An Empty Life

Turn my eyes away from looking at what is worthless, and revive me in Your ways.  Psalm 119:37  NASB

Worthless – “That the primary meaning of šāwʾ is ‘emptiness, vanity’ no one can challenge. It designates anything that is unsubstantial, unreal, worthless, either materially or morally. Hence, it is a word for idols (in the same way that hebel‘vanity’ is also a designation for (worthless) idols, for example).”^[1]  Expand your grasp of this word.  What is unsubstantial in your life?  What have you accepted but is truthfully unreal?  What acts, attitudes, and behaviors are based on things without real value, without divine blessing?  All of that is šāwʾ.

Now notice the first connection to the sensory realm: “Turn my eyes.”  Seeing initiates.  It’s all about how you look at things.  And back we go to Genesis 3.  “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:6).”  The paradigm shift from acceptance to self-determination begins with “seeing” differently.

Now the psalmist asks God to direct his eyes away from what is worthless.  But how can that happen when we are surrounded by a world of worthless?  Just consider for a moment the things that really last, that have “eternal” value in your life.  I’m guessing that the list is pretty small compared to all the things that actually occupy your day.  I’m guessing that if you really had to choose, you’d quickly discover that relationships matter more than just about anything else and that you could give up nearly all the adiaphora as long as those few, crucial relationships survived.  How is it that we can be aware of the vanity of all this other stuff and still find ourselves immersed in it?  Is it because we don’t really see the true nature of our penchant for distraction?

Don’t forget that šāwʾ isn’t just about material things.  It also applies to moral behavior.  How many of your moral choices are really the pursuit of what ultimately doesn’t matter?  Like, for example, the desire to be right no matter what the cost.  Or the addiction to power.  We see a lot of that, don’t we, but I wonder if we recognize it in ourselves?  Or the small exaggerations or misrepresentations we use to either placate someone or boost our own image.  “Speak the truth” is a noble goal but often painful to apply.  All these, and many more, are under the šāwʾ umbrella.

What’s the solution?  Well, if we think like the psalmist, it isn’t a self-help, more disciplined program.  It’s divine intervention.  And rightly so since most of our “seeing” is so conditioned by our yetzer ha’ra that we aren’t even aware of its influence.  The habits run deep.  “God help us” is the way out.  But it’s not thinking about God that changes the way we see.  It’s doing what God asks.  So, here’s a suggestion.  Small kindnesses.  Start looking for opportunities to perform small kindnesses.  There all around you.  You just have to be willing to see them.  Then seize that moment.  Do something small for someone else.  And keeping do those things over and over, day after day, until you see the world differently.  It’s called raḥûm, and it’s the very first thing God says about Himself (Exodus 34:6).

Topical Index: šāwʾ, empty, worthless, vanity, Psalm 119:37

^[1] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 2338 שׁוא. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 908). Moody Press.