Tag: sins

170. Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us

1 Kings 21:1  Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.

But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

1 Kings 21:25  (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)

And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

Ezekiel 33:10-11    “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’  Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

Romans 2:4    Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

2 Peter 3:9    The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

The consequence of Ahab and Jezebel’s sin was ultimately the loss of their family, friends, and anyone who was close to or supported them.  Do we ever look at our sin and it potentially affecting the lives of our children? Exodus 34:6-7  The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Our sin has the potential to lead our children into the same paths of sin and worse.  Scripture is full of examples of how a sinful King’s son was more sinful than the father.  Sin has a way of pulling our family, friends, and others into its grip.  Sometimes it can be fast, in a moments decision. Other times it can be a slow change, a slow wasting away of the heart and soul for things of God.  In either example, it is the father who begins the sin spiral away from God.  Likewise, it is the father who can begin and instill a repentant, humble obedient, and God-honoring servant attitude in the lives of his children.

Never underestimate the importance of serving, honoring, glorifying, following, trusting, and obeying God.  It will satisfy your soul and be a reflection of the guiding light of Jesus Christ.

155. Did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him

1 Kings 16:25  Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.

1 Kings 16:29  In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him

1 Kings 14:9    but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,

Micah 6:16     For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people.

We can see the way sin creeps into a nation and affects the people.  There is a progression and it is not for the better.  Jeroboam started them down a watered down bath of lukewarm following after God by trying to serve both God and man-made idols.  Their hearts were divided.  And so the decline started and the snowball rolling down the path away from God gained speed.  We see Omri doing more harm than those before him and his son Ahab doing more harm than his father. Ahab married Jezebel and went further away from God.

When we take neutral stands on moral wrongs and even start embracing those things that are clearly not honoring or glorifying God, there are reasons these things occur in our lives.  Primarily it happens when we lose the desire to humbly serve and honor God.  It happens when we let the busyness of life overtake our heart and mind.  It happens when we no longer hunger and thirst for His word.  It happens when we neglect our time with Him and become complacent in our want to grow in understanding and knowledge of God and His love for us demonstrated through Jesus Christ.  It happens when we start comparing ourselves against others and thinking we are good enough and not spending time in His word.  It happens when we no longer seek His leading in our daily life.  It happens when we water down sin and try to make sense of why what we are doing is not that bad.  It happens when we get comfortable with our current state of following and obeying Him.  It happens when we no longer see a need for growth.  It happens when we close our ears and close our heart to what God is speaking.

No matter what we think, it is a conscious choice to step away from God’s word and neglect His leading.  It is a conscious choice to no longer seek Him, honor Him, serve Him, follow Him, obey Him, and trust Him.  These conscious choices are what waters down our walk with Him and are the very things we try to justify in our daily walk. There is not justification and there is no time this is right.  It is always wrong and will always lead to paths that take us further and further away from God.

150. Within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

1 Kings 14:21   Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

Ezekiel 16:47-48     Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

Romans 1:24-27    Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!

Deuteronomy 32:18-21  You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.  “The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.  And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.  They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Do you ever wonder how people get so far away from God that they replace serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him with something else?  It is not as though God changed who He was or His steadfast love and holiness changed.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  What changes in the lives of people that they no longer have a heart, mind, and soul for the one and only true God.  I have an idea it was a slow decline over time.  They allowed the very evil and wayward thinking of the people God drove out before them to find it’s wake back.   It is not as though they woke one day and said: “I am going to do this really stupid thing I know is wrong against God”.  No, it was more like a slow steady decline and turning of their heart and mind away from God and His word.  They spent less and less time thinking about Him and more and more about themselves. They spent more time listening to those who have no heart for God than time in God’s word.   

Acceptance of false teaching and sinful living is the beginning of the fall.  Some may think since it is just the beginning of the fall it is not that bad.  If you jump off of a cliff there is really no difference in the ending from the beginning.  The outcome is the same, it is just the little bit of time between.  It is not as though you can grab onto anything while you are in midair on a free fall.  Such are the lives of many who spend little to no time in God’s word and their heart and mind are listening to that which does not serve, honor, or glorify God.  It is a slow heating of the water and nothing aware of how hot it is getting before you are dead.

There is no one holding you back from serving, honoring, glorifying, following, and obeying God but you.  You choose each day.

148. Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences

1 Kings 13:33  After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.”

Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.”

When she came, she pretended to be another woman. But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it.”’ Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.

Isaiah 44:20   a deluded heart has led him astray

Psalms 50:17     For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.

Nehemiah 9:26    “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.

Ezekiel 23:35   Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences

Not listening to a warning does not end well.  Rejecting the word of God and its application in your life does not end well.  Closing your heart and mind to things of God does not end well.  Leaning on your own understanding, knowledge, wisdom does not end well.  Living with God at arm’s length away does not end well.  Not spending time in God’s word each day does not end well.  Thinking God is only there for you to call on Him when in trouble and not needing Him other times does not end well.  Not being intentional each day with the choice to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, and obey God does not end well.  Thinking there is another time in the future where you will commit more, serve and trust more fully does not end well.  Thinking you are good enough does not end well.  Thinking you can find satisfaction apart from God does not end well.  Being lukewarm in your walk with God does not end well.  Being neglectful and complacent does not end well.  All of these lead us down false paths of hope and peace but they are able to give nothing.  They all encourage you to cast God’s word behind your back.

Stay in His word. Choose to keep it in front of you.  Do not cast it behind your back.  Choose to seek him in the morning, mid-day, and evening.  Keep His word close to your heart and live to honor and glorify Him.

79. “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:12   You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’ “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.” Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.” Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied. “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

It is one thing to say “I will serve the Lord” and another to do it.  Speaking the words are easy but the commitment of the heart to serve Jesus Christ over self is where the problem occurs.  There is a moment of commitment in our thought process but for some reason, it does not make it into a heart and soul deep desire.  We need a commitment so deep in our soul that life its self is second to humbly serving, honoring, worshiping, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.  We need a commitment so firm and reliant on Jesus that life’s purpose, this side of eternity, is only fulfilled when serving, following, and obeying Him.

There is so much that can pull at our walk with Jesus.  In our prosperity and ease of life, we allow neglect and complacency to slide into our lives and erode our daily foundational time in His word.  Intentionally choose to serve Him, commit fully to honoring and obeying Him, and keep your heart, mind, and soul fixed on Him every moment of every day.

10. They turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers

Exodus 32:7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

Genesis 6:11-12  Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

Judges 2:19  But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

Hosea 9:9  They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah: he will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.

Isaiah 24:5  The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.

Isaiah 31:6  Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted

Psalms 78:8  and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The natural intent of our heart is rebellion, stubborn, unfaithful, corrupt, easily turned aside, stiff-necked, and not steadfast in serving God.  How are we to recognize the intent of the heart when the society/culture has put its stamp of approval on the very things that oppose God?  This makes it very hard to see it for what it is when there is nothing to counter their truth.

Think about it. Mainstream media is calling bi-sexual, homosexual, transgender lifestyles as being “Progressive”.  They call pornography “Adult Entertainment”.  They call abortion “Choice”.  They call God-fearing people as “Weak and Uninformed”.  They call creation “The Big Bang”.  They call faith “Wishing Upon A Star”.  They call God a “Myth”.  They call Jesus Christ a “Good Man”.  They call God, if He exists, “Unloving”.  They call hell a “Stick to get followers”.  They deny a “Final Judgement”.  They say the Bible is  “Man Made Stories”.  They say, because God does not exist, “Sin is not real”.  They say, if a god exists,  “All Religions Point to Him”.

It is very hard to recognize our sinful behavior if we do not believe, desire, seek, serve, follow, and obey God.  It is hard to obey God when there is no input of His word into our lives.  It is hard to confess sin when neglect and complacency replace daily time in His word.

Do you want to please God?  Commit to humbly serving Him.  Be intentional in daily time in His word.  Seek thoughts, words, and actions that which honors and glorifies Him.

Thoughts lodged within you

Genesis 6:5  The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Deuteronomy 29:19     one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.

Ecclesiastes 7:29    See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Ecclesiastes 9:3     This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Jeremiah 17:9     The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Matthew 15:19    For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Mark 7:21-23     For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,  coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Ephesians 2:1-3     And you were dead in the trespasses and sins  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience —  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Titus 3:3    For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

Jeremiah 4:14    O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

Thoughts come and go.  Some thoughts like to hang on.  They seem to be firmly planted and gain more and more substance as they continue and cycle through our mind.

Do you ever catch yourself in a thought and say where in the world did that come from.  I doubt we can stop these thoughts from coming but we certainly can do something about what we do with them. Recognition and intentional discarding them from spending more time in our head.

  We have been given God’s word that tells us be on guard against the evil intents and thoughts of our sinful nature.  In His word we find we can compare our thought against what the word of God says.  We can know if it is a right or wrong thought.  But this does require us to have His word in our heart, mind, and soul continually.

Thoughts of lust, pride, greed, coveting, hate, unkindness, and deceit all are seeds planted within our sinful nature and fueled by so many outside influences. I was thinking about things we see during what should be a good movie and only to have it include partial or full nudity.  For what reason other than to plant seeds of lust and want.  Reading the news can also be a vile thing, where news of hate, sex, abuse, and violence race for headlines.  I read an article on Larry Flynn, the person who started Hustler magazine, and who took the right to publish to the supreme court and won.  He said I am just giving people what they want.  Pop-up adds tell us we need something more, planting the seed of coveting.  How many times do you see adds promoting how to look better, act smarter, look younger, look sexy, being thinner, being stronger, blah, blah blah…. seemingly all for the purpose of planting seeds of wanting and that true satisfaction will only come through what they provide.   Yielding to any small seed of thought on these is a problem because it takes very little watering to make them spout, grow and produce unwanted fruit.  Doesn’t is seem pitiful that we allocate so much time in things that have little to no value for eternity.

Being aware of this sinful nature and cultivate an understanding – seeking, desiring, humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying God’s word which allows us to more clearly see right – wrong, truth – false, light – darkness, lust – purity, hate – love, worry – contentment,  restlessness – peace, despair – hope, pain – pleasure, vicious – merciful, cruel – kind, coveting – generosity, and temptation – resisting, humbleness – pride.

Our heart, mind, and soul needs more than just the seeds of God’s word.  These seeds need watering daily from the living water of God’s word to root and grow.  In our culture of liberal tolerance and no absolute truth, His word in our life seems to have been replaced with indulgent application of complacent neglect.

Look closely and monitor what seeds are lodged within your heart and seek to fill your heart with that what is good and pleasing to Him who is worthy of our lives glorifying Him in our thoughts and actions.

The entrance and unfolding of His word

“Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Psalms 119:129   Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.  The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.  I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments.  Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name.  Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.  Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts.  Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.  My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.

Proverbs 6:23     For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

Luke 1:77-79   to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,  because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Acts 26:18     to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

2 Corinthians 4:4    In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Ephesians 5:13-14     But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,  for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

2 Peter 1:19    And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,

Proverbs 1:22-23    “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?  If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

2 Timothy 3:16-17     All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

“Let us not enter into the testimonies, as a dry task, or an ordinary study; but let us concentrate our minds, our faith, humility, and prayer, in a more devoted contemplation of them.” (Bridges)

“obedience in more than outward action; it was obedience in soul.”

“It is painful to remember how much light may be shining around us on every side, without finding an entrance into the heart.” (Bridges)

“The word finds no entrance into some minds because they are blocked up with self-conceit, or prejudice, or indifference; but where due attention is given, divine illumination must surely follow upon knowledge of the mind of God.” (Spurgeon)

That I may live and keep your word.

Psalms 119:17  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!  My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.  You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.  Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.  Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.  Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.

Isaiah 29:10-12     For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).  And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”  And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

Isaiah 29:18     In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.

Isaiah 32:3     Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention.

Isaiah 35:5     Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

Matthew 13:13     This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Matthew 16:17    And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

John 9:39     Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

Acts 26:18    to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

2 Corinthians 3:14-18     But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.  Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.  But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

Ephesians 1:17-18     that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,  having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

This is true  a love of God not desiccated by study but refreshed, informed and nourished by it.”

The Psalmist didn’t need new revelation; he needed to see the revelation that was already given. He didn’t need new eyes; he needed to see with the eyes he already had.

“In order to keep God’s word, must we not pray to understand it? What then is this prayer? Not – give me a plainer Bible – but open my eyes to know my Bible. Not – show me some new revelations beside the law – but make me behold the wonders of the law.” (Bridges)

There are wondrous things in Scripture; but they can only be seen when the eyes are opened by God.

It also means that not everyone sees the wondrous things in God’s word, but that when one does see them, they should regard it as evidence of God’s blessing and favor.

God has given man a sense of wonder, and there are certain things that prompt it. The new and unexpected can cause wonder; the beautiful and great and cause wonder, and the mysterious and unknown can cause wonder. We can say that God has provided for this sense of wonder by giving us His word. The Holy Spirit can make us alive to the Bible, and constantly see things that are new and unexpected; things that are great and beautiful; things that are mysterious and unknown. It is a shame to many Christians that they look for their sense of wonderful to be satisfied without looking to the Word of God.

Think of all there is in the Bible that you don’t see. Think of all the wonder, all the treasure that is there, but you don’t see it. You can see such things, though you can’t see everything, and sometimes you will think you see things that are not really there. Yet those who see more than you are not necessarily smarter or better; their eyes are just more open.

“If we want to see wonderful things in the Scriptures, it is not enough for us merely to ask God to open our eyes that we might see them. We must also study the Bible carefully. The Holy Spirit is given not to make our study unnecessary but to make it effective.” (Boice)