Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Psalm 119:37 (KJV)
Our eyes have been Satan’s preferred battlefield. In the Garden of Eden, it wasn’t through audible temptation alone that Eve was deceived - it was when “she saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6). The enemy understood then what he understands now: the gateway to the heart runs through the eyes.
Satan’s strategy hasn’t evolved because it doesn’t need to. He still presents alternatives that appear more attractive than God’s way. The fruit looked delicious. The forbidden path seems easier. The worldly pursuit promises more immediate satisfaction than the narrow way of Christ.
Consider how this plays out in our daily lives: social media feeds create dissatisfaction with our circumstances, advertisements promise fulfillment through the next purchase, or career ambitions that subtly shift our worship from God to success. The enemy doesn’t need new tactics when the old ones work so effectively on hearts that haven’t learned to see beyond the surface.
The Deception of Vanity
The deception of these things that captivate us through out eyes fail to deliver because they are vanity. Vanity promises substance but delivers emptiness. It offers lasting satisfaction but provides only momentary pleasure. It appears meaningful but proves to be mere vapour.
This deception runs deeper than we often realise. The world’s offerings aren’t just inferior alternatives to God’s ways — they’re counterfeit currencies in the economy of the soul. They promise to purchase what only God can give: purpose, peace, and lasting joy.
Yet how different this is from God’s Word, which “giveth us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). When we truly grasp the substance found in Scripture and in walking God’s ways, everything else begins to peel away in insignificance. Not because we force ourselves to see it as worthless, but because we finally see it for what it truly is.
The Paradox of Desire
Here lies one of the gospel’s beautiful paradoxes: Who would naturally desire daily self-sacrifice? Who would choose the narrow way when the broad path looks so appealing? Yet the psalmist doesn’t just ask for strength to resist temptation — he asks God to “quicken” him in His ways.
The word “quicken” means to make alive, to revive, to energise. The psalmist understands something profound: following God’s path isn’t meant to be a grim duty we endure, but a life-giving journey we learn to love. The gospel doesn’t just change our behaviour; it transforms our desires themselves.
When God quickens us in His ways, obedience becomes delight. His commandments are no longer burdensome but become the very thing our souls crave. The narrow way reveals itself to be the path of true freedom and life, while the broad way shows its true nature as bondage dressed in appealing clothes.
Beyond Willpower
Notice the psalmist’s prayer carefully: he asks God to “turn away” his eyes. This isn’t a request for stronger willpower or better self-discipline. It’s a recognition that lasting change comes from God’s active work within us.
We can close our eyes to vanity through sheer determination, but only God can transform our vision so that we see through vanity to its true nature. We can force ourselves to look away from temptation, but only God can make His ways so attractive to us that we naturally turn toward them instead.
This doesn’t make us passive in our sanctification. The psalmist is actively praying, actively recognising his need, actively seeking God’s intervention. But he understands that the power for transformation comes from above, not from within.
Living with Transformed Vision
What does it look like practically to have our eyes turned toward God’s ways? It means learning to see past the surface appeal of worldly things to their true emptiness. It means recognising the lies that promise fulfillment apart from God. It means training our hearts to find their satisfaction in the eternal rather than the temporal.
When we scroll through social media, we see beyond the curated perfection to the emptiness it often masks. When we’re tempted by materialism, we remember that our life doesn’t consist in the abundance of our possessions. When worldly success beckons, we hold it lightly, knowing that our true treasure lies elsewhere.
But this isn’t a joyless existence of constant refusal. Instead, it’s the freedom that comes from seeing clearly—from recognising fool’s gold for what it is while delighting in true treasure.
How can we know if we are winning with the battle against vanity? Answer me this: how often do you pray for God to open your eyes to the vanities in life?
Do we not ask because we do not want to know? Perhaps this is telling enough!
Prayer
Lord, You know how easily my eyes are drawn away from your ways. You know how the temporary and worthless can appear so appealing to my fallen nature. I ask You to do what only You can do: help to steer my eyes away from beholding vanity, and quicken me in Your ways.
Help me to see through the deceptions of this world to their true nature. Transform my desires so that Your ways become not just my duty, but my delight. Steel my path in Your way, and guard my heart from being taken by the whims of this world that change daily.
Make Your Word so precious to me that everything else fades in comparison. In Jesus’ name, Amen.