Learning to Look Away

“Turn my eyes away from worthless things; 

preserve my life according to your word.” 

Psalm 119:37 

Our lives are constantly bombarded by distractions—ads on television and radio, shops overflowing with “deals of the day,” and the internet teeming with images and plethora of information that compete for our attention. We live in a culture that prizes visibility and novelty, training our eyes to chase what glitters rather than what gives life. Yet what we continually behold begins to shape what we love. The psalmist understood this danger when he prayed, “Turn my eyes away from worthless things.” The Hebrew word for “worthless” (shav’) means emptiness or vanity—things that promise satisfaction but deliver only restlessness. They are not always evil; often, they are simply distractions that dull the soul. David knew from experience that even something good, when loved in the wrong way, can lead to ruin. His gaze upon Bathsheba turned beauty into idolatry, reminding us that sin often begins with sight. As Spurgeon warned, “The eyes are inlets to the soul”; left unguarded, they can draw the heart from light into darkness.

But this prayer is not only about restraint—it’s also about discernment and renewal. When the psalmist says, “Preserve my life according to your word,” he’s not asking for mere survival but for revival. The phrase could be rendered, “Revive me, sustain me, give me life in Your ways.” God’s Word is the antidote to a restless gaze—it reorders our loves, restores our vision, and teaches us to discern what is truly good and beneficial for life. “Worthless things” can be anything that pulls us away from the presence of God—possessions, comparison, busyness, or the endless pursuit of more. The psalmist’s prayer is thus a plea to trade temporary glitter for eternal gold, to look less at what fades and more at what endures.

Psalm 119:37 offers a needed rhythm for modern life—a discipline of the eyes. It calls us to cultivate awareness of what we consume and to fix our hearts on what truly nourishes. It reminds us that holiness begins with what we choose to behold, for what fills the eyes soon fills the soul. This is the slow, sacred practice of learning to look away—not out of fear, but out of freedom. As we turn our gaze from vanity to truth, the Word revives us, steadies us, and restores our joy.

Prayer:

Lord, turn our eyes from what is empty and fleeting. Teach us to discern what is truly good and beneficial for our lives. Preserve us by Your Word, revive our spirits, and fix our gaze on what is eternal. Amen.