Psalm 119.17-24 (3)

Pray Psalm 119.17-19.
Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
Open my eyes, that I may see
Wondrous things from Your law.
I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.

Sing Psalm 119.17-19.
(Open My Eyes: Open My Eyes, That I May See)
Open my eyes, Lord, let me see wonderful truths to transform me.
I am a stranger here in the earth; hide not from me Your glorious worth.
Deal with your servant graciously that I may live obediently.
Open my eyes, Lord, let me see glory divine!

Read Psalm 119.17-24; meditate on verse 19.

Preparation
1. What does the psalmist say about himself?

2. What does he want God to do?

Meditation
When you are a stranger somewhere, you are not familiar with the ways of that place. They are not your ways, and the practices of that place are not your practices. You’re not at home there, and you’re wary about straying into unfamiliar paths, or being drawn into uncertain ways.

Like the psalmist, we are strangers and aliens in this world, in the kingdom of darkness. All who serve the Lord Jesus (vv. 17, 23) will be strangers in the earth. Our ways are the higher ways of the Kingdom of God, where the commandments of God and all His Word mark out the path we walk – of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is writing God’s Law on our hearts with ever-greater clarity the more we read, meditate in, and contemplate it.

Thus, though we are strangers to this world, we have God’s Law, which He does not hide from us but reveals clearly, especially in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we may know how to walk in the light as He is in the light.

The more we learn of God’s Law and the righteousness it entails, the more we can see Jesus and envision Him living through us in all our daily activities. Though we are strangers to earthly ways, we are becoming increasingly at home in Jesus as we devote ourselves to the Law of God and all His Word. Better to be a stranger in the earth than a stranger in the court of heaven. Seek the Lord often, looking into and through His Word and resting in His Spirit to bring you into His Presence with joy.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
It is supposed to be alien to us to embrace the notion of being a stranger. We are cajoled to fit in. We are encouraged to be a part of it all.

And yet our heavenly Father is OK with us being strangers here on earth. It is a circumstance to which we should acquiesce and accept with joy. God is not like us; and He doesn’t want us to be like the world. Or to feel comfortable in it:
“You thought that I was altogether like you…” (Ps. 50.21).
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways’, says the LORD” (Is. 55.8).
“‘Come out from among them and be separate’, says the Lord” (2 Cor. 6.17).

As strangers, we have God’s guidebook, so that we will not miss any wondrous sights along the way. His book will keep us from getting lost or straying into unsavory places. He is the supreme tour guide and doesn’t want us to miss a thing during our trip. “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Ps. 139.16). A precisely planned trip for each of God’s dear strangers on earth.

And as we are traveling this ordained excursion, we realize that it is merely a foretaste of glory divine: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland…But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb. 11.13, 14, 16).

Jesus said to us, His beloved strangers, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn. 14.2, 3). He will one day collect all His sojourners.

God will not hide His guidebook from the strangers He came to show the way: “I AM the Way…” for every misguided soul on earth (Jn. 14.6).

For reflection
1. Why should we think of ourselves as “strangers” on the earth? Why is it important that we maintain this status?

2. How does God guide and take care of us as strangers on the earth?

3. How can we keep from being strangers to God and His will?

It is proper to inquire into the reason for his calling himself a sojourner and stranger in the world. The great concern of the unholy and worldly is to spend their life here easily and quietly; but those who know that they have their journey to pursue, and have their inheritance reserved for them in heaven, are not engrossed nor entangled with these perishable things, but aspire after that place to which they are invited. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Psalm 119.19

Pray Psalm 119.19-24.
Pray that God will keep you a stranger to this world and make you increasingly at home in His ways, walking on His path. Pray about all your activities today, that God will illuminate your way according to His holy Law.

Sing Psalm 119.19-24.
(Open My Eyes: Open My Eyes, That I May See)
My soul with longing breaks for You; all of Your judgments I would do.
For You rebuke the proud and the cursed, who from Your Law have strayed, and worse.
Take from me all contempt, O Lord, for I have kept Your holy Word.
Lift all reproach from me, O Lord - my soul renew!

Princes oppose me day by day, for I continue in Your way.
I will Your statutes hold in my mind. What great delight in them I find!
Lord, let Your testimonies be light on my path to counsel me.
Lord, what delight You bring to me out of Your Word!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Two brief books can help you gain more benefit from reading and meditating in God’s Law. The Law of God arranges all the statutes and precepts of the Law under their appropriate number of the Ten Commandments. Read the commandment, then reflect on the statutes and precepts that exemplify how those laws apply to various situations. The Ground for Christian Ethics explains why the Law still matters and what we must do to learn and apply it to our lives today. Both books are free by clicking here and here..

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.