Verse 19:
Hebrew:
גר אנכי באךץ אל תסתר ממני מצותיך .
Transliteration:
Gar ahn-oh-kee buh-aretz ahl tahss-tair muh-men-ee mitz-woe-tee-chah
Translation:
I am a stranger in the land (on the earth), oh do not hide your commandments from me.
It can be very disorienting, being in a strange place. When we are in a strange place, we reach for a guide, a map, directions—something or someone to show us where to go and what to do.
In this verse (v. 19), Jesus is lamenting that the earth is a strange place for Him. The earth, as it was originally created, would have been a place in which Jesus felt very much as home. But it has fallen because of sin. It has become marred and nearly unrecognizable. All the people around Jesus live their lives according to moral rules and social protocols that they made up and which are all at enmity with God. In this cesspool of man-made virtue, Jesus feels like He could drown.
So, He calls out to His Father for a lifebuoy. Specifically, what help is Jesus requesting His Father provide Him? Jesus is asking that in the chaos and spiritual-sensory overload of a world gone mad, that His Father, who is sovereign over all things, not allow His commandments to become obscured from Jesus’ sight.
This is a marvelous insight. Jesus is seeking refuge and help from the commandments of YHWH as they are written in the Scriptures. More than that, Jesus is asking for insight into how those commandments should be understood and applied so that His life will be lived according to the will of YHWH, and not according to the best ideas man has for how to be good—which are all wrong (see Genesis 3:1-7). The best and most virtuous ideals and goals of mankind are ALL sin, and Jesus wants no part of them. They threaten to obscure the will of God which is revealed through His commandments. Jesus wants to ONLY be guided by the commandments of YHWH.
What would our lives look like if we had this same attitude and perspective of Jesus? Are we desirous of abandoning the “best” morality and virtue that society recommends in favor of enthusiastically and whole-heartedly embracing the commandments of God—like our Lord did? What would be the cost to us to do so?