Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way. Psalm 119:37

This verse just grabs your attention, doesn’t it? It make you stop and go wow, right? Do you have a handful of worthless things that come to mind?

I could give you a list a mile long of my worthless things. Things I spend…no, waste my time on that are of no benefit to anyone.

Scrolling through social media, binge watching tv, binge eating, mopping the floor…. ok, maybe the last one isn’t worthless, but it’s so not my favorite.

I once read a Spurgeon quote that said, “That which does not magnify the Lord will not bless men.” I can only imagine this was the same idea the psalmist had in his head when he wrote verse 37.

I’ve read and reread and recited and prayed this verse several times over the last couple days, hoping to be able to give up a few worthless things. I’ve had little success.

This morning I read the verse again and I noticed something very important: the Who was doing the verbs. “Turn away my…” and “revive me…”

The psalmist is asking the Lord to take action. As in, “God, You must turn away my eyes. I can’t do it. You must revive me in Your ways. I am incapable.”

And bam. Light bulb moment.

If I want to give up worthless things I need to rely on the Holy Spirit. My heart is too sinful by nature and unwilling to give these things up.

I need Jesus.

I need Him to turn my eyes away from worldly, worthless things. But I need more than that. Once he’s turned my gaze away, I need a new focus. I need Him to put my attention and affection on Him. Where they belong.

I need Jesus to revive me in His ways.

I can not do this on my own. So my must pray in desperation the same prayer of the psalmist. And trust that God will answer.

Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way.

This post was written while ready Quietly Through the Bible. Are you interested in simply reading quietly through the God’s word? Considering joining our small community of Bible readers. Or just downloading the two-year reading plan and jump right in.

Have you written a post in response to a Bible passage you read this week? Please share a link in the comments. I’d love to read it.

Only by grace,

Kelli