Ashamed

 

Ps 25:1 <<A Psalm of David.>> To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul 2 O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. 3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

 Ps 25:20 Keep my soul, and deliver me; Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

When reading Scripture, it’s a good idea to look for words that are repeated. Repetition is a way of driving a point home. In this Psalm, the word, “ashamed,” is repeated four times!

Believe it or not, I used the word yesterday when bowling. One of my teammates rolled what is called a “sloppy strike,” and I jokingly blurted out, “you ought to be ashamed!” What was I trying to convey with that statement?

I was saying, “you ought to be embarrassed for even counting that as a strike!”But in the sport of bowling….it all looks good on paper!

 

Then, this morning during my devotional time, as I prayed, I asked the Holy Spirit to convict me of my sins and He immediately reminded me that I have been slow to have Jesus on my lips, almost like I am embarrassed to bring Him up in my daily conversations.

All right, “I agree with that Lord,” and so I spent time confessing that sin and receiving God’s promised forgiveness? Then I opened my Bible to my Psalm of the day…..the 25^th Psalm and look what spilled out.  “Ashamed!” Four times!

 

Wow! It’s one thing to repeat four times on paper (It looks good on paper as a bowler might say) but to bring it up two more times in my daily activity….well, it seems I may have a problem that needs to be dealt with.

 

In light of what Jesus has done for me, why am I so slow to release Him from my heart and my lips in my day to day living? Thankfully God decided to interrupt that tendency in my life as He brought the matter of being ashamed of Jesus to light: How did Jesus put it?

 

Lu 9:26 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.