Shame!! - Psalms 24-26

 Psalms 25:1-3 (ESV)

1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, in you I trust;

let me not be put to shame;

let not my enemies exult over me.

3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;

they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Psalms 25:20 (ESV)

20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!

Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.

Shame!!

What causes shame?  We know what shame looks like.  We see it in sporting events. When an athlete fails to meet the requirement of the play, event, or exercise, they will bow their heads. Often heading their face with their jersey.   Students demonstrate shame as they are called upon in class to provide their answer to the question, yet do not know it; they look down in shame.   The look of shame is “down.”   We tend to look down when we are feeling moments of failure and the shame that comes with that.   Notice, however, in the above song of David, that he asks God to “lift up my soul.”   He states that he trust in God and pleads with God to, “... let me not be put to shame.”    He does so on two occasions in Psalm 25.   He knows the solution, the antidote for shame.  He states in verse three: “Indeed, non who wait for you shall be put to shame ...”.    God is the God who does the work in our lives so that we do not have to feel shame.  He is the one who produces victory in our lives.    Let us rejoice in what God is doing for us and trust in Him to do it.  Our faith will never be put to shame.   Those who are ashamed are the “treacherous.”   Those who attempt to live life for themselves and on their own terms will be shamed.   We do not have to have shame.  God has cleared us of all sin and has, for one time, made us perfect in Him:

Hebrews 10:10-14 (ESV)

10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

In verse ten it states we “are” sanctified (made holy). In verse fourteen it states we are “being made” sanctified.   God has both made us holy (in position with Him) and is making us holy (practically each day).   Because of this, we have no reason to be living in shame.