Hebrew Treasure - Gimel
Psalm 119:17-24
This is the third installment of Hebrew Treasure from Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. Every other week I will be mining nuggets of gold from the original Hebrew and my goal is to make the riches of God’s Word more accessible to you—even if you don’t know any Hebrew!
17. Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
18. Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
19. I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
20. My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
21. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
22. Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
23. Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24. Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.
REMOVING THE VEIL
As a prayer, this stanza is the antidote for spiritual blindness. The word Gal (גַּל) means “to uncover or remove” and begins with the Hebrew letter gimel (ג). The word appears twice in this stanza as the root of the first word in verses 18 (“open my eyes”) and 22 (“Take away from me scorn and contempt”). The writer is using this word gal to cry out to God for an unveiling of his own eyes (v. 18) and for vindication from the attack of others (v. 22). In verse 18, some translations define “open” as “unveil.”
The Apostle Paul describes the spiritual opening of eyes by unveiling them in 2 Corinthians 3:12-18. Specifically, he speaks of unveiling eyes through the Holy Spirit’s power to take the seed of faith — faith required to turn and fully surrender to the Lord — and to create a person who radiates the glory of God. Similarly in Romans 11, Paul exhorts believers to pray for an unveiling of Jewish eyes to behold their Messiah (although Paul strongly cautions us not to be arrogant towards Jewish people who don’t yet know Jesus), and he warns against ignorance of God’s ultimate plans for Jewish restoration and the restoration of all things. With unveiled and spiritually open eyes of faith, you can see and savor Jesus to follow Him wholeheartedly – even as He fully sees and loves you (1 Cor. 13:12)! Try using these God-breathed words to cry out daily to Him to remove the veil from your eyes so you can better behold His Beloved Son; He is the ultimate “wondrous thing" (v. 18)!
Hebrew Treasure excerpt written by Thomas Boehm.
From The Psalm 119 Journey by Steve Allen, ©2022.
Used with permission.
Also, check out the Parashah Project’s 2024-2025 (5785) Annual Reading Cycle to join in the weekly readings along with links to helpful commentary.
Shalom!
Thomas