WONDERS IN GOD’S WORD (1)

“Open my eyes to see the WONDERFUL things in YOUR WORD” – Psalm 118:18 TLB

Beloved, Welcome to the Month of WALKING IN WONDERS by GOD’S WORD: “Open my eyes to see the WONDERFUL things in YOUR WORD” (Psa.118:18, TLB). The Passion Translation of Psalm 119:18 says, “Open my eyes to see the miracle-wonders hidden in your word.” The Lord be praised for bringing us to the fifth month in our Year of LIVING BY GOD’S WORD. In January, we Began with the Word. In February, we learnt how to Hold Fast the Word of Life, and in March, how to Prevail in Prayer by the Word. In April, we received insight on Overcoming in Life by the Word. It’s time to meditate on and enter the reality of Walking in Wonders by the Word.

Today’s passage reveals the God who intervenes in the lives of His people through His Word. The psalmist pleaded as God’s servant and pilgrim, who increasingly found himself to be a stranger in enemy occupied territory. He needed to discover wonderful things in God’s Word, in order to live and please God in a fallen world (v.18). For apart from His light, we are too blind to see. So, the psalmist asked for opened eyes so that he could see the marvellous blessings of God in the Word. He based his plea on the fact that he hungered for God’s Word (vv. 19-20). In contrast to the wicked who disobeyed the Law, he meditated on and delighted in God’s Law (vv. 21-24). Psalm 119:18 is a prayer for revelation and discovery of the Wonders in God’s Wonder. The essence of this prayer is that we may LIVE and KEEP God’s Word (v.17).

Three key lessons from the passage:

First, there are WONDERFUL things in God’s Word. Other Bible versions refer to the Law – “Torah,” which means “instruction” or “teaching.” God’s Word, Law, Instruction, or Teaching is filled with so much Wonder, the revelation of it can transform and empower us profoundly: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a MIRROR the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Cor.3:18). We behold the transforming Glory of the Lord in the Mirror of His Word (Jam.1:23-25). This is why it’s so crucial to hear, read, study, know, meditate on, memorize, and observe to do and obey the Word of God (Jos.1:8: Psa.1:2).

Second, no one can “see” the wonderful things in the Word of God for what they really are without His supernatural help. It takes God Himself to open our eyes – the eyes of our spirit – for us to see the Wonders in His Word. We are not naturally able to see spiritual beauty or appreciate spiritual essence: “But the natural man dies not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Cor.2:14). When we read the Bible without the help of God, the Glory of God in the teachings and events of the Bible is like the sun shining in the face of a blind man. Not that we can’t construe its surface meaning, but we can’t see the wonder, beauty, and glory of it such that it wins our heart! God is more concerned about His Word in our hearts than our heads.

Third, we must pray to God for supernatural illumination when we read, study, or meditate in the Bible. We’re helpless in ourselves to see spiritual beauty and the wonders of God in the Bible without His gracious illumination. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is for all Believers: “... the eyes of your understanding being enlightened...” (Eph.1: 17-18a). David asked God to open his eyes for the glorious wonders of the Scriptures to be revealed. Going forward, may our eyes also be opened to the wonders, miracles, and wisdom found in God’s Word. As we strive for deeper insight, may we discover, discern, and be illuminated and transformed by the WONDERS in GOD’S WORD, in Jesus’ name!