Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day two thousand eight hundred twenty-two of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

In our previous episode, we crawled through the dust of the fourth stanza of Psalm One Hundred Nineteen, the Dalet section. We stood beside the psalmist as he confessed his profound, crushing depression. His soul was melting from heavy grief, and the gravitational pull of death was trying to drag him down into the dirt. Yet, in that dark place, he made a fierce, stubborn choice. He chose the way of truth. He asked the Creator to revive him, to remove the deceptive lies of the enemy, and to enlarge his constricted heart. The stanza ended with a glorious, triumphant picture: a man, previously paralyzed in the dust, suddenly standing up and running freely in the wide-open spaces of God’s grace.

Today, we take our next stride along this majestic, alphabetical trail. We are entering the fifth stanza of Psalm One Hundred Nineteen, which corresponds to the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter "He." We will be immersing ourselves in verses thirty-three through forty, in the New Living Translation.

If the previous stanza was about getting up from the dust and finding the energy to run, this stanza is about finding the right direction. A runner with a massive, enlarged heart, and boundless energy, is entirely useless if he is running on the wrong path, or looking in the wrong direction. The psalmist realizes that he has the motivation to obey, but he desperately needs divine supervision to keep his eyes, and his heart, from being hijacked by the glittering, deceptive idols of the surrounding culture. Let us step onto the trail, and listen to this urgent, beautiful prayer for guidance.

Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.

The stanza opens with a rapid-fire sequence of urgent requests. "Teach me," "Give me understanding," and "Make me walk." The psalmist recognizes a fundamental truth about human nature: we are not naturally prone to walking in the cosmic order of Yahweh. Left to our own devices, our default setting is to wander. Therefore, he cries out, "Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end."

The Hebrew word for "teach" used here is yarah, which is actually the root word for Torah, or instruction. It literally means to point out, to aim, or to shoot an arrow in a specific direction. The psalmist is essentially saying, "Lord, aim my life. Point me down the exact corridor of Your decrees. If You set my trajectory, I will stay on it all the way to the finish line."

But he knows that blind obedience is not the ultimate goal of the Creator. God does not want mindless robots; He wants wise, discerning imagers. So, the psalmist adds, "Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart."

Understanding is the bridge between knowing the rules, and loving the Lawgiver. When we truly understand the architectural brilliance of God's commands—when we see that they are designed to protect us, and to cause human flourishing—our obedience shifts from begrudging duty, to wholehearted passion. We do not just do the bare minimum; we put the instructions into practice with every ounce of our being.

Yet, even with a willing heart, the physical execution can be difficult. So, he asks for a gentle, divine push: "Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found."

It is a fascinating paradox. He asks to be made to walk, to be compelled, or guided by a firm hand. In the modern, Western world, we often equate being compelled with oppression. We think true happiness is found in absolute, unrestricted autonomy, where we can invent our own morality, and forge our own paths. But the ancient, biblical mind knew better. Absolute autonomy in a fallen, dangerous world simply leads to chaos, destruction, and the grave.

The psalmist declares that true happiness, true Ashrei, or flourishing joy, is only found inside the boundary lines of God's commands. He wants God to act like a loving shepherd, using the staff to nudge him back onto the safe, narrow path, because he knows that stepping off the path means stepping into the jaws of the wolves.

Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.

As the psalmist asks to be kept on the path, he identifies the two greatest threats to his spiritual trajectory: internal greed, and external distractions.

He prays, "Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money!" Other translations render this as, "Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain." The Hebrew word is betsa, which implies covetousness, dishonest gain, or an obsessive craving for material wealth.

We must view this through the lens of the Ancient Israelite worldview. The surrounding pagan nations were ruled by rebel spiritual principalities from the Divine Council. The primary way these dark, rebellious entities lured humanity into idolatry, was by promising material prosperity, fertile lands, and excessive wealth. The worship of Baal, for example, was an economic transaction. You sacrificed to the storm god so that he would send rain, make your crops grow, and increase your bank account.

The psalmist recognizes that his own human heart is incredibly susceptible to this exact temptation. It is so easy to stop desiring the wisdom of God, and start desiring the comforts of the world. He asks Yahweh to perform a supernatural tilt. "Incline my heart toward Your laws. Bend my affections away from the hollow promise of wealth, and force them to lock onto the enduring riches of Your covenant."

But the battle is not just in the heart; it is also in the eyes. He pleads, "Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word."

This is perhaps the most critical, and desperately needed, prayer for our modern age. The Hebrew phrase for "worthless things" is shav, which means vanity, emptiness, falsehood, or a mirage. In the context of the Old Testament, shav was frequently used as a derogatory term for pagan idols. An idol was a worthless thing. It looked shiny, it was covered in silver and gold, but as we saw in Psalm One Hundred Fifteen, it had no breath, no life, and no power.

The rebel gods of the nations constantly parade their glittering, worthless idols in front of the believer, trying to hijack our gaze. If they can capture our eyes, they can capture our imagination, and eventually, our feet will follow. Today, we may not walk past bronze statues of Baal, but our eyes are constantly assaulted by worthless things. We stare at screens filled with superficial vanity, cultural outrage, and the endless pursuit of status. These are the modern idols, and they are expertly designed to steal our gaze.

The psalmist knows he cannot always trust himself to look away. The hypnotic power of the world is too strong. So, he asks the Creator to physically intervene: "Turn my eyes." Literally, "Make my eyes pass over, or avert my gaze." He asks God to snap his head back toward the Torah. He knows that staring at worthless things brings spiritual death, but looking at the Word of God brings abundant, eternal life.

Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you. Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good. I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness.

Having asked for his heart to be inclined, and his eyes to be averted, the psalmist now asks for emotional stabilization. "Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you." Or, as it can be translated, "Establish your word to your servant, which produces reverence for you."

When we turn our eyes away from the glittering promises of the culture, we can sometimes feel a sense of loss, or vulnerability. The world tells us that if we do not chase after money, status, and vanity, we will be left behind. In those moments of doubt, we need the reassurance of Yahweh. We need God to confirm that His covenant promises are solid, unshakeable, and absolutely guaranteed to those who walk in the fear of the Lord.

This leads to a fascinating request in verse thirty-nine: "Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good." Other versions translate this as, "Turn away the reproach that I dread."

In an honor and shame culture, stepping away from the accepted norms of society to follow the invisible God of Israel invited massive public ridicule. To turn your eyes away from the popular idols, and to refuse to participate in the corrupt economy of the rebel gods, made you a target for mockery. The psalmist feels the weight of this impending social shame. He dreads the insults and the rejection of his peers.

But he counters his own fear with a profound theological declaration: "for your regulations are good." He reminds himself that no matter how much the world mocks him, the judgments of Yahweh are inherently, objectively good. They are the true north of the cosmos. He asks God to remove the sting of the world's reproach, so that he can continue to walk boldly in the light of divine approval.

The stanza concludes with a final, desperate sigh of longing. "I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness."

The psalmist brings everything full circle. He started this stanza asking to be taught, and to be made to walk. Now, he declares a deep, consuming hunger for righteousness. He truly wants to obey. He longs to be in perfect alignment with the Creator.

And once again, he asks for the gift of life. "Renew my life with your goodness." The Hebrew word is chayah, the exact same word used in the previous stanza when he asked to be revived from the dust. The Christian journey is a constant, daily need for resurrection. Every time we turn our eyes away from a worthless idol, and look back toward the Word of God, we experience a miniature resurrection. We die to the chaos of the world, and we are renewed by the steadfast righteousness of the King.

Psalm One Hundred Nineteen, verses thirty-three through forty, gives us the ultimate navigational prayer for a hostile world.

It teaches us that we cannot trust our own natural affections, or our own wandering eyes. We live in a contested environment, heavily populated by spiritual forces that want to lure us off the path through the deceitfulness of wealth, and the hypnotic trance of worthless vanity.

As you walk your trek today, make the "He" stanza your personal prayer. Acknowledge your vulnerability to the distractions of the culture. Ask the Lord to act as your divine Shepherd. Ask Him to graciously, but firmly, bend your affections away from selfish gain, and incline them toward His eternal promises.

When the screens, the advertisements, and the empty promises of this world try to capture your imagination, pray the prayer of the ancient exile: "Lord, turn my eyes from worthless things." Fix your gaze on the blueprint of the cosmos, trust in the goodness of His regulations, and let Him renew your life with His unfailing Word.

If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of, ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal. As we take this Trek of life together, let us always: Liv Abundantly. Love Unconditionally. Listen Intentionally. Learn Continuously. Lend to others Generously. Lead with Integrity. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!