Day 342: Unashamed - Psalm 119 vs 1 – 8

1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! 2-3 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. 5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! 6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn  your righteous rules. 8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me! Psalm 119 vs 1-8 English Standard Version

We are living in days when a generation is rising who don't want anything to do with rules or laws. They often use words like bigots, racists and fascists to describe people who believe that laws, especially God's laws, are actually good for individuals and society. Psalm 119 is made up of 22 sections of 8 verses, and each section is ultimately about loving the laws that God taught Israel through Moses. So at the very start, in vs 1-3, he speaks of the goodness of perfect obedience to God's laws - loving them with all one's heart - and turning aside from everything that God has declared to be wrong. But what are the implications of the Psalm writer’s words in vs 4-6?

It seems to me that he longs to be the sort of person verses 1-3 were talking about. He knows God wants us to be diligent in obeying the laws He commanded, and vs 2 spoke of doing this with a whole heart. But he is aware that he hasn’t always been steadfast in obeying God. There are many times when he faltered and failed and he doesn’t want to end up ashamed of his life. So what does he do in vs 7-8?

He determines to keep God’s law that he loves – but he also cries out to God for mercy in view of his failures and for when he falls short of God's standards. The apostle Paul also spoke of this struggle when he said: “ When I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart.  But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.” (Romans 7:21-23)

So what is the solution for people who are just like the Psalm writer and the apostle Paul. They love God's law - but know they can never give that wholehearted perfect obedience it demands? How can they end up not being ashamed of the wrong they have done, and how far short they have fallen?

Paul gives us the answer when he said: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25) That's why, in Romans 1:16-17, he wrote: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last.”

Our Psalm ended with the words 'do not utterly forsake me'. In John 8:29 we read how Jesus once said: “The One who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone - for I always do what pleases Him.”  Jesus Christ is the only man who ever lived who always did what the Father said. He loved the Father and the Father's words with a perfect heart. He is the only one who was ever blameless. And that's why He was able to offer His life for our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21 puts it like this: “God made Him who had NO sin  - to BE sin  for us - so that IN HIM we might become the righteousness of God.”

That's why we can stand one day, unashamed, in the presence of the holy God who gave such good laws. Jesus Christ kept them, and died in the place of those who had broken them, so that all who believe the gospel can be credited with His righteousness.