Day 10: Psalm 19:1-10

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

The darkness of the world, the flesh, and the devil blinds and dims our eyes. Spiritually, we are nearsighted; we look upon our own things instead of on things above and the things of others. No wonder we can only see as in a mirror dimly! No wonder Jesus spoke in parables – “that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not hear, for this people’s eyes are darkened.” As the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, we walk about as blind people thinking that we see. As the church in John’s day, we do not even know that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

Yet what is the eye salve that Jesus counsels the church of Revelation to buy that they might see?

Psalm 19, among many other passages in Scripture, tells us:

“The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

God’s Word is the Light for our entire being! His law converts our soul; His testimony enlightens our understanding; His statutes gladden our heart; and His commandment enlightens our eyes. The entirety of His Word provides light to the entirety of our being.

Specifically, His commandments are important because they are the basis of His covenant with us. As we remain in His commandments, we remain in His covenant and all that entails. His commandments show us our own sinfulness and continually remind us to run to Jesus and rely on Him to be Righteousness and Holiness within us.

In Matthew 5, Jesus confirms:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Psalm 119 adds:

“Thy word is very pure.”

It is the utter purity of the word that is able to remove the filth and dimness from our eyes and allow His light to penetrate. John 15, among other passages, uses a cleansing analogy to describe the action of the Word in enlightening our eyes and hearts:

“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”

The washing of the water of the word, as His Word continually rolls over our entire being, removes the filth of the world – the fleshly thoughts that blind our eyes and contribute to nearsightedness. As we soak ourselves in the Word of God, He creates new thought patterns in our minds. Our minds begin to think according to the fashion of God’s thoughts instead of our own. What we think about becomes our belief system, which in turn dictates who we are and how we act. Because we are continually being exposed to the blinding darkness of the world, we must continually set our minds upon His commandments in order to keep our spiritual eyesight sharp.

The bright and pure light of God’s Word may be painful and unbearable to eyes accustomed to darkness. It may take time to accustom ourselves to this new Light; however, this is not a reason for discouragement but for perseverance. In time we ourselves will shine forth with new radiance – the radiance of Jesus Christ Himself.