“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..” Psalm 119:17-18
With the necessity of setting one’s whole heart to pursue God’s will, in this section the psalmist emphasizes the critical need to seek God’s help in properly understanding what is contained therein. I fear some have overreacted to our charismatic neighbors’ claims of direct illumination to the point of becoming averse to the concept that God guides our understanding in any way today. While it is true that the miraculous revelation of God’s will came to a close with the completion of the New Covenant (cf. John 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 13:8-13; Ephesians 4:11-16, etc.), there is no indication that God is inactive in our growing in His grace and the knowledge of His will. There are too many passages with no sense of miraculous illumination prompting the believer to seek His wisdom for salvation to uphold this conclusion.
Consider two of these passages in connection with the section of Psalm 119 in view today. In Matthew 7:7-11, while discussing conditions in the kingdom of heaven which was soon to come into existence, Jesus commanded the would-be disciple to ask, seek, and knock, connecting each command with a promise that God would provide the things needed. In context, the whole chapter addresses the ability to see one’s own flaws (7:1-6), find and walk in the narrow way (7:13-14), identify false prophets by their deeds (7:15-20), and enter the kingdom by faithfully keeping the will of the Lord (7:21-27). Apart from knowing the will of the Lord (cf. Ephesians 5:15-17), how are we to fulfill any of these expectations? Right, we cannot, so the things sought in 7:7-11 must include the understanding of His will among the things He promised to provide.
A second passage that is critical in this vein is James 1:5-8 which, in context, specifically addresses the wisdom needed to faithfully endure trials and temptations. James urged the believers reading his letter to ask God for the wisdom needed, and he goes on to warn against asking without expectation of reception. Notice there is no indication in this context that James is describing a miraculous infusion of said wisdom, so there is no reason to conclude God no longer provides such wisdom. If the only way in which God provides this wisdom is through our personal study, then wouldn’t time spent praying rather than studying be counterproductive? Again, I am not suggesting some miraculous illumination, but there is no reason to doubt that God uses various means to supply this wisdom.
Is it right to pray for the physical/mental vitality to go about the process (3 John 2)? What about praying for the strength, purity, wisdom, etc. to overcome our character flaws that hinder such pursuit (e.g. pride, worldliness, stubbornness, etc., cf. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13; 1 John 5:13-15)? Or, what about asking to be put in the path of someone who may have worthwhile insights to aid in our gaining understanding (cf. Romans 10:13-17)? This list of providential means by which God may supply wisdom could go on indefinitely, but these are sufficient to make the point.
So, as we turn back to Psalm 119:17-18, notice the psalmist’s pleas for God to bless him with the wisdom he desires from His will. First, he recognized his dependence on God’s bountiful dealings that he may keep His word (vs. 17). We too are dependent on His blessings for the same. Second, he understood the need for God to guard him from spiritual blindness (vs. 18; cf. 2 Corinthians 3:3-4). Friends, though the miraculous revelation came to a close when the fullness of the New Covenant was revealed as set forth above, our dependence on God’s blessings to obtain the wisdom we need to faithfully follow Him has not and will not cease. Pleading for His wisdom is one of the many elements necessary to draw near to Him that He may draw near to us and squeeze the devil out of our lives (James 4:7-8). So, let us pray fervently, frequently, and faithfully for His bounty in this area of life as well as all others.