37
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way.
Avoiding Worthless Things: A Spiritual Perspective
My Thoughts
Even though God called David a man after His own heart, David still went through the same temptations that we go through; unlike Christ, he failed a lot of the time. But here he recognizes that it was, as the NKJV calls it, “worthless things” (KJV says vanity), that he needed to avoid, needed to look away from. The worthless things that our eyes see that cause us to go back to the image, it doesn’t have to be lust, it can be something we see that others have that produces jealously in us or it can be the desire to be recognized, or riches these are the things that try to draw the heart away from God.
We need to have our eyes open so that we don’t trip or fall, but we need to look at the right things with the right desire. He comes up with a solution, and asks God to revive him in a way that temptations will not cause him to dwell on them. It comes in the form of seeking God and communicating with him, and in recognizing that when we are apart from God, we are prey to all the evil around us. At the end of the day, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and look for him in every situation we find ourselves in. The easy question is: Would Jesus be watching this? How would Jesus react to this situation?
David in Psalm 119:37 implores God to turn his eyes away from worthless things and to revive him in His ways. The commentaries below emphasize the importance of divine assistance in avoiding worldly distractions, as these can lead to spiritual decay. Both Matthew Henry and Charles Spurgeon highlight the role of the eyes in temptation, noting that observing vanities can weaken one’s spiritual resolve and connection to God. The psalmist recognizes his vulnerability and seeks grace to focus on God’s path, illustrating a deep reliance on God’s power to maintain spiritual vitality and resist temptation in a world filled with distractions.
Note: Psalm 119 is an acrostic pattern. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet; each of the 22 sections is given a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each line in that section begins with that letter. Today, we’re looking at verse 37, which is in the 5th section, which is called “He ה”. According to the hebrews4christians.com website, the letter Hey (“He” in several versions of the Bible) is the 5th letter of the Aleph-Bet, having the numeric value of five. The pictograph for Hey looks like a man with his arms raised. The meaning of the name “Hey” is “look” or “behold”. Hey is considered to be formed from the Hebrew letters Dalet and Yod, which can be a picture of returning to God by means of the transforming power of the Spirit. Another description is opening the door of the heart, and the picture is of the Spirit of God indwelling the believer.
………Bill
Commentaries:
Matthew Henry
1. David prays for restraining grace, that he might be prevented and kept back from that which would hinder him in the way of his duty: Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity. The honors, pleasures, and profits of the world are the vanities, the aspect and prospect of which draw multitudes away from the paths of religion and godliness. The eye, when fastened on these, infects the heart with the love of them, and so it is alienated from God and divine things; and therefore, as we ought to make a covenant with our eyes, and lay a charge upon them, that they shall not wander after, much less fix upon, that which is dangerous (Job 31:1), so we ought to pray that God by his providence would keep vanity out of our sight and that by his grace he would keep us from being enamored with the sight of it.
2. He prays for constraining grace, that he might not only be kept from every thing that would obstruct his progress heaven-ward, but might have that grace which was necessary to forward him in that progress: “Quicken thou me in thy way; quicken me to redeem time, to improve opportunity, to press forward, and to do every duty with liveliness and fervency of spirit.” Beholding vanity deadens us and slackens our pace; a traveler that stands gazing upon every object that presents itself to his view will not rid ground; but, if our eyes be kept from that which would divert us, our hearts will be kept to that which will excite us.
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Charles Spurgeon
“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” He had prayed about his heart, and one would have thought that the eyes would so surely have been influenced by the heart that there was no need to make them the objects of a special petition; but our author is resolved to make assurance doubly sure. If the eyes do not see, perhaps the heart may not desire: at any rate, one door of temptation is closed when we do not even look at the painted bauble. Sin first entered man’s mind by the eye, and it is still a favorite gate for the incoming of Satan’s allurements; hence the need of a double watch upon that portal. The prayer is not so much that the eyes may be shut as “turned away,” for we need to have them open, but directed to right objects. Perhaps we are now gazing upon folly, we need to have our eyes turned away, and if we are beholding heavenly things, we shall be wise to beg that our eyes may be kept away from vanity. Why should we look on vanity?—It melts away as a vapor. Why not look upon things eternal? Sin is vanity, unjust gain is vanity, self-conceit is vanity, and, indeed, all that is not of God comes under the same head. From all this, we must turn away. It is a proof of the sense of weakness felt by the Psalmist and of his entire dependence upon God that he even asks to have his eyes turned for him; he meant not to make himself passive, but he intended to set forth his own utter helplessness apart from the grace of God. For fear he should forget himself and gaze with a lingering longing upon forbidden objects, he entreats the Lord speedily to make him turn away his eyes, hurrying him off from so dangerous a parley with iniquity. If we are kept from looking on vanity, we shall be preserved from loving iniquity.
“And quicken thou me in thy way.” Give me so much life that dead vanity may have no power over me. Enable me to travel so swiftly on the road to heaven that I may not stop long enough within sight of vanity to be fascinated thereby. The prayer indicates our greatest need: more life in our obedience. It shows the preserving power of increased life to keep us from the evils which are around us, and it also tells us where that increased life must come from, namely, from the Lord alone. Vitality is the cure of vanity. When the heart is full of grace, the eyes will be cleansed from impurity. On the other hand, if we would be full of life as to the things of God we must keep ourselves apart from sin and folly, or the eyes will soon captivate the mind, and, like Samson, who could slay his thousands, we may ourselves be overcome through the lusts which enter by the eye.
This verse is parallel to Psa 119:21, 29 in the previous eights: “rebuke,” “remove,” “turn away,” or “proud,” “lying,” “vanity.”
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Enduring Word
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things: The psalmist rightly understood that some things, comparatively speaking, are worthless things. They are of no value for eternity and little value for the present age. He prayed that God would empower and enable him to turn away his eyes and attention from such things. (Guzik)
i. Many lives are wasted because people find themselves unwilling or unable to turn away their eyes from worthless things. The modern world, with its media and entertainment technology, brings before us an endless river of worthless things to occupy not only our eyes and time, but also our heart and minds. (Guzik)
ii. Some things are clearly worthless; some things are thought by many to be worthy, but are in fact worthless:
· worthless because they do no good.
· worthless because they do not last.
· worthless because they help no one else.
· worthless because they build no faith, hope, or love.
· worthless because they distract from things that are truly worthy.
· worthless because they have nothing to do with Jesus.
(Guzik)
iii. The psalmist understood that he had a natural tendency toward worthless things, so he prayed for that natural tendency to be counteracted. “Keeping the eye is a grand means of ‘keeping the heart’ (Numbers 15:39, Job 31:1).” (Bridges)
iv. Yet the eyes are so powerful that the psalmist had to pray for power outside himself to turn his eyes from worthless things. Does the psalmist have no eyelids or no muscles in his neck to turn the head? We all sympathize with this prayer; the eyes are so small, yet they can lead the whole person, and often lead to destruction. This is because the eyes lead the heart, lead the mind, and can lead the whole person. He prayed this, “…lest looking cause liking and lusting.” (Trapp)
v. He did not gouge out his own eyes or pray God to do it; instead, he wanted to look another way, a better way. The best way to look away from sin is to look at something else. “The prayer is not so much that the eyes may be shut as ‘turned away;’ for we need to have them open, but directed to right objects.” (Spurgeon)
And revive me in Your way: This is another prayer for revival – this time, to be made alive again in the way (or path) of God. The psalmist wanted to walk in God’s way and to do it with a revived heart. He prayed for deadness in one direction – toward worthless things – and for life in another direction – toward God’s way. (Guzik)
i. “As I desire that I may be dull and dead in affections to worldly vanities; so, Lord, make me lively, and vigorous, and fervent in thy work and service.” (Poole)
ii. “He goes at once to him in whom were all his fresh springs. Life is the peculiar sphere of God: he is the Lord and Giver of life. No man ever received spiritual life, or the renewal of it, from any other source but the living God. Beloved, this is worth recollecting, for we are very apt when we feel ourselves declining to look anywhere but to the Lord. We, too, often look within.” (Spurgeon)
iii. God has many ways to revive us. Spurgeon listed some:
· God’s word: “There are promises in God’s word of such effectual restorative power that, if they be but fed upon…they will make a dwarf into a giant in the twinkling of an eye.”
· Affliction: “It is wonderful how a little touch of the spur will quicken our sluggish natures.”
· Great mercies: “A man may be stirred up to diligence by a sense of gratitude to God for great mercies.”
· Christian example: “I believe the reading of holy biographies has been exceedingly blessed of God.”
· Warm-hearted ministry: “We should select not that which tickles the ear most, but that which most enlivens the heart.”
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Albert Barnes
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity – Vain things; wicked things; things which would be likely to lead me astray from what is real and true. Compare Isaiah 33:15; Job 31:1. Margin, here, as in Hebrew, “make to pass.” Make my eyes to pass rapidly from such objects, that I may not look at them, may not contemplate them, may not dwell upon them. There is danger in looking on sin steadily; in surveying its features; in returning to contemplate it. An ugly object loses much of its deformity when we look often upon it; and this is a benevolent law, lest we should be miserable when we are under a necessity of looking on it. Sin follows this general law and is to be avoided altogether, even in its contemplation, if we would be safe. A man should be thankful in this world that he has eyelids; and as he can close his eyes, so he should often do it.
And quicken thou me in thy way – Endow me with life, energy, vigor, that I may walk in thy way.
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John Gill
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,…. As the things of this world, the riches, honours, and pleasures of it, which are all vanity and vexation of spirit; and yet these catch the eye, and allure the heart: and all false doctrines, glided over with the specious pretence of truth; and all false worship and superstition, set off with pomp and pageantry, with which the eyes of the body or the eyes of the mind are taken, and by which the heart is ensnared; and therefore it is desirable to have the eyes turned away from such objects unto better;
[and] quicken thou me in thy way; so as to walk and even run in the path of truth, in the way of true religion and godliness; and, instead of looking upon vanity, press towards the mark for the prize; keep Christ in view, while running the race; and look to things unseen, and not things that are seen; and set the affections on things above, and serve the Lord fervently; all which is done when God quickens the hearts of his people, and the graces of his Spirit in them.
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Miscellaneous Quotes
“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” Notice that he does not say, I will turn away mine eyes; but “Turn away mine eyes.” This shows that it is not possible for us sufficiently to keep our eyes by our own caution and diligence; but there must be divine keeping. For first, wheresoever in this world you turn yourself, provocations to evil are met with. Secondly, with the unwary, and with far different the persons, the eyes, the servants of a corrupt heart, wander after the things which are the vanities. Thirdly, before you are aware, the evil contracted through the eyes creeps into the inmost recesses of the heart, and casts in the seeds of perdition. This the Psalmist himself had experienced, not without the greatest trouble both of heart and condition.
—Wolfgang Musculus, 1497—1563.
“Turn away,” then quicken, etc. The first request is for the removing the impediments of obedience, the other for the addition of new degrees of grace. These two are fitly joined, for they have a natural influence upon one another; unless we turn away our eyes from vanity, we shall soon contract deadness of heart. Nothing causeth it so much as an inordinate liberty in carnal vanities; when our affections are alive to other things, they are dead to God; therefore, the less we let loose our hearts to these things, the more lively and cheerful in the work of obedience. On the other side, the more the rigour of grace is renewed, and the habits of it quickened into actual exercise, the more is sin mortified and subdued. Sin dieth, and our senses are restored to their proper use.
—Thomas Manton.
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Cross-References
Isaiah 33:15 (KJV)
15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly;
He that despiseth the gain of oppressions,
That shaketh his hands from holding of bribes,
That stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood,
And shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
Joshua 7:21 (KJV)
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
1 John 2:16 (KJV)
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
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Closing Thoughts
Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” Daniel 9:17-19 NKJV
He ה: Divine Breath and Revelation
33
Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.
34
Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35
Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
36
Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
37
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way.
38
Establish Your word to Your servant,
Who is devoted to fearing You.
39
Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.
40
Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me in Your righteousness.
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