All right, Psalm 119, starting with verse 17 through 24. Let's read this section to start with. It says, deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth. Hide not thy commandment from me. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed which do err from thy commandments. Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept thy testimonies. Princes also did sit and speak against me, but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. Quite a section here this morning that we're going to look at, a couple of verses. We're just going to look at verses 17 and 18 this morning in two thoughts that we'll look into. One of them is verse 17 that says, deal bountifully with thy servant. And it said, that I may live and keep thy word, but dealing bountifully with thy servant. And then verse 18, it says, open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. And indeed, both those things are prayer. And I think it's good sometimes to pray the word because sometimes words fail us to describe what we would desire. But here I think it changes thought a little bit from the first two sections. The first one, as we looked in, verses one through eight, that deal with, it says, blessed are the undefiled in the way, and we looked at There's only one that is undefiled in the way that ever was, and the Lord himself, it speaks about here to him. And then in the second section, it talks about how, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed according to the word, and then there's some there's some thoughts that come out in that section that the writer, under inspiration, said that he'd had the desires to God's Word and he sought God's Word and that he had declared God's Word. And then in this, it kind of changes tone a little bit here in the first two, instead of saying that I have had a delight and I've done these things, now it says, deal bountifully with thy servant. And not just in bountifully as we would think outwardly, but I think spiritually is what he's talking about here primarily because it says, deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live. and keep thy word." And I think this is speaking about spiritual life that he gives his people. Not just that we live healthy lives, I think that that's something we desire, but here it speaks about dealing bountifully with thy servant. I'd like to look at a couple of, I think a couple of verses here while we're right here close by. And we're gonna call this, look at it today, open thou mine eyes, as verse 18 says. But turn to Psalm 116. And we were just in Psalm 116, not too far back. Brother Lorne brought thoughts from this, Psalm 116, and I'd like to read verses four through nine. It says, then called I upon the name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple. I was brought low and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. And a couple of thoughts from this that directly relate and directly bring to mind what we see there in Psalm 119, that is, delivered his soul, it says, gracious and righteous is the Lord. And it says, verse seven, return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. And it says, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. And here, speaking of just what we mentioned about that opening the eyes, as it says here in verse 18 of Psalm 119, and dealing bountifully, as it says here in verse 17, that he has dealt bountifully, and he may have dealt bountifully in a physical way here, but this is referring to being able to walk in the land of the living, as it says here, and the spiritual a life that only he can give his people, delivered from spiritual death to life to walk according to what we have seen and what he directs his people. And then in Psalm 56, in Psalm 56, starting with verse 10, It says, in God will I praise his word, in the Lord will I praise his word. In God will I praise his word, in the Lord will I praise his word, verse 10. In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid of what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God, I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I might walk before God in the light of the living? here again speaks about delivering from death and delivering our feet to it. Here it says, before we saw where it said, walk in the land of the living, and here it says, walk before God in the light of the living, in that light that he gives, and only he can give, and that gives spiritual light. This word, before I, move too far from this, that word bountiful that these passages deal with, it's only found about six or eight times in the scripture and only one time out of the book of Psalms. One time it's in, I think, 2 Corinthians, it uses that word, but the rest of the time, the word bountifully, bountiful is used, but bountifully, as it says here in verse 17, It's only used that few times, and most of them are in the Psalms. This section of Psalm 19, it's a good way always to approach God's word, for us to approach God's word. God always does deal bountifully with the sheep. He is always gracious to us, to God's people. Here it goes on in verse 17 to say that I might live and keep thy word. All of his word and words are for the salvation and safekeeping of the church. We would ask for more revelation of not only our savior, but also that the light of his word would shine in us to be the sheep and ones we should be in this world, as it says, in the land of the living, both physical living, but the spiritual living, in our everyday conversations and dealings with others, and especially, as we saw in 1 John, of the household of faith. Only by the Spirit are our eyes opened that we may see any wondrous things of God. The wondrous things are those things that relate to our redemption, in our Lord, things that are spiritually discerned or viewed. And those things can only be ascertained and realized by him dealing bountifully for us. And in verse 18, I said, open our eyes, open our eyes to these things. Bountifully, in a thought by a man, Charles Bridges, And I can't tell you from what era he was a commentator, but Spurgeon used him in one of his notes, so I assume he goes back their ways. It says, and indeed remembering what a poor, weak, empty, and helpless creature that the most experienced believer is in himself, it's not to be conceived that anything short of a bountiful supply of grace can answer the emergency, Charles Bridges. So it said that anything short of a bountiful supply of grace that we need, we need all of it, that's for sure.

It says in verse 18, open my eyes that I might behold wondrous things out of thy law. The prayer to God from God's people is to deal bountifully that we might live and keep thy word. So the prayer continues, open our eyes in verse 18 here.

So the prayer continues, open our eyes to behold wondrous things from God's law or record or word or righteousness to us. Of righteousness, redemption, our Lord, and the many blessings shown to us.

Turn to the book of Mark, if you would, please, Mark chapter 10. And those wondrous things that we see in God's word, there are many wondrous things in God's word, but primarily speaking about the spiritual things that God has provided for his people.

Norman and I were talking earlier today about the Philip in the Ethiopian unit that the conversation they had, that man had to have seen some things before their conversation. And how much, we don't have the whole record, Norm said they might have been traveling together for several days, we don't know that. But he had seen some things and had been taught some things, at least the words of them, and then when they interacted there, when he asked Philip, who in Isaiah 53 was being talked about himself for another, and it says, Philip started there and preached unto him Jesus, we talked about that he would have been preaching of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord to deliver his people. And that would have been, At least part of the message would have been that, no doubt.

The wondrous things from the word that that man held, that he didn't understand some of those things. And Philip spoke to him and preached to him Jesus in that spot.

In Mark chapter 10, and I'd like to read just a little bit down, starting with verse 46. And there's a passage up above here. James and John were speaking to the Lord and they had some conversation about who might sit on the right and the left. And the Lord took them from that thought and kind of straightened them out on a couple of things. But in starting with verse 46, it says,

And they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highwayside begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great deal, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he cast away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And verse 51, Jesus answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto the Lord that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way.

Speaking of what he might receive, the Lord said what he would have him to do. And he said here that he received his sight, and he was physically blind, but I think that he had been shown a few things. that he understood a few things, not just that he got his sight back. And it said that he immediately received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. And I think that indicates more than just they went down the pathways. I think he followed him. And we don't have any more record of down the road from that. But he was asking for his sight. And that's the same. thought or the same desire here in Psalm 119. It says there, he knew his situation. He was blind and could be of no help to himself in such a position. In a possible position, naturally speaking, he was blind, he must be acted upon outside of himself. To realize what we are by nature, spiritually blind, spiritually dead, is the work of God. We can't get there from here. We cannot pull ourselves up. As faith was given to Bartimaeus to believe that the Lord God Almighty was able, the only one able to to effect a cure, so are we given the gift to understand that by His grace that we see we're given anything. And I'd like to look at a couple of verses along this line. Turn to the book of Ephesians, if you would. Ephesians, second chapter. familiar passages and thoughts that we have here, but that we use quite often, but very familiar. In Ephesians chapter 2, starting with the first verse, in down a ways, it says, and you hath he quickened who are dead in trespasses and sins? Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are ye saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them. Again, it ties into the, here it's showing what we were like by nature, and it said we were, and you hath equipped that were dead, it says, in trespasses and sin, that he had done that in the same thought, a spiritual death, spiritual blindness that we've been looking at. And as blind Bartimaeus was given, it said his faith had made him whole. It wasn't just that he heard some good things and thought this would do it, but that he was given that, That faith, as it says here, it was given, that faith is given by the grace of God to realize any truth, anything at all that is given to us. In 2 Timothy, in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy first chapter, starting with verse eight, 2 Timothy 1.8. It says, be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who hath saved us and called us within holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." Quarantine, verse 11, I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. And here, Again, it says, saved us not according to our works, but by his grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And I never read that, that I knew that we are appointed, God has appointed a people before the world began. But it says here, but that purpose and grace given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began. So that's when it was determined. We see it in the working of time, but it was determined back before the foundation of the world. It says before the world began that these were appointed to us. And we see them in time as he gives us that site that it's speaking about. Help open our eyes. And he must do that, opening the eyes. In Matthew, Back to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16. Verses 16 and 17 say, and Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ. He was asked who he thought, they thought he was, Christ was. It said, 16, Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And verse 17, and Jesus answered and said, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. The only way that we understand anything is given, as it says here, revealed unto thee, revealed unto thee, but my Father is in heaven. There is also another thing we've talked about, and I read one of the old commentators said, this is similar or the same thing, speaking about the scales that fell from Saul's eyes when the Lord dealt with him. He was, whatever that, it says they were like scales. He was physically had something that he was blinded, had to have help. and that later time those scales fell from his eyes, and saying the same picture when the Lord reveals himself to his people, that that falls off, it falls away. It's also like the, where the scriptures where it says, today, In the reading, even today in the reading of Moses, the law and the prophets says the veil is over their eyes, over their heart. And it says, farther down that passage says, which veil is done away in Christ. And I can remember when some of the confusion that I had about what all the Old Testament sacrifices and system was about, what the point of that was, just how it all related to different things. And then I discovered there was a book in the Bible, the book of Hebrews, It lays that out very plainly, and it lays it out not only what those are about, but who it's about. And that the Lord himself is who those sacrifices point to and picture, and that just made The Old Testament, you just straighten that out in my mind. In 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Better go to 1 Corinthians. Starting with the first verse, Paul speaking here. It says, chapter two, verse one, it says, and I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect. Yet not the wisdom of this world, nor the princes of this world, that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love them. But God, verse 10, hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. And here again that no matter how often or much we read in the scripture, and we should be doing that. That is something that we will have desire and we do, and we should do. But no matter how much we do that, if God doesn't reveal it to us, it is, there's some good words that we can understand some of those, but the meanings and those that, as David, or as the Psalm says there, that give us that sight that we might see wondrous things from thy word, not just that we might understand better, have better knowledge of it, but that we would have that, what we talked about wisdom was the correct use of knowledge, but he'd give us that wisdom, that true wisdom, that we would know what it's speaking of and who it's speaking of. And as we read earlier, as we mentioned earlier, a week or maybe a couple of weeks ago, that the things that the scriptures show us of value are those things that deal with our Savior himself and those things that were required to redeem a people. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that is, those things have to be revealed. And not just revealed, I don't think that speaking to somebody that just discovered that there's a Bible or that there's scripture to have, but of all times, it's not revealed. as we know, it's not just something that's once done and you have it all forever. It's revealed to us. How many times have we read through scriptures and then wondered why, you know, I didn't see that before. And sometimes we even look to see if the ink is dry on the page, but that just an eye opener to us that we didn't know before, maybe being very familiar with the, particular passages. In the book of Galatians, in Galatians chapter one, it says in verses 15 and 16, it says, He's speaking about his situation in the Jews' religion before. It says, but when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me that I might preach among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. But here in verse 15, when it pleased God who separated me from His womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. When it please God, He reveals, it says, His Son in us. And we pray that as we approach the Word, that He reveals His Son in those things, and that He not only puts a desire to be in His Word, but that He reveals and shows us those things, those wondrous things from His Word.

And in this section that we're in, of verses 17 through 24 in Psalm 119, six of those 10 words that we mentioned to start with are used in these eight verses here. Of all the descriptions, and I'm convinced more and more that all those different words are just showing a picture of all the communication that we have from God over time that he has given to us, that we have, that we can hold.

And all those, look down through there and you'll notice those words about the testimony, commandment, way, all the different terms that speak to that word that we hold in our hand, and that he makes those things open up to us.

And I'm going to read a passage that not very many days go by or lessons go by, but turn to Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, and we just about wear some of these places out, I know, but I don't think we can wear them out. It says so much to us.

In Luke chapter 24, just reading a few verses down towards the end, after the two on the road to Emmaus had their eyes opened to some things and he meets with the others. But starting with verse 45, Luke 24, 45, it says, then opened he their understandings that they might understand the scriptures. And he said unto them, thus it is written and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things."

And he opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. And that that had to be connected to here to Psalm 119. It had to be the Lord opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures.

And it's been so evident in this passage, so evident that the Lord is doing this. They understood a lot maybe that they had been shown. but they didn't understand the scriptures. A lot of that, they did not understand it correctly. And it says he opened their understanding. And that's the same thought that is prayed there in Psalm 119. It said, open thou mine eyes. And it doesn't just mean like Bartimaeus physically blind, but spiritually, the spiritual, understanding that only he can open up.

In Acts chapter 16, turn to Acts chapter 16. Acts 16. Start with verse 14 and just reading a couple of verses here. It says, and a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

And when she was baptized in her household, she besought us, saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us. She, as it says here, which worshiped God, whose heart the Lord opened, and that she had tended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

And again, it's. It's the Lord's doing and we, it's the Lord's doing that causes us to attend unto his word. It's the Lord's doing that causes it when we read the word to be that we desire that to see those things and enjoy those things. And it goes from being a check in the box off that we did it today to something we desire and we look forward to because of him revealing himself in that way.

And as he did to Lydia, and as he did to the two on the road to Emmaus, as he did to Blind Bartimaeus, and all of his own, that is how he does his business, as Norm says, is that he opens the eyes of his people.

And then, one more spot. The turn to the Book of Mark. The Book of Mark. And we're gonna read just a, Just a few verses, I got kind of sidetracked on some of this and rabbit-trailed, but I really enjoyed the time I spent reading, so I had to get back to the point.

But in Mark chapter five, I'd like to read verse 15. Verse 15 says, and they came to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil and the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid. This was the demon man that was chained, that they couldn't keep him chained and he was a mess. He was a physical picture of the spiritual mess that man is in by nature and spiritually that way. And here, after the Lord dealing with him, as is the description of all of God's people that he has dealt with, then it says he was seated and clothed and in his right mind.

And then skip down to verse 19. It says, howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee. in verse 20, and he departed and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him and all men did marvel. And I suspect there was more than just that he clothed him and made him respectable in that, in a physical way, but the opening of the eyes there.

And then in closing, closing for today, we're gonna we're going to detach for today, another old-timer, Thomas Manton, said, there is a taking away of the veil and an infusion of light by God in redemption, in the opening of the eyes. With that, we will pick this up at a later date. Thank you.