Psalm 119:37 is a prayer every Christian needs:

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.”

It's simple and honest.

The psalmist knows that what captures our eyes eventually shapes our hearts. Long before our feet wander, our attention wanders. Long before we make destructive choices, we begin gazing at things that slowly bend our desires away from God.

Worthless things are not always obviously evil. Some are sinful. Others are just empty. They may be entertaining, impressive, popular, or even normal but they have no eternal weight. They can't satisfy our souls. They aren't able to give us life.

Yet they are everywhere we look.

Endless entertainment.
Constant comparison.
Greed.
Envy.
Sensual temptation.
The need for recognition.
The promise that more will finally be enough.

The psalmist understands that the Christian life is not merely learning to say no.

It is learning to love what is better.

That is why he does not simply pray, “Turn my eyes away.” He prays, “Give me life in your ways.”

God does not call us away from vanity into emptiness. He calls us from empty things into life. He turns our eyes from what can't satisfy us and instead directs our gaze toward what is eternal and true.

We need to understand that our attention is never neutral.

What we repeatedly look at begins to shape what we love. What we love begins to shape what we pursue. What we pursue eventually shapes the direction of our lives.

In a world of algorithms, ads, images, reels, notifications, and constant distraction, Psalm 119 gives us a prayer for spiritual survival:

Lord, turn my eyes.

Turn my eyes from what is empty.
Turn my eyes from what is sinful.
Turn my eyes from what feeds comparison.
Turn my eyes from what weakens my love for You.
Turn my eyes toward Your Word.
Turn my eyes toward Christ.
Turn my eyes toward life.

We cannot overcome worthless things by practicing stronger willpower. What we need is a greater delight. We need what Thomas Chalmers called “the expulsive power of a new affection.”

Only a deeper joy in God can drive out the false joys that compete for our hearts.

So ask yourself honestly:

What are your eyes teaching your heart to love?

Then pray with the psalmist:

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.”

___________________________________

This post accompanies Sermon 5 in the Walking in the Word series: The Path to Finishing Well Psalm 119:33-40