Somebody, please Open my Eyes to this meaning
By the way this is Tim. I've changed my listed name to Kibble, as that has been my internet habit over the years, and we now have a commenter who is also Tim.
I've never liked the praise song "Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord", not just because of the music, or the built-in tautologocity, or the time at my growing-up church that we had a guest drummer who, "oh, look how young and talented and worshipful he is doing that song" but I could only detect emotion, and wasn't myself led to worship, BUT ALSO because I can't really figure out what it means. Though I may sound pershnickety, I sincerely desire someone's explanation:
Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord
Open the Eyes of my Heart
I want to see you
I want to see you
To see you high and lifted up,
shining in the light of your glory
pour out your power and love
as we sing Holy, Holy, Holy
*lot's more Holy's*
I want to see you
What are the Eyes of my Heart? I presume that when they are opened, I will see the Lord. What can we see of Him in this life that we don't already, as believers, in seeing Christ? Speaking of Christ, where is he in this song? It is only in and through Christ that we can see God shining in his glory and live. Is "to see you high and lifted up" analogous to the Psalmists' "exalted among the nations"? What do we expect to see from his poured out power?
If I'm going to keep running into this song, I'd like to be able to make a more informed judgment.
posted by Kibble @ 8:22 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
In response, let me ask you a question? Do you see God as clearly as you can? Obviously, the answer is no. Not only do we see through a glass dimly and will do so until we are in heaven, but we are constantly growing in our knowledge of Him and we constantly need to be reminded of His position. Otherwise, why would Paul tell us that He has now been exalted above everyone. In Hebrews we are told that He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Revelation is full of this kind of language as well (which, by the way, is where we get all those holy's). Why do we have these pictures? Why are we constantly reminded of God's (this is the triune God, not just God the Father) position? Because we are constantly trying to dethrone Him in our lives. This song is a song of humility and a crying out to God to allow us to see Him as He is and not as we make Him out to be. Furthermore, this song is a very Calvinistic song in that we are asking God to open our eyes and aren't trying to do it ourselves.
When I sing this song, it is a crying out of my spirit to God, humbly asking Him to remove the obstacles of sin in my vision so that I can see Him as He truly is, to which my heart responds "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty." This song is about the almightyness, holiness, and otherness of God and about my utter need to see that. It isn't something mystical. The "eyes of my heart" isn't meant to bypass the mind or refer to something not totally known, it refers (at least in my mind) to what Christ referred to as the spirit in John 4. It is the inner man, the soul, the part of us that is not flesh. The part of us that is renewed, the new creation.
I hope this helps you understand it better. I know that I don't have a problem worshipping to it because of the above reasons and I lovingly hope that this will help you to worship to it the next time you hear it.
I'm thinking about it....
Why don't we ask God to open the butts of our hearts?
As always, Josh s, you bring clarity and illumination with your depth of insight....
In real life, the only person to see Jesus "high and lifted up, shining in the light of [his] glory" was John, and he seemed to be none to enchanted by the experience. Instead, he threw himself to the ground in fear.
Be careful what you pray for; God just might give it to you.
Post a Comment
<< Home