Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken you me in your way [derek].
The word “vanity” above, Psalms 119:37, is the Hebrew word shav’, meaning, “evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile); figuratively idolatry (as false, subjective), uselessness (as deceptive, objective; also adverbially, in vain).” It’s from the Hebrew word show’ (show’ah, sho’ah), meaning “to rush over; a tempest; by implication devastation.”
As discussed numerous times, the above definitions describe the deceptive ways of evil men: intentionally bringing ignorance and darkness: the agitation underlying the storms of life. In our time, we see it culminating in the mass delusion holding all the world in its grip, when a common virus is intentionally hyped to incite the masses into unwarranted fear and irrational panic. It is, as were all the manufactured incitements before it, used to manipulate and control people into doing whatever the deceivers desire. In this last instance, when information is twisted, weaponized, and spread like a virus, we see the deliberate mass destruction of the economy and many millions of lives and livelihoods. This evil was/is perpetrated by the Democrat Communist Party, their allies, and their fake news and social media. Motivated by hate for America’s God, its Christian culture, its Constitution, its freedom, and the President and people who love and revere them, they commit these malicious acts. They do so hoping it gives them a political advantage in the coming elections, and gaining them control, the opportunity to finish the destruction they’ve begun.
The problems they (the evil-doers) have are – their pride has swelled into a trap, their presumption they’re all-powerful, and, in their arrogance, thinking they have a right to rule us. The problem is an ignorance of history and the Almighty who controls it.
“In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince [the powerful], whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” This is a quote from the Declaration of independence. The Declaration was/is a covenant with God, which the signers acknowledged in the final sentence, saying, “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” These men kept their part of the covenant, and God, who is honorable, cannot forget His.
Divine Providence describes God’s Almighty forethought and provision for the salvation of believers who trust Him.
The first time the word shav’ appears (Exodus 20:7) it’s warning against taking the LORD’s name in “vain,” meaning claiming you follow God’s ways and then trusting and following the worthless ways of men. The second place is in Exodus 23:1, very descriptively for the moment, warning in verses 1 & 2, “You shall not raise a false [shav’] report: put not your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shall you speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:”
This last portion is God’s GOOD advice saying don’t decline into following deception just because many others do. If you do, you are joining them in twisting judgment into injustice.
The next time it (shav’) appears, it’s used three times, twice in Deuteronomy 5:11 and once in verse 20, as Moses tells of the LORD’s voice (His presence as now) is heard from the fire.
Deuteronomy 5
1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and keep, and do them.
2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to show you the word of the LORD: for you were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
6 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
7 You shall have none other gods before me.
8 You shall not make you any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9 You shall not bow down yourself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
11 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain [shav’]: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain [shav’].
12 Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD your God have commanded you.
13 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work:
14 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates; that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you.
15 And remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
17 You shall not kill.
18 Neither shall you commit adultery.
19 Neither shall you steal.
20 Neither shall you bear false [shav’] witness against your neighbor.
21 Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s wife, neither shall you covet your neighbor’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is your neighbor’s.
22 These words the LORD spoke unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
23 And it came to pass, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that you came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24 And you said, Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God does talk with man, and he lives.
25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.
26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27 Go you near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak you unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto you; and we will hear it, and do it.
28 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when you spoke unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto you: they have well said all that they have spoken.
29 O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever [‘owlam – through all time]!
30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.
31 But as for you, stand you here by me, and I will speak unto you all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land [America] which I give them to possess it.
32 You shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God has commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
33 You shall walk in all the ways [derek] which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
The word (shav’) next appears in Job, his name meaning he is hated upon the earth, which we know is manifested in his suffering constant false accusations. As we’ve also seen, Job’s suffering is all part of God’s plan to draw out into open sight his accusers, who become ensnared in their own false allegations, condemned by their own words.
1 Corinthians 11
19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved [by God] may be made manifest among you.
Jeremiah 49
Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom [the enemies mixed among us]; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman [who say they are the wise of the world]: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
Jeremiah 50
Therefore hear you the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Babylon [the confusion that rules over the world]; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans [those who use their lies to control and manipulate the masses]: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
In Job 6 & 7, Job says:
14 To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he [the false accusers] forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brethren [as Esau, as enemies mixed among us] have dealt deceitfully as a brook [flowing word of false accusation], and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
16 Which are blackish [without understanding] by reason of the ice [because the word of God is yet frozen in heaven, and there is no understanding], and wherein the snow is hid:
17 What time they wax warm, they vanish [when His word is melted and flows understanding]: when it is hot [and the waters boils, from the fire of His words from His mouth], they are consumed out of their place.
18 The paths of their way [derek] are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish [the apoleia – the perdition that comes upon those who wrestle with this word of God, to their own destruction, which Peter speaks of in 2 Peter 3:16, after telling of the stoicheion, the element, the corrupt ideas and ways of men, that melt away in the fire their same ideas and ways have caused].
19 The troops of Tema [the place where the wise men of the world dwell, also the place of the theophany, the LORD manifested in His word and the fire] looked, the companies of Sheba [seven – this completion, which the LORD God Almighty promised] waited for them.
20 They were confounded [the accusers are found in confusion – in Babylon] because they had hoped [because they put their trust in the ways and ideas of men]; they came thither, and were ashamed [disappointed, because they haven’t reached the end they hoped for and expected].
21 For now you are nothing; you see my casting down, and are afraid.
22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are right words! but what does your arguing reprove?
26 Do you imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?
27 Yea, you overwhelm the fatherless, and you dig a pit for your friend.
28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
Job 7
1 Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of a hireling?
2 As a servant earnestly desire the shadow, and as a hireling looks for the reward of his work:
3 So am I made to possess months of vanity [shav’], and wearisome nights [times of ignorance of these accusers] are appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night [their ignorance] be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro [sleeplessly searching for the words to give understanding into darkness] unto the dawning of the day [waiting for light to come, for them to understand].
The next two place shav’ is used, Job11:11 & 15:31, it is as Jobs accusers condemn themselves as they ignorantly accuse him of what they’re doing. In Job 11, the one speaking is Zophar the Naamathite, meaning what is pleasing to God (mercy and the knowledge of God – Hosea 6:6) has departed from him. In Job 15, it’s Eliphaz the Temanite, meaning his god is gold, which has corrupted all the so-called wise of this world.
Job 11
3 Should your lies make men hold their peace? and when you mock, shall no man make you ashamed?
4 For you have said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in your eyes.
5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against you;
6 And that he would show you the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
7 Can you by searching find out God? can you find out the Almighty unto perfection?
8 It is as high as heaven; what can you do? deeper than hell; what can you know?
9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
11 For he knows vain [shav’] men: he sees wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
Job 15
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I: yea, your own lips testify against you.
7 Are you the first man that was born? or were you made before the hills?
8 Have you heard the secret of God? and do you restrain wisdom to yourself?
9 What know you, that we know not? what understands you, which is not in us?
10 With us are both the gray-headed and very aged men, much elder than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God small with you? is there any secret thing with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away? and what do your eyes wink at,
13 That you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, he puts no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinks iniquity like water?
17 I will show you, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked man travails with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
22 He believes not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he stretches out his hand against God, and strengthens himself against the Almighty.
26 He runs upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
27 Because he covers his face with his fatness, and makes collops of fat on his flanks.
28 And he dwells in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabits, which are ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity [shav’]: for vanity [shav’] shall be his recompense [his own ways will return upon him].
32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepares deceit.
Job, in Job 31:5, uses shav’ in his complaint to God, as he finds himself in the same trap as the wicked.
Job 30
19 He has cast me into the mire [the corruption these men have stirred], and I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto you, and you do not hear me: I stand up, and you regards me not.
21 You are become cruel to me: with your strong hand you oppose yourself against me.
22 You lift me up to the wind [of their false doctrines]; you cause me to ride upon it, and dissolve my substance.
23 For I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light [understanding to take hold], there came darkness [deeper ignorance – see Isaiah 8:22].
27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
28 I went mourning without the sun [without the light of your understanding in your church]: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29 I am a brother to dragons [those whose words are venom and whose mouth devours], and a companion to owls [who hunt their prey, the ignorant, in the darkness].
30 My skin is black [I am covered, hidden, by their ignorance] upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
Job 31
1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange [unknown] punishment to the workers of iniquity?
4 Does not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with vanity [shav’], or if my foot has hasted to deceit;
6 Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.
7 If my step has turned out of the way [derek], and mine heart walked after mine eyes [ways of my own creation], and if any blot has cleaved to mine hands;
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring [creations] be rooted out.
The next and final use of shav’ in Job comes, in Job 35:13, as the LORD manifests His presence in Elihu, Jehovah God (unknown) in him speaking.
Job 35
2 Think you this to be right, that you said, My righteousness is more than God’s?
3 For you said, What advantage will it be unto you? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?
4 I will answer you, and your companions with you.
5 Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than you.
6 If you sin, what do you against him? or if your transgressions be multiplied, what do you unto him?
7 If you be righteous, what give you him? or what receives he of your hand?
8 Your wickedness may hurt a man as you are; and your righteousness may profit the son of man.
9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.
10 But none says, Where is God my maker, who gives songs in the night;
11 Who teaches us more than the beasts [those without His Spirit] of the earth, and makes us wiser than the fowls of heaven?
12 There they cry, but none gives answer, because of the pride of evil men.
13 Surely God will not hear vanity [shav’], neither will the Almighty regard it.
14 Although you say you shall not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust you in him.
15 But now, because it is not so [because you take the LORD’s name in vain, and your trust in the ways and ideas of men], he has visited in his anger; yet he knows it not in great extremity:
The LORD uses the Hebrew word derek three times in Job 38, all in telling of His way as light, understanding that only comes from Him, with no underlying detrimental motive. It’s what He is saying, above in verses 6 thru 8, when He says there is nothing we can do to profit him, which, in verse 9, He contrasts against the oppressions of the oppressors: the tyrants of the world.
Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind [ca’ar], and said,
2 Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and answer you me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if you have understanding.
5 Who has laid the measures thereof, if you know? or who has stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling-band [a protective wrapping] for it,
10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
11 And said, Hitherto shall you come, but no further: and here shall your proud waves be stayed?
12 Have you commanded the morning since your days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light [understanding] is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Have you entered into the springs of the sea? or have you walked in the search of the depth?
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto you? or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Have you perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if you know it all.
19 Where is the way [derek] where light [understanding] dwells? and as for darkness [the ignorance of men], where is the place thereof,
20 That you should take it to the bound thereof, and that you should know the paths to the house thereof?
21 Know you it, because you were then born? or because the number of your days is great?
22 Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way [derek] is the light parted, which scatters the east wind upon the earth?
25 Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way [derek] for the lightning of thunder;
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28 Has the rain a father? or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who has gendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or can you guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Know you the ordinances of heaven? can you set the dominion thereof in the earth?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send lightnings, that they may go and say unto you, Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? or who has given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust grow into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provides for the raven [those covered in darkness] his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat [they wander aimlessly without the deep understanding only He gives].
Psalms 104
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with honor and majesty.
2 Who covers yourself with light [understanding] as with a garment: who stretches out the heavens like a curtain:
3 Who lays the beams of his chambers in the waters: who makes the clouds his chariot: who walks upon the wings of the wind:
4 Who makes his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever [‘owlam].
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled; at the voice of your thunder they hasted away.
8 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which you have founded for them.
9 You have set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
10 He sends the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
13 He waters the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your works.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted;
17 Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down.
20 You make darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.
21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
22 The sun arises, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are your works! in wisdom have you made them all: the earth is full of your riches.
25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom you have made to play therein.
27 These wait all upon you; that you may give them their meat in due season.
28 That you give them they gather: you open your hand, they are filled with good.
29 You hide your face, they are troubled: you take away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
30 You send forth your spirit, they are created: and you renew the face of the earth.
31 The glory of the LORD shall endure forever [‘owlam]: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles: he touches the hills, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless you the LORD, O my soul. Praise you the LORD.
