18. Open thou mine eyes. This is a part of the bountiful dealing which he has asked for. 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 I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Some people can perceive no wonders in the Gospel, but David 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, yet what are these to closed eyes ? And who can open their own eyes, since we are born blind? Scripture needs opening, but not one half so much as our eyes do. What perfect precepts, what precious promises, what priceless privileges are neglected by us because we wander among them like blind people among the beauties of nature, and they are to us as a landscape shrouded in darkness!
The psalmist had a measure of spiritual perception, or he would never have known that there were wondrous things to be seen, nor would he have prayed, open thou mine eyes; but what he had seen made him long for a clearer and wider sight. This longing proved the genuineness of what he possessed, for it is a test mark of the true knowledge of God that it causes its possessor to thirst for deeper knowledge.
David’s prayer in this verse is a good sequel to verse 10, which corresponds to it in position in its octave: there he said, “O let me not wander,” and who is so apt to wander as a blind person? There, too, he declared, “with my whole heart have I sought thee,” and hence the desire to see the object of his search.
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