Commonplace –
“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law”
“My soul breaketh from the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times”
“Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors” (Psalm 119:18, 20, 24).
After studying the first three Hebrew letters that represent the first three parts of Psalm 119, it is no surprise that the third letter is supposed to be “a rich man chasing after a poor man” (“Gimmel”). If Aleph represents God and Bet represents man, then the third letter is a picture of God, who is full of riches, chasing after man, who is lacking.
These first three logographs, Aleph, Bet and Gimmel, are also reminiscent of the action in Genesis chapters 1, 2 and 3. In Genesis Chapter 1, we have “In the beginning God”; God and his act of speaking the world into existence comprise the entire first chapter. In Genesis Chapter 2, we hear more about the creation of man, Adam, and Eve, his helpmate and wife, and the Garden of Eden, their home. We also hear about the first command, which was given to Adam, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). In Genesis Chapter 3, Satan enters the Garden sin enters the world, and man is driven from the Garden. From that day to this, we have a loving God continually extending kindness to his creation, man, even unto death on the cross and resurrection. He came to earth and modeled for man what it takes for man to be reconciled to Him: die to sin and believe on Jesus for new life.
Matthew Henry points out that the first verse of Gimel, “Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word” (Psalm 119:17), teaches us the following:
“1. That we owe our lives to God’s mercy. David prays, Deal bountifully with me, that I may live. It was God’s bounty that gave us life, that gives us this life; and the same bounty that gave it continues it, and gives all the supports and comforts of it; if these be withheld, we die , or, which is equivalent, our lives are embittered and we become weary of them. If God deals in strict justice with us, we die, we perish, we all perish; if these forfeited lives be preserved and prolonged, it is because God deals bountifully with us, according to his mercy, not according to our deserts. The continuance of the most useful life is owing to God’s bounty, and on that we must have a continual dependence.
2. That therefore we out to spend our lives in God’s service. Life is therefore a choice mercy, because it is an opportunity of obeying God in this world, where there are so few that do glorify Him; and this David had in his eye; “Not that I may live and grow rich, live and be merry, but that I may live and keep thy word, may observe it myself and transmit it to those that will come after, which the longer I live the better I shall do” (Henry 563).
The following three verses: 18, 20 and 24 also struck me.
The psalmist’s desire in verse 18 for God to open his eyes, that he “may behold wondrous things” was like an ember in my heart. In the same way, I desire that God would give me a longing for his Word. Matthew Henry notes, “If there were wonders in the law, much more in the gospel, where Christ is all in all, whose name is Wonderful”. Well may we, who are so nearly interested, desire to behold these wondrous things, when the angels themselves reach to look into them, 1 Pet. 1:12″ (Henry 563).
The psalmist’s passionate plea for God to break his soul “for the longing it hath unto thy judgments at all times” modeled for me how I should long for God’s word. “It was not now and then, in a good humour, that [the psalmist] was so fond of the word of God; but it is the habitual temper of every sanctified soul to hunger after the word of God as its necessary food, which there is no living without (Henry 564).
Finally, the David’s prayer in verse 24 for God to make His testimonies the David’s delight and counsellors is also my prayer. “Those that would have God’s testimonies to be their delight must take them for their counsellors and be advised by them; and let those that take them for their counsellors in close walking take them for their delight in comfortable walking” (Henry 565).
Works Cited
“Gimmel”. BJE: Your Jewish Journey. NSW Board of Jewish Education, https://bje.org.au/knowledge-centre/jewish-languages/hebrew-alphabet/gimmel/ , Accessed 28 May 2025.
Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 119.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2025 Angela Hormberg
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