Psalm 119:113

I am now ready to take in hand the next octave of Psalm 119 entitled Samech.  From the pronunciation guide in my Bible, sa would be pronounced the way we Midwesterners pronounce saw and mech would be pronounced like meck.  This is not likely the exact pronunciation, but it’s close.  Now you probably do not know anyone by the name of Mech.  I do not think there are many Mechs around.  But if you do know someone named Mech, you can say when you see him or her that you samech.  Now let’s consider today’s verse.  

Psalms 119:113  ¶SAMECH. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

Today’s verse at the beginning of this octave follows logically upon the last verse of the preceding octave.  In that verse the psalmist stated that he had inclined his heart to perform the Lord’s statutes alway.  With an inclination like that, it follows that the psalmist would hate any thought that would interfere with his objective to perform God’s statutes. 

Now just what is a vain thought?

Vain – Devoid of real value, worth, or significance; idle, unprofitable, useless, worthless; of no effect, force, or power; fruitless, futile, unavailing.

A vain thought is an unprofitable, useless thought.  It does you no good to think it.  Note in today’s verse that vain thoughts are contrasted with the law of God.  So any thought that opposes God’s law and distracts us from our duty as defined by God’s law is a vain thought.  This would, of course, include any thought of sin, since "sin is the transgression of the law" (1John 3:4).  Sinful thoughts are certainly unprofitable.  But any thought that distracts you from what you should be thinking at a given time is a vain thought, even if it is not a thought of something in itself sinful.  For example, when you are praying to God, reading His word, hearing His word preached, or partaking of the Lord’s Supper, or when you need to be focused on your job or on the needs of your family, you should not be thinking about the exciting football game you saw last weekend, or the exchange of texts with a friend, or the ill-matched colours of someone's outfit.  Such thoughts at such times are drawing you away from your duty to God’s law.  They are so many vain thoughts in that they do not help you to achieve what you should be achieving at the time. 

And then consider the myriads of imaginations that dance around in our heads that are nothing but so many vain thoughts.  We sometimes imagine tragedies that have not and may never occur.  We imagine people saying or doing hurtful things to us that they have not done.  But, oh, don’t we love to think of ourselves as the victim of the injustice of others!  Such thoughts carry us to a moral high ground over others causing us to feel superior.  We fancy great things for ourselves.  How easily our vain imaginations can transport us from a cubical at work to the oval office of the White House.  We imagine ourselves performing heroic feats that draw the admiration of our fellows.  We sometimes do this to such an extent that we would be painfully embarrassed if others knew what we had been thinking.  Speaking of this, John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, wrote:

“Nor does my fancy confine itself within the narrow limits of probabilities; it can busy itself as eagerly in ranging after chimeras and impossibilities and engage my attention to the ideal pursuit of things which are never likely to happen.  In these respects my imagination travels with wings; so that if the wilderness, the multiplicity, the variety of the phantoms which pass through my mind in the space of a winter’s day were known to my fellow creatures, they would probably deem me, as I am so often ready to deem myself, but a more sober and harmless kind of lunatic.”

Oh, can I ever relate to that!  There is not a sinner on this earth who is not guilty of vain thoughts.  This is true of the most educated minds.  In fact, it is especially true of the most educated minds.

1 Corinthians 3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

So much that is taught in institutions of higher learning is only so much vanity that one must renounce if one is ever to know the wisdom of God.  Consider the theories of evolution, scientism, socialism, atheism, relativism, or existentialism, to name a few, that are poured into the minds of idealistic youth in colleges and universities thus filling their heads with so many vain thoughts.  Add to this the plethora of doctrinal errors propounded in various religious schools and seminaries.  And then consider all the vanity that daily bombards our minds from the various media outlets that we are continually exposed to, or worse, that we expose ourselves to.  No wonder we have such a battle with vain thoughts.  The wonder is that we have any profitable thoughts.

It is an evidence of man’s depravity that he loves vain thoughts and hates the law of God.  It says a lot about the corruption of our culture that Hollywood has thrived even though Hollywood is an abounding source of vain thoughts.  But people support Hollywood with hours and hours of their time and millions upon millions of their dollars.  Why?  Because they love vain thoughts!  Nowadays the best of films are laced with filth to corrupt our thinking.  And add to this all the sheer non-sense that passes for entertainment.

Now if my pointing out all these examples of vain thoughts is stirring hatred within you for such thoughts, then that is a good sign.  It is the work of God’s saving grace to reverse the trend of our depraved, fallen nature.  Charles Gurnall wrote:  “The work of Divine grace is to restore the disordered affections to their proper centre, and to bestow them on their right object; ─ hating vain thoughts, and loving the law of God.”  How a man reacts to vain thoughts says a lot about his character, whether he loves and indulges them or whether he hates and resists them.    

Now the psalmist does not say that he had no vain thoughts.  He had his share of them as do we all.  But he did not love those thoughts.  Vain thoughts may have entered into his mind, but they were neither welcomed nor allowed to stay there.  This brings to mind the following verse:

Jeremiah 4:14  O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

We cannot always prevent vain thoughts from passing through our minds.  But we can prevent them from lodging there.  The psalmist mounted a resistance against vain thoughts because they were contrary to what he loved most and that was God’s law.  And so must we do.  If we truly want to clean up our act, we need to wash our heart, that is, our thoughts from wickedness since actions take their rise from thoughts.  Instead of allowing vain thoughts to set up housekeeping in our heads, we would do well to heed Paul’s instruction:

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Thoughts of “these things” that Paul listed are profitable thoughts.  They are thoughts that perfectly align with God’ law, which we should love supremely.  The more we cultivate our love of God’s law, the more our hatred of vain thoughts will increase and the more we will resist them.  And bless God for the promise of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ when the day shall dawn and the day star shall arise in our hearts (2Peter 1:19), for then vain thoughts shall be forever banished from our minds and every thought be pure.  “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).