Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Parallel translations
- WEB Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.
- BSB Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- NKJV Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.
- NASB Turn my eyes away from looking at what is worthless, And revive me in Your ways.
- NLT Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The psalmist asks God to turn his eyes from worthless things and to revive him in God's ways. It matters because guarding the eyes from vanity and finding life in God's path require His help.
Overview
The psalmist prays for protection from gazing on empty, vain things and for renewed life in God's ways. He links what we look at to the health of the soul. This guarding of the eyes and longing for true life anticipate the gospel call to fix our eyes on Christ, the author of life, rather than on passing vanities.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Jn 2:16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
- Prov 4:25Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
- Isa 33:15He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
- Num 15:39And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
- Job 31:1I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
- Ps 119:40Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
- Matt 5:28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
- Prov 23:5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
- Ps 71:20Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
- 2 Sam 11:2And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
- Josh 7:21When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
- Ps 119:25My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 119:37 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.