Where Is The Wonder?

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Psalm 119:18

                If the people here tonight are anything like me, then this verse will be something that is needful and powerful for our lives. For the past several months there has not been another verse that has more deeply weighed upon my heart than this verse here. How often it is that I come to the word of God and step away without an ounce of my soul being affected in the slightest way. I am sure that we have all done the same. At times we read the scripture and it seems that each word or even syllable grabs holds of all our affections bringing us to our knees in praise of God. Other times we read the Word and there just seems to be nothing there and we wonder why we even waster our time.

                Do we want a change tonight? Often times I hear Christians speak quite low of the God that I dearly adore. Have you ever heard someone say “I believe there is a God, that’s good enough for me”? I am sure that most of us have heard something of his manner spoken once or twice. I hope this is not the situation of the Church members here. Hopefully we all want more of God’s word. Are we satisfied with our perception of God’s word or do we want to see wonders in it? I believe that Christians should never be satisfied when they come to the word of God and leave it empty. Well, hopefully throughout this sermon we will learn a few ways to allow us to see more wonders in God’s word. Not only for us to behold more wonders, but to behold more wonders more often. Before we get into it, it must be noted that there is no surety for seeing wonders. There is no fool proof plan for tricking God into showing us wonders in His word. But, I do believe some of the topics mentioned tonight will allow us to see and behold them more often.

                The first thing we should recognize is where David asks to see wonders. Too often today I hear people talk about how they want a direct revelation from God. They see the Word as insufficient, and think that they need to be given a completely new word from God Himself. I do not mean to disassociate the Word of God from prayer. As do many in the age we live in. They say that it is meaningless to read the Word of God. If you want meaning in your life, or to have your emotions moved then you need to simply pray, or listen to music even. But for what does David ask for here? Does he simply say “open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things?” Does he stop there? No, he says exactly where he wants to behold these wonders. “Out of thy law!” he says.

                Whenever a topic like this arises there is one instance in scripture that comes to mind. This would be of the time when Moses asked the Lord to show him His glory. There was no mention of scripture or seeing God in writings. But there was an exclamation of desire to see the glory of God physically. Often we think “if only God would reveal Himself to me in such a manner than I would surely act just as Moses did”. To be perfectly honest I have said this very same sentence before. That if God would simply do for me what He did for Moses all those years ago then I would gladly serve Him just as Moses did. Sure it’s easy to have such amazing faith when God reveals Himself to you right? If only we could all be so lucky right? But therein does lay the real question. Why does David not ask for such a vision? If we need such a vision why does David not desire it. I find it interesting that David probably only had the first few books of the Bible. I mean how many do you think he had? He had at least the first five, and maybe Job and a few others. But he sees this as enough to not ask for anymore.  Well, I find that quite amazing that as soon as the first words of God were penned man changed his desire from “show me your glory” to “open my eyes to your law”.

                Does this accomplish the same goal though? What was it exactly that Moses desired? He says “show me your glory”. Turn with me please to the book of II Corinthians. In chapter 3 verses  13 through 18 there is an interesting idea. Paul tells us that when the books of the Old Testament are read people cannot understand because “the vail is upon their heart”. But “when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” Then he tells us something very interesting in verse 18 “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” “with open face” means without a vail over our sight. But what does “Beholding as in a glass” mean? What was the context? He was just talking about the reading of scripture. Clearly the reading of scripture is like beholding a glass. What he means is that it is a reflection like in a mirror. A reflection of what is the big question though. Well he tells us “beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord”. Wait! Isn’t that exactly what Moses asked for? To see God’s glory? What happened to Moses when he saw God, his face shown with light and what happens to us when we see God in scripture, we “are changed into the same image from glory to glory”. We constantly shine brighter and brighter. Do you see it? We have EXACTLY what Moses was pleading for. We have His glory before us, right here, in a book. What a glorious thought this is. How could we ever say that we need more! We have in a book, his glory displayed for us, to read and behold whenever we please!

                Well, hopefully at this point two ideas have come into your mind. First, that we truly have a treasure before us in this book. Second, what was the vail that was just mentioned, and how exactly do we remove it. That is the issue at hand. After all, the first statement in our opening verse was “open my eyes”. There is actually a very good description of the position of the natural man in Ephesians 4:17-18 “…walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” Their hearts are blind and they cannot even see the things of God. Would a blind man ever say to the sun “you know sun, perhaps if you shown brighter I could see you”. Of course not, the problem is not the sun the problem is the man. The way we naturally are keeps us from seeing anything at all in a religious manner that concerns God. This is what I would like discuss for the remainder of our time together. I believe there are two major things that keep us from beholding glorious wonders in God’s word. First we do not enter Gods word correctly, and second we do not exit Gods word correctly. When we take this into consideration I believe that it will aid us tremendously when reading the word of God.

                The very first thing that is an absolute must before we can come to the word and understand it is that we must be believers. If we are not believers then this Word will come to us empty time and time again. We might read it daily time and again, even memorize word for word, but if we are not Christians then it will be meaningless to us. The question I would ask is why? Well, what is it that makes this book different from any other book? First let us look into a couple passages of scripture. Turn with me if you will to II Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Also turn to II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. What these scriptures are saying is that book that we hold was not simply written by man. They were penned by the hand of man but they were authored by a Divine mind. Does this hinder our understanding of it? Let us look at I Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” We must understand that the this book was Divinely inspired and therefore must be Divinely interpreted. Can we expect to read a language we don’t understand without someone to explain it to us. I can’t expect to just book up written in Japanese and read it word for word knowing the exact meaning. Can we ever expect someone who doesn’t have the Spirit to read and understand those things which were written by the Spirit? So there very first thing that must be accomplished before we can read God’s word and behold wondrous things is to have the Holy Spirit in us.

                Now here is the problem we have. We are believers yet there are still times we come to the word and leave it without those wonders upon our hearts. I believe that this verse here we are looking at is help for us and not for unbelievers. David was a believer and had the Holy Spirit living within him. But he came to the word and could not find those wonders he searched for. From what I have read it seems that the words “open mine eyes” does not refer to someone who is blind but has objects blocking his vision. Some commentaries compare it to when Paul had his vision restored. It says that “immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales.” There is something that hinders our vision that must be removed before we can come to the word of God and behold these glorious wonders. What are these “scales” and how can we remove them?

                The first scale that must be removed before we can enter the Word of God correctly is Pride. We must realize that we cannot undertake such a task on our own and accomplish it. We must solely rely on the Spirit to teach us or these Words will leave us empty. As Augustine spoke of it, he said that he never found anything in the Word until he knelt low enough to make it through the door. Our pride must be broken before we can allow the Spirit to teach us. Once it is broken we will gladly desire to have the Spirit lead our hearts. Have u ever read something and wished “if only the author were here to tell me what he meant”. There are times when I read things and I just feel like I have to know what the author was trying to say. I read a lot of Charles Wesley hymns. Sometimes when I read his hymns I wish he were here so I could ask him “how in the world can anyone write that and not believe in the doctrines of grace??” If you get to reading him you will know exactly what I mean. I remember when I went to Colorado a few weeks ago. I told everyone that I had one request, I wanted to do absolutely nothing the whole time I was there. Well, I knew that wouldn’t work I know my dad a little better than that. Well dad wanted to climb a mountain, so I reluctantly agreed. BJ had us convinced that there was a trail all the way to the top. Some words of advice, don’t listen to BJ about trails. Had me and dad went on our own I seriously doubt we would have made it to the top. But we need someone to lead the way and show us how to get there. On that occasion BJ had been there before so he knew the way, but imagine had BJ been an expert on the mountain, and could not only take us to the top but show us wonders all along the way and exactly what was wonderful about it. If you were to ask a painter what was so great about his painting he would not simply give you the big picture that made it great but the details of, parts of it that he himself thought was wonderful. BJ could make it the top, but imagine how great that trip would have been had BJ created the mountain. That’s what we have here in this book. Not simply a tour guide, but a guide that wrote it. One who knows the details that makes it gloriously wonderful. We have the expert and the author in our hearts to display to us God’s glory in these words. Let us trust him completely to take us where he desires.

                The second scale which we must remove from our eyes is the world. When the world is in our vision then we cannot view the Word of God clearly. Turn with me if you please to the book of Genesis chapter 24 and verse 63. It says “And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide”. It is important to take note of not that he went to meditate, although that is important, but where he went to meditate. It says that he went “in the field”. Why would he leave where he was to go out into a field and meditate? The purpose is that he does not want anything to distract him. So that nothing would draw his attention away from that which he wants to focus on. But my purpose in this sermon is not external hindrances but internal. What can we learn from this for our internal restrictions for studying the Word of God? There are two ways the world can hinder us. First, which is more closely related to the situation with Isaac, when we allow ourselves to think about everything that’s happening in our lives than we cannot focus on the Word. Our minds begin to wander here and there instead of keeping a straight path. As Thomas Manton put it “to a distracted mind no place is solitude; the very closet is a market place”.  He is saying that just because you are off by yourself does not mean your thoughts have come with you. The second way in which the world keeps us from seeing the wonders in God’s word is a love for the world. If we want to see these wonders we must desire them more than we desire the world. This idea makes me think about us upon the Earth. Think about the world in which we live during the night time. Have we ever considered why we go from day to night? What is it exactly that happens that causes this darkness to come upon us? The answer is very simple, when the world comes between us and the sun. When the earth rotates so that the sun goes behind the earth then the earth literally stands between where we are and where the sun is. To see God’s glory we must not allow the world to stand between. Put it behind us and then we can see His wonders shine like the sun above.

                The third scale I would like to mention is our sins. The Word of God is quite a mysterious thing. Scripture talks of God’s word in two different manners. First it talks of it as glorious and delightful to our souls and it also describes as something that is terrible, as fire or a two edged sword. We all know the verses that say His Word is “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:10 ESV). Yes, sometimes we come to His word and we find it to be as such. But, scripture also tells us that God’s word is not only a fire but a “hammer that breaks the rocks into pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29). The difference is because of the sin in our hearts. The Word of God can be an awful and terrible thing. God’s word will convict us of sin in our lives. If we continually come to it with a sinful heart it will continue hit us like a hammer. If we want to behold the glorious wonders that are within His Word we must do it with a righteous life. The less sin we have in our lives the less the Word has to break us and we can get straight to enjoying God’s greatness.

                The fourth and last scale that hinders us from coming to the Word of God correctly is our slothfulness. We must admit to ourselves that we are a very lazy people. But there is something that we all must remember, and that is that seeing the Wonders in the Word is not easy. In II Timothy 2:7 Paul tells Timothy “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” He does not tell him that he should quickly pass over them and the Lord will reveal it to him. No, he is to reflect upon the words, think over them again and again, take deep consideration on them and the Lord will give him understanding. The Lord will give understanding but don’t expect it to be easy. Whenever I think of deep intense study of the Word I am reminded of Martin Luther. He speaks of his studying as one that beat upon the Word until it revealed its truths. He once said of Ecclesiastes “Solomon the preacher is giving me a hard time, as though he begrudged anyone lecturing on him. But he must yield his answers”.  Luther would not leave the Word until he saw the glorious truths that are hidden within no matter how much effort it took. One last thing to consider is not to be satisfied. When it comes to God’s Word desire more and more and never feel that you have seen enough. I think of such amazing verse like John 3:16. We read it and see glories quite easily. It’s mines have been dug so often that when you come to the mouth of it you can readily find scraps of gold strung about without even entering the mine. If only we would enter the mine and dig with all your might we might find glories that laid hidden from most the world. Do not be satisfied with the scraps when there is an abundance of treasure that lies beneath the surface!

                Now quickly I would like to deal with a couple reasons that we do not find the glories because we exit the Word incorrectly. I find that there are reasons that God will slow down his revealing of wonders when we do not leave His word in the appropriate manner. The first manner in which we exit his Word incorrectly is found in Psalm 119:27 “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.” David asks for an understanding of God’s Word and promises something in return. He says that if this understanding is granted then he will speak of God’s wondrous works. I am sure that the parents in here who gracious give in abundance to their children without them earning it or deserving it. If you were to learn that your children had seen others in need and they selfishly kept what they been given what would your response to them be? I think perhaps you would not so readily give to them in the near future. But what if they had given to another who was in need? What if they had given as much help as they could? Would not you happily give to them again? I feel that those of us who have taught before have found that the scripture seems more open to us when we are readily sharing those wonders we have been given with others.

                The second way that we leave the Word of God incorrectly we find in Psalm 119:7 “I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.” Once again David gives a promise of what he will do after he has been granted knowledge of God’s word. That which he has promised here is to be our first reaction whenever we learn some new wonder about God. Our hearts should turn to Him with shouts of praise. Praise Him for the glorious wonder that He is. Whenever I think about verses like this I stand in amazement. He tells God that knowledge of Gods Word will inevitably turn his heart to praise. Let us consider this for just a moment. David says that knowledge the scriptures turn his heart to praise. But what scriptures is he referring to? He speaks of only the first few books of the Bible. He perhaps had a few of the Psalms which he had written himself. But rest assured, he did not have the Gospels. If David thought that knowledge of the Word demanded praise how much more does our knowledge! We have the full redemption story. How much praise we should readily render to our blessed Lord and Savior! Think of it as a child and father relationship again. If the father is giving to the child but the child is ungrateful and does not even appreciate it then the Father might feel less generous to his child. More knowledge of our Father in Heaven means that we should praise Him all the more!

                At a time like this when the year is coming to a close everyone has ideas in the mind of bettering themselves. I’m sure most people in here tonight have thought about a New Year’s resolution already to try for the next year. Often people desire to lose more weight or to manage their budget better. I know most Christians have made resolutions to read more of the Bible in the following year. I have no doubt that there are people sitting here tonight who have made this resolution. But can I make another suggestion for us? We must remember that there is a reading without actually reading. Recall that often Christ said to the Pharisees “have ye not read?”  Don’t doubt people that these Pharisees had read these scriptures. I would dare to say that they had those portions of scripture memorized by heart. But they had not understood those words, and the words had not affected their heart. Let us not be as John Piper put it “a games man with the Bible”. No, let us desire more than a brief reading, but a heart truly affected by the glorious wonders we read within. Let us be like Charles Simeon who’s friends said that at times he has found him “so absorbed in the contemplation of the Son of God, and so overpowered with a display of His mercy to his soul, that he was incapable of pronouncing a single word," till at length, he exclaimed, "Glory, glory." Let this be us! Do not be games man put readers of the word that desire to be speechless and the abundance wonders that are here! Read his word in such a manner that we come from it and shaken knees and affected heart declare “Glory, glory”. Do not be satisfied with a simple understanding of his word but let us stand amazed and speechless at it. Tonight I finish with a question I have asked myself often. Turn with me to Proverbs 1:22. Let Solomon speak to us tonight just as he did all those years ago. “How long!” he says. Now ask yourselves. “How long world!” “How long Christians!” “How long all of us!” “How long myself!” “How long, How Long! Ye simple minded, will you love simplicity!”