Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
And quicken thou me in thy way (Psa 119.37).

Idolatry is the problem; revival is the answer. This inspired petition rests on that presupposition and confirms it.

Pray to escape idolatry by an increase of spiritual vitality.

THE PROBLEM OF IDOLATRY

The universal sin. As soon as each and every person begins to express himself in a morally-responsible way, he or she exhibits strong tendencies toward idolatry, even in the most Christian societies. That statement may seem utterly ridiculous until we realize what is included in the biblical concept of idolatry.

There is ever in the human mind a craving for visible forms to express religious conceptions, and this tendency does not disappear with the acceptance, or even with the constant recognition, of pure spiritual truths. Idolatry originally meant the worship of idols, or the worship of false gods by means of idols, but came to mean among the OT Hebrews any worship of false gods, whether by images or otherwise, and finally the worship of Yahweh through visible symbols; and ultimately in the NT idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God’s will.

“The giving to any human desire a precedence over God’s will”—that is a faithful characterization of the most subtle form of idolatry. Proof is found in Col 3.5: “covetousness . . . is idolatry,” where covetous is nothing else but inordinate desire to possess more and more material possessions, irrespective of legitimate need.

Idolatry is not only a universal sin, but it is also a fundamental or chief sin, a fitting candidate for a catch-all concept to explain what is spiritually wrong with sinners. They worship and serve the creature more than the Creator (Rom 1.25). It is a dominant OT motif both in passages of condemnation and calls to repentance and salvation. The NT frequently addresses the problem of idolatry, but identifying our fundamental spiritual problem as various lusts (not just sexual), that is, inordinate and/or perverse cravings, practically takes the place of the idolatry theme, for as we have shown, it is in substance really the same thing. In other words, what is wrong with us is basically idolatry (from an OT perspective) or sinful desires (from the NT perspective).

The confession of saints. The human author of Psalm 119 is not only a believer, but a very mature believer. While he writes the psalm, he is under the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit, so that the very words are in an even more profound sense the very Word of God. This is part of what makes the things uttered to God in the psalmist’s experience here recorded so very helpful to us. They accurately reflect his real life and state of heart, and they are also without sin or error. This is the way we should think and feel and pray.

Here he cries out to the Lord, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” This implies that he felt his weakness in the matter, and that he had been guilty of this sin before. It is a plea to be delivered from an actual, not merely a theoretical, problem in his life. He was plagued by recurring instances of this sin, and earnestly desires divine deliverance from it.

While idolatry is not explicitly mentioned, it is strongly suggested by the visual language and the word “vanity.” The original Hebrew has the dual connotation of emptiness and falsehood, a perfect term for an idol because of its uselessness and deceit to the worshipers. On Psa 31.6, “I have hated them that regard lying vanities,” using the same word, one Bible scholar wrote,

Doubtless idols and idol worship are chiefly intended. In Scripture idols are often called vanities. Paul says an idol is nothing in the world (1 Cor 8.4). Idol worship, however splendid, is the merest farce, a mockery of God and of man, fit matter of divine ridicule.

God is petitioned by the psalmist to turn away his eyes from beholding vanity, not that he was accustomed to literal, gross idolatry, but that his heart was prone to indulge in subtle idolatry.

Either sinful or mundane things kept alluring him away from devoting himself unreservedly to loving and serving God, that is, from obeying the divine commandments from the heart which are the conspicuous theme of this entire psalm.

Even real Christians ought to be daily confessing and repenting of the same kind of sin, for we are surely guilty. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5.21). It was not statues in temples that concerned the apostle for his Christian readers, but “idols of the heart.” These are the complete ruin of many professing Christians who fall short of ultimate salvation, as illustrated in the thorny ground hearers in Jesus’ parable. The “cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4.19), that is, not that it ever was really fruitful, but the end result of such an idolatrous life, one’s profession of faith notwithstanding, is no fruit. Even those who are really saved must ever be thorn-pullers, weeding the soil of our hearts, to increase the spiritual fruitfulness of our lives to the glory of God.

THE ANSWER OF REVIVAL

The linked petitions. Another couplet, this verse’s two parts are certainly related to each other. The psalmist joins the negative with the positive, the plea for deliverance from with his desire to enter into a better spiritual experience than he had ever had before.

By saying “quicken thou me in Thy way,” he asks God for a heart revival which will have as its result a more consistent obedience to the revealed will of God in Scripture. As we have shown in our other studies from Psalm 119, this “way” refers to a habit of holiness, a pattern of conformity to God’s moral law. This only begins for real in those who God “quickens” or makes alive by His Spirit effecting regeneration in the heart which is by nature spiritually dead. The same Spirit continues His vivifying work in the righteous, bring them new and increased levels of spiritual vitality, which issue in fresh obedience from the heart to the Word of God.

We fully recognize the reality of remaining sin in the best of us, but it is also true that all who are born again, to one degree or another, yearn for growth in grace and experience it. That is one of the universal and hopeful evidences that one is a real Christian and not merely a hypocrite.

These petitions are essentially two different ways of asking for the same thing. Lord, turn me from all vanity, and make me more alive toward You. Charles Bridges wrote passionately about how revival kills idolatry:

Is it asked—What will most effectually “turn my eyes from vanity?” Not the seclusion of contemplative retirement—not the relinquishment of our lawful connection with the world; but the transcendent beauty of Jesus unveiled to our eyes, and fixing our hearts. This will “turn our eyes from vanity” in its most glittering forms. The sight of the “pearl of great price” (Matt 13.46) dims the luster of the “goodliest pearls” of earth; at once deadens us to the enticements of the world, and urges us forward in the pursuit of the prize. And is not this our object? It is not enough, that through special mercy I am preserved from temptations. I want to be quickened to more life, energy, delight, and devotedness in the way of my God.

It is useless and frustrating beyond description to struggle toward sanctification without a conscious pursuit of heart intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Word! Those who persist in legalistic reformation only turn into the worst kind of sinners—Pharisees! Let us mortify sin by drawing ever nearer Jesus in love and faith.

The assured blessing. God wants us to expect this blessing of spiritual growth in answer to believing prayer, for He has promised to answer such prayers. Consider the powerfully-encouraging conclusion of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church:

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it (1 Thess 5.23-24).

Those whom God forgives all their sins will also be the blessed subjects of His persistent inner cleansing, that we might be washed thoroughly from all our sins, to love Him supremely and consistently for eternity. Therefore pray to escape idolatry by an increase of spiritual vitality, and pray with all confidence in His triumphant grace and power. Amen.

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