A PRAYER FOR GOD’S PERSPECTIVE
The psalmist asked the Lord to help him turn his eyes from “worthless things,” so that he might be “revived” by following God’s perspective. He recognized his temptation to focus on things that do not last and to spend his life pursuing them. And in the process of pursuing them, he saw how his soul was diminished and in need of revival. He therefore cried out to God for help.
We struggle with this same fixation on “worthless things.” Our eyes are continually bombarded with worldly advertising, especially (and ironically) during the holiday season. We are tempted to spend our money on things that make rich promises, but turn out to be empty. We run up huge balances on our charge cards, spending money that we don’t even have, then we are left with the bills and nothing to show for it.
This tendency to focus on worthless things is connected to the fact that we were created to worship God, but sin warped our worship. As a result, our focus for worship has fallen from the Creator to created things (See Rom. 1:25). For worship has to do with recognizing worth and then giving what it’s worth. Yet, because of our sin nature, we waste our worship on “worth-less” things, rather than worshiping God.
This is why the Lord asks, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isa. 55:2).
PRAYER: Dear Father, help us to pull our eyes off of worthless things and to put them on You. We worship You. We thank You that You are our source for life. You are our food and shelter. You clothe us in Your righteousness. Revive us as we follow Your way. For Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And we follow Him. In His name we pray, amen.