“Turn my heart toward Your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your Word.” Psalm 119:36-37
Psalm 119 is a studly Psalm and it just so happens to be my favorite of all the Psalms. And these verses to me represent much of what the Psalm says.
The Psalmist has come to the point in his life where he realizes that the world will never give him the satisfaction and happiness that he so desperately craves. And he also realizes that his heart is far from God and he can’t do anything that will change the way he is. So he cries out to God.
He cries out and asks God to give him a love for and a longing for God’s Word. He cries out and asks God to change his wicked heart so that he no longer hungers for that which can NEVER assuage his empty soul. He cries out and asks God to blind him towards those things that cannot compare to the priceless treasure that is of eternal value. And he cries out and asks God to rescue him and preserve his life according to the life giving, thirst quenching , soul nourishing sustenance of the Word.
This is a prayer that few would dare to pray. Or at the very least a prayer that few would really want God to answer. Why do I say that? Because we love this world and the things of this world. And we don’t want to admit that we are indeed selfish people. And we yearn for what this world offers us more than we yearn for God and, quite frankly, find our satisfaction in temporal things. But this is ONLY because we have not really tasted of heavenly fare. We have not yet had our soul satiated by that which God offers and which provides illimitable delights.
Maybe it’s time to seriously think about crying out to God and praying that He would fill us and fuel us each day with His Word so that we can experience and enjoy the eternal provision that is ours in Christ.