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I. WE ARE ALL BORN SPIRITUALLY BLIND. Think of Samson when the Philistines put out his eyes. What a picture of misery l and further, what a picture of man l a mirror where unconverted men, had they eyes to see, might behold themselves. Was he taken captive of the Philistines? — so are they of their vices. Did he pass his days in the service of his enemies? — slaves of Satan, they serve one who hates them with cruel hatred. Was he bound in fetters of brass? — what are fetters of brass or iron to the chains of the drunkard, of the licentious, of the miser, of the lover of this world? Was he blinded as well as bound? — so are they. "Eyes have they, but they see not;" "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not;" they are insensible to their state. But here fails the parallel. Samson felt his degradation keenly; longed for liberty; groped about to find a door of escape. How different the poor sinner! He hugs his chain, and delights in the vices that enslave him.

II. CONSIDER SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS BLINDNESS.

1. Blindness deprives its subjects of many pleasures which God's goodness lavishes on us, and, through our eyes, pours into our hearts.

2. Blindness makes the condition of its subjects one of painful dependence.

3. Blindness exposes its subjects to deception. Satan makes thousands believe that all is right, that the path they tread is one of safety, when all the while, step by step down, but gently down, he conducts his blind, deluded, singing, dancing joyous victims on to the brink of ruin, and to that last, fatal step which plunges them into hell.

4. Again, blindness exposes us to danger. A blind man will starve with bread within his reach; parched and perishing with thirst, he will pass the well that invited his lips to drink; drowning, with a rope thrown within his grasp, and the cries of eager voices in his ear, Lay hold of life! he will sink into a watery grave — lost, when he might have been saved. Such is the case of the unconverted.

III. THE EYES OF THE BLIND BEING OPENED, THEY BEHOLD WONDROUS THINGS OUT OF THE LAW OF GOD. There was an eminent philosopher who had devoted a lifetime to the pursuits of science, and not, as he thought, in vain. She had crowned his brow with laurels, and inscribed his name in the temple of fame. In the evening of his days, at the eleventh hour, God was pleased to call him, open his eyes, convert him; and now, he who was deeply read in science and conversant with its loftiest speculations, as he bent his grey head over the Bible, declared that, if he had his life to live over again, he would spend it in the study of the Word of God. He felt like a miner, who, after toiling long and to little purpose in search of gold, with one stroke of his pick-axe lays open a vein of the precious metal and becomes rich at once — the owner of a vein that grows the richer the deeper the mine is driven. Such a treasure the Bible offers to those whose eyes God has opened to its wonders of grace and glory. It is inexhaustible.

IV. GOD ONLY CAN OPEN OUR EYES. Hence to Him David directs the prayer of my text; and also this — Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Men use instruments to restore sight, and nowhere does surgery achieve a nobler triumph, or bestow greater blessings on mankind, than in yonder theatre, where skill and a steady hand cut into the sightless balls; and man, opening a way for the light of heaven, imitates Christ in His divine works of might and mercy — pouring light into the blind man's eyes, and joy into the blind man's heart. God also uses instruments — His instrument the Word, His agent the Holy Spirit. By these, working faith in men, and renewing them in the spirit of their minds, He has often answered, and is now ready to answer the prayer, Open Thou mine eyes.

( T. Guthrie, D. D.)

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KJV: Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

WEB: Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of your law.