Psalm 119:33-40

³³ Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.

³⁴ Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

³⁵ Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.

³⁶ Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to covetousness.

³⁷ Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way.

³⁸ Establish Your word to Your servant,
Who is devoted to fearing You.

³⁹ Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.

⁴⁰ Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me in Your righteousness.

In this stanza, the psalmist seems to be asking God to give him an even greater desire for God’s Word and help in resisting the things that distract him from it.

This fifth stanza teaches that if the Bible student dissociates the Book from its Author, his eyes will be unopened (vs. 33-37), his mind uninstructed (vs.34 and 38), his heart unaffected (vs. 34 and 36), and his feet unled (v.35). So the eyes, the mind, the heart and the feet must be governed by the Word of God.

The affections are so disposed to inertia in the spiritual realm that the prayer for quickening in v.37 needs repetition in v.40. — Williams, page 391.

covetousness (v.36) = unjust gain

worthless (v.37) = empty, vain

God’s Word serves the psalmist as a source of comfort in the midst of his aforementioned affliction, both by serving as “mechanism” (engaged through “treasuring” and “meditation” (vs. 11 and 22)) to turn his eyes from looking at (i.e., considering) vanity (v.37) and by reminding him of God’s promises to him—which later notion is clearly intended by v.38: “Establish Thy Word to Thy servant, which concerns the reverencing (i.e., worshiping) of Thee.” Insofar as the verb here translated “establish” is elsewhere employed in the specific (and usually complementary) senses of “upholding” (as e.g., in v.28) and “fulfilling” (as in Ezekiel 13:6), the “word” here in view—and which specifically supplies the psalmist with comfort in his affliction (v.50)—should be understood to be God’s promises that (1) He will always ensure that His people “have” what is necessary in this life—both materially and circumstantially—to revere (i.e., worship) Him (Exodus 20:20; Psalm 34:11; 111:10; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 4:19), and (2) He will, in the hereafter, both dispel all affliction and perfect His people’s worship by giving “them one heart and one way, for the reverencing of Me always… and I will put the reverence of Me in their hearts … and rejoice over them to do them good” (Jeremiah 32:39-41). — Wechsler, page 284.