Psalm 119:33-40

Psalm 119:33-40 
English Standard Version (ESV)
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  Martin Luther said the heart is a factory of idols.  Solzyneitsin said that the line between good and evil runs down the middle of every human heart.  Paul says that we cannot do the things we ought.  I once said that people are wonderfully flawed.
  This passage illustrates how flawed we can be.  The prayer of the Psalmist is for God to teach him, but also to give him understanding, that he may begin to keep the law and observe it with his whole heart.  This is what Jesus was pushing us towards -- it's not enough just to know the law, and it's not enough to keep it with only our actions -- but we are to keep it with the entirety of our hearts, which is what leads Jesus to teach us that hate is the same as murder in the depths of our hearts.
  And so we ask for God to keep our heart away from greed, and to keep our eyes away from tempting things that lead us astray.  We ask for assurance, for so many roads lead away from God, but the narrow way leads to God. 
  What's wondrous is to pair this with the message of the Gospels.  We know how hard it is to be faithful, but Christ teaches us, Christ shows us, that God comes to us and offers us the free gift of grace and love.  We are challenged to be faithful, but we are not called to earn our salvation -- it is enough to receive it as the gift that it is.