Fix My Eyes

Over the weekend, we had lunch with family and friends. My niece is getting married in May and has been collecting the dates for family birthdays to have for her own reference. That sparked a conversation on how well we each remember family birthdays. Some don’t remember parents’ or sibling’s birthdays at all not to mention the younger generations’ birthdays.

I don’t often miss a birthday, but this is not due to my great memory. All the credit goes to the calendar on my computer which also syncs with my phone and iPad. A week before a birthday, I get a reminder, and then another reminder the day of the birthday. I would never remember all those dates on my own. I need reminders.

It is the same although much more important when it comes to God and His Word. How quickly I forget what I’ve read or maybe I forget to read God’s Word at all. I forget how beautiful, comforting, life-giving, convicting, transforming, and valuable it is. I need to be reminded. I am thankful for God’s patience and kindness towards me in this struggle. I am thankful that God’s Word is always available to me. I am thankful that not only isJesus the Word, but He never forgot God’s Word. He meditated on it. He spoke it. He lived in accordance with it. I’m thankful that Jesus’ perfect record relating to God’s Word belongs to those who are in Him.

Psalm 119:15-16 has been a reminder to me of the beauty and value of God’s Word.

15 I will meditate on Your precepts

And fix my eyes on Your ways.

16 I will delight in Your statutes;

I will not forget Your word.

Like bullet points, the four verbs in these four succinct statements caught my attention. They each capture a response to God’s Word. They each put an emphasis on the source of God’s Word – God. Obviously, God’s Word is important, but it is beautiful, comforting, life-giving, convicting, transforming, and of highest value because it is God’s Word (Your). God’s Word drives us to worship God who breathed out His Word not to worship the words themselves. Let’s study Psalm 119:15-16.

I will meditate on Your precepts – Meditating on God’s Word means we turn it over and over in our minds. One of my husband’s favorite breakfasts is waffles. To make the batter, I use a whisk. I want to make sure that all the ingredients get turned over and over until they are completely mixed in. My husband gets the full, good taste of the waffle when all ingredients have been turned over and over. When we meditate on God’s Word, we turn it over and over in our minds. We look for and ponder different aspects of it. We can look up the original Hebrew or Greek words and their meanings. We can consider the author, the audience, the context, the time it was written, and why it was written. We search for “God is…” truths. We identify promises, commands, petitions, foundational truths, and transitions. We examine how it applies to us.

We can further meditate on Scripture by memorizing it (Psalm 119:11) or talking about it with others. We can illustrate what we read, journal it, or diagram it. Others may choose to write a song, or a prayer based on the Scripture. There are many ways we can continue meditating on Scripture.

And fix my eyes on Your ways – I like the image of fixing my eyes on God’s ways or Word. This is another act of our mind. We purposefully commit ourselves to God’s Word, to pay attention to it. Whatever our circumstance, we go to God’s Word. Think of a boat coming in from the sea. What does the captain look for especially at night or in a storm? The lighthouse. Even if the waters are calm, the lighthouse guides the ship in. It directs the ship away from rocks or sandbars and to the safety of the port. The captain must fix his eyes on the lighthouse to safely maneuver his ship. Likewise, we unwaveringly fix our eyes on God’s Word for our good and God’s glory.

I will delight in Your statutes – David Guzik in his commentary on Psalm 119 said that delight could be read as “I will skip about and jump for joy” at Your statutes. I confess that I have never skipped about or jumped for joy over God’s Word, His law, or rules. Delighting is not about the physical skipping and jumping but about our hearts. Do our hearts get excited to read God’s Word? Do we anticipate spending time in God’s Word? Are we expecting wonderful things from God’s Word? Are we reading with humble, teachable hearts ready to learn and grow?

I will not forget Your word – As we come to God’s Word, we engage with our minds and our hearts, but the Psalmist also says he will develop habits concerning God’s Word. We apply God’s Word. We make it our lifestyle. It isn’t something we consider only on Sunday mornings or when someone else is watching. We daily live in alignment with God’s Word. Just two ways to not forget God’s Word are to memorize it and talk about it.

The Psalmist began each of the actions he was going to take with “I will…” He resolved to make God and His Word the mainstay of his life.

Reflection

1. Choose at least one way you will meditate on Scripture this week.

2. Do you fix your eyes on God’s Word? Are God and His Word the first source you turn to in your circumstances? How would fixing your eyes on God’s Word change a current situation?

3. We’ve talked about it before. Do you delight in God’s Word? Why or why not? What is a specific passage that delights you? Share it with someone this week.

4. What is one thing you can do this week to remember God’s Word? For example, when I am awake in the night, I have started mentally reviewing the verses we’ve been memorizing with our church. I am also trying to share with my husband what delights me from the Bible reading app our church has. I don’t share every day, but I’m trying to think through what new things I learned or relearned or what convicted or challenged me.

5. Prayer: “I would look neither to the right nor the left, neither before nor behind, but keep my eyes on Your Word, O God. And then I would press on, single-minded, for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). Amen.”[1]

[1] E. Peterson. Praying With the Psalms: A Year of Daily Prayers and Reflections on the Words of David. New York, HarperCollins, 1993.