Turn My Eyes

“Turn my eyes away from looking at what is worthless, and revive me in Your ways,” wrote the psalmist in Psalms 119 ⁽¹⁾, and  in Psalm 141, it is written, “My eyes are toward You, God … in You I take refuge …” ⁽²⁾

Scriptures such as these have helped shape the moral fabric of America. In the opinion of Noah Webster, regarded as the “Founding Father of American Scholarship and Education,” scriptures can do much more. According to Webster,

“The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” ⁽³⁾ 

Webster was largely responsible for establishing the foundations of American education in the years following the American War of Independence. In 1783, he wrote his first textbook, which was commonly known as the “Blue-Backed Speller.”  Webster organized his “Speller,” beginning with the alphabet and moving systematically through the different sounds of vowels and consonants, then syllables, then simple words, then more complex words, then sentences. ⁽⁴⁾ For over 100 years, Webster’s “Blue-Backed Speller” taught children to read, spell and pronounce words… By 1861, it was selling a million copies per year and throughout the years it sold up to a total of 100 million copies. ⁽⁵⁾ Both Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass, one of Lincoln’s most severe critics who later became one of Lincoln’s principal advisors on racial matters, ⁽⁶⁾ learned to read using the “Blue-Back Speller. ⁽⁷⁾ 

Webster’s role in the advancement of education in America further expanded when he published his 1828 American Dictionary, which then contained the greatest number of Biblical definitions given in any reference volume. ⁽⁸⁾  Webster’s definition of “Scripture” in that Dictionary, was:

“Scripture …by way of distinction, the books of the Old and New Testament; the Bible. The word is used either in the singular or plural number, to denote the sacred writings or divine oracles, called sacred or holy, as proceeding from God and containing sacred doctrines and precepts. There is not any action that a man ought to do or forbear, but the scripture will give him a clear precept or prohibition for it. Compared with the knowledge which the Scriptures contain, every other subject of human inquiry is vanity and emptiness.” ⁽⁹⁾ 

The Religious Alliance Against Pornography was formed in 1988 to battle the insidious spread of pornography. Some modern commentators bemoan the current state of that battle, and even pose the question, “Is this battle still worth fighting?”  

In the Book of Joshua, God’s people were instructed:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.” ⁽¹⁰⁾ 

The secrets of the success of the “Blue-Backed Speller” included the use of recitation and memorization as primary learning tools. Nearly 200 years ago Noah Webster expressed his firm conviction that there “…  is not any action that a man ought to do or forbear, but the scripture will give him a clear precept or prohibition for it.”  If what Webster said then remains  true today, then it is reasonable to expect that the use of the same primary learning tools of recitation and memorization will be effective in developing better methods in the current battle against pornography.

There are many Scriptures that describe what “a man ought to do or forbear.” Included within that list are the following:

“Turn my eyes away from looking at what is worthless, and revive me in Your ways.” (Psalm 119:37 NASB2020)

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” (Romans 13:14 NASB2020)

“… Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh,” (Galatians 5:16 NASB2020).

“ …You are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,” (Ephesians 4:23 NASB2020)

“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28 NASB2020)

“Can anyone take fire in his lap and his clothes not be burned? (Proverbs 6:27 NASB2020)

“Flee sexual immorality … do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you … therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NASB2020)

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior … and things like these, of which I forewarn you, … that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  (Galatians 5:19, 21 NASB2020)

“Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22 NASB2020)

“My eyes are toward You, God … in You I take refuge …” (Psalm 141:8 NASB2020)

This list of scriptures is not exhaustive. Search for more. Use them daily, recite them, memorize them, meditate on them, and “achieve success.” This battle is still worth fighting!

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(1)  Psalm 119:37 NASB2020.

(2)  Psalm 141:8 NASB2020.

(3)  https://ponderingprinciples.com/quotes/webster/. Accessed August 12, 2026.

(4)  https://languagemuseum.org/exhibits/emerging-american-language-in-1812/blue-backed-speller/. Accessed August 17, 2026.

(5)  https://noahwebsterhouse.org/noahwebsterhistory/. Accessed August 12, 2026.

(6)  https://www.nps.gov/frdo/learn/historyculture/confronting-a-president-douglass-and-lincoln.htm. Accessed August 17, 2026.

(7)  https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/100-objects-005-blue-back-speller/. Accessed August 17, 2026.

(8)  https://1828dictionary.com/scripture/. Accessed August 17, 2026.

(9)  https://webstersdictionary1828.com/dictionary/scripture. Accessed August 17, 2026.

(10) Joshua 1:8 (NASB2020).