is a part of the bountiful dealing which he has asked for; no bounty is greater than that which benefits our person, our soul, our mind, and benefits it in so important an organ as the eye. It is far better to have the eyes opened than to be placed in the midst of the noblest prospects and remain blind to their beauty. "That l may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Some men can perceive no wonders in the gospel, but David felt sure that there were glorious things in the law: he had not half the Bible, but he prized it more than some men prize the whole. He felt that God had laid up great bounties in his word, and he begs for power to perceive, appreciate, and enjoy the same. We need not so much that God should give us more benefits, as the ability to see what he has given. The prayer implies a conscious darkness, a dimness of spiritual vision, a powerlessness to remove that defect, and a full assurance that God can remove it. It shows also that the writer knew that there were vast treasures in the word which he had not yet fully seen, marvels which he had not yet beheld, mysteries which he had scarcely believed. The Scriptures teem with marvels; the Bible is wonder land; it not only relates miracles, but it is itself a world of wonders. Yet what are these to closed eyes? And what man can open his own eyes, since he is born blind? God himself must reveal revelation to each heart. Scripture needs opening, but not one half so much as our eyes do: the veil is not on the book, but on our hearts. What perfect precepts, what precious promises, what priceless privileges are neglected by us because we wander among them like blind men among the beauties of nature, and they are to us as a landscape shrouded in darkness!

Open thou mine eyes - גל עיני gal eynai, reveal my eyes, illuminate my understanding, take away the veil that is on my heart, and then shall I see wonders in thy law. The Holy Scriptures are plain enough; but the heart of man is darkened by sin. The Bible does not so much need a comment, as the soul does the light of the Holy Spirit. Were it not for the darkness of the human intellect, the things relative to salvation would be easily apprehended.

Open thou mine eyes - Margin, “Reveal.” So the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. The Hebrew word means to be naked; then to make naked, to uncover, to disclose, to reveal. Here it is the same as “uncover;” that is, take away from the eyes what is before them to prevent clear vision. Compare Num 22:31; Num 24:4, Num 24:16. That I may behold wondrous things - Things which are suited to excite wonder and amazement: that is, things which are secret or hidden from the common view; the deep, spiritual meaning of the word of God. By natural vision he might see the surface - the letter; to see the deep, hidden, real, meaning, he needed the special influence of God. Compare 1Co 2:12, 1Co 2:14-15. He believed that there were such things in the law of God; he desired to see them. Out of thy law - Out of the written word; out of the Scriptures. The word “law” here is used to denote “all” that God had revealed to mankind; all that is contained in the volume of inspiration. The truths taught here are (1) That there are deep, hidden, secret things in the word of God, which are not perceived by the natural man; (2) That those things, when understood, are suited to excite wonder, or to fill the mind with admiring views of God; (3) That a special illumination of God is necessary that man may perceive these things; and (4) That the proper understanding of these things is connected with prayer, and can be hoped for only in answer to prayer. No one has a proper appreciation of divine truth - of the beauty, the spiritual meaning, the grandeur, the sublimity of the Bible - until he is a renewed - a praying - man. Compare the notes at 1Co 2:6-15.