Worthless Things - Psalm 119:37

Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.

The sweet psalmist of Israel here conjures up a request against a besetting sin that not a single soul is spared from gazing upon vanity! With a slow, and intentional reading, the saints of God feel the weight of this request into the core and who they are - and it churns the stomach because of the great distress we feel after our honest self-examination. We confess “my eyes behold and gaze upon the worthless and vain things of this world far too often. And I loathe that I enjoy it…”

But here, the eyes are emblematic of all our senses - of all our parts - which until refined by the Spirit of Christ, are alien to righteousness, and attracted to that which destroys. Not one single portion of who we are is free from corruption. And so, the psalmist asks that he would literally be unable to notice evil, that his eyes would be squarely set upon his faithful service to his Lord. But here again, saint of God, we remember the words of our Lord, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33), and recognize this command as that which our eyes must be set upon. It is not enough to have our eyes turned away from evil, for in due time they will steadily find their way back to corruption unless they are affixed to that which is most worthy of their gaze: God’s Kingdom! 

But in this, we see the request for just that grace. “Give me life in your ways.” Stimulate, excite, and stir me in all your ways, my Lord. Take my members which lust and crave vanity, and make them alive - animate them for righteousness, revive them for faithful service, inspire them for your glory! 

Gazing upon vanity is like an I.V. of poison, slowly deadening our senses and making us ineffectual for the service of God. But, the grace of God is not ineffectual, and God loves to answer the prayers of his beloved. So pray, and expect the answer, and “if our eyes be kept from that which would divert us, our hearts will be kept to that which will excite us.”[1]

 [1] Matthew Henry Commentary on Psalm 119:37