Psalm 119:12, 17-19

"Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes...

Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!" 

~ Psalm 119:12, 17-19 ~

I accidentally skipped verse 12 previously so let me cover that now. At first glance it may seem like a straight forward verse to look at, but I like to dig deep sometimes so here goes. First off this verse jumps out at me because it seems to me that the psalmist is asking for personal instruction from the Lord. "Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes."  When I read this I think of the fact we should be asking the Lord to give us wisdom when it comes to learning His word. I was also curious about the "Blessed are you, O LORD..." part, when you first read it you simply think that he is praising the Lord, but I couldn't help but feel that there is more to it than that. I 'googled' several things before I came across a good explanation of blessings in the Bible. In the Hebrew culture there were many many blessings, short prayers that they would utter in thanks of daily events. And then I read this, which I thought was neat.

 "The phrase ("Blessed art thou") is sometimes called the Shem Umalkhut meaning "the Name and the Sovereignty" and makes the affirmation that Adonai is King of the universe." (www.hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Introduction/introduction.html)

I like to see the verse as "Blessed are you, O LORD (Adonai, King of the Universe), teach me your statutes!" I think this verse compliments verse 18 really well where he says "Open my eyes..." A prayer asking to be able to see the wondrous laws. It's an attitude of longing for the word and for awe at wonder. The scriptures are beautiful, if only we can open our eyes to it's wonder and beauty like the psalmist did. 

I don't have a lot to say about verse 17 but I do hope that I can pray like him and say "so I can live to keep your Word." We should live daily keeping the Word. 

Finally in verse 18 he mentions being a sojourner or stranger on the earth, it isn't a new concept we see this in 1 Chronicles 29:15, Psalm 39:12, 2 Corinthians 5:6 and Hebrews 11:13. We are citizens of heaven and therefore strangers in this world. We should be sanctified, set apart for the Lord and seeking after the Lords commandments. There is a hymn "This World is Not My Home", it  is a reminder that we aren't at home in this world, the first stanza goes like this: 

This world is not my home I'm just passing through

my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue

the angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

and I can't feel at home in this world anymore

O Lord you know I have no friend like you

if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do?

the angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

and I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Father, 

Blessed are you O Lord! Teach me you statutes and open my eyes to behold your wonderful laws, I pray that you open my eyes and heart to the understanding of scripture. May I keep your Word every day and remember that I am just passing through this old world on my way to heaven. I am not a citizen of this world, help me to be set apart from this world and fall in love with your word like the psalmist that wrote this beautiful Psalm.