Dear Veritas,
Over the years, as I have pursued being a more Bible-saturated follower of Christ, I have implemented a practice in my devotion time of physically highlighting passages of scripture as I read through the Bible and then organize them in categories in a digital notebook. One of the categories of scripture I often reference is entitled “prayer”—specific passages that I pray for myself or others. As I was going through one of the prayer passages recently, I was struck with conviction at the relevance to our culture today. The passage is from Psalm 119:33-40:
33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. 35 Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! 37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. 38 Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared. 39 Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. 40 Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!
The part that struck me is the author’s petition to God to turn their eyes from looking at worthless things. Now, I don’t know what kind of “worthless things” were around Israel in 6th century B.C., but it would seem that in the Year of our Lord 2025 we have access to WAY more worthless things to look at and engage in: YouTube, Netflix, X, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok (well, maybe not for long), Amazon Prime, Hulu, news apps, ESPN sports app, DirectTV app, AppleTV, and on and on and on…you get the idea. Our culture is awash with all manner of “worthless things” in an endlessly flowing river that tantalizes and vies for our eyes’ attention.
But notice the contrasts and parallels within verses 36 and 37: “your testimonies” is contrasted with “worthless things”, which parallels “selfish gain” contrasted with “life in your ways”. So, to put it together: the intake of worthless things represents a kind of temporary and selfish gain, whereas [God’s] testimonies (the Bible), give us something durable and eternal…real life. I don’t think that’s an earth-shattering discovery, and most Christians would “amen” that. Yet, I would venture to guess that our time choices throughout a given week wouldn’t bear that out. We would likely find we are inclined toward “worthless things.” We’re too easily sucked into the irresistible pull of intrigue and entertainment. As C.S. Lewis assesses it: “…we are far too easily pleased.”
But Veritas, here is where we turn to the great hope of this passage. Each verse starts with a petition for God to act: “teach me”, “give me understanding”, “lead me”, “incline my heart”, etc. The solution to keeping our eyes away from worthless things is to fix our eyes on God and plead with him to perform the miracles of understanding, leading, and inclination of our hearts. So Veritas, I would encourage you to take this passage and make it your prayer. Perhaps it would be good for you to memorize portions of it so that when the temptation to indulge your eyes in worthless things arises, you can have in your arsenal the superior promises of these verses, and fix your eyes on the promise of life offered in God’s Word: “... in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
Grace and peace,
Caleb Mason
Questions for reflection:
1. If you had no responsibilities and just had time to veg out, how would you spend your free time?
2. What are the worthless things you’re inclined to turn your eyes to?
3. In what ways have you experienced life promised in this passage?
4. What superior promises of scripture do you need to have in your pocket to fight the alluring, worthless things offered by the world?