Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways (Psalm 119:37 ESV).

What worthless things do you look at?  (Not counting this blog.)

I don’t think the psalmist is referring to blogs, Facebook, Twitter or youtube.  Perhaps, but not necessarily.  Worthless things lead one away from God.  The Psalms often speak of “worthless idols” (Psa. 31:6; 96:5; 97:7).  Almost anything can become worthless if it distracts us from what’s really important.

Reading a blog can become worthless if you should be praying or spending time with your family.  (Unless the blog is encouraging you to pray or spend time with your family, like this one is.)  Posting on Facebook can be worthless, but it can also be a great way to connect with friends.  Watching youtube…well, that’s harder to come up with a good rationalization for why it’s not worthless.

When I was young (about 45), I was always confused by the words “worthless” and “priceless“.  An item’s worth and it’s price are supposed to be the same.  So, these two words should be synonyms, and yet they were antonyms.  One refers to things with no worth, the other to things with unlimited worth.

The psalmist clearly believes that life is found in God’s ways.  The psalmist tells God to divert his gaze from worthlessness to pricelessness.  God and God’s word are therefore the only things that are truly priceless.  (I should probably also say people are priceless since they are made in God’s image…)

God, help us focus on you and your word. 

So, is youtube worthless?  When?  When not?