How to Steer Clear of Shame
S. Conway Psalm 119:6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect to all your commandments. I. WE ALL SHRINK FROM SHAME. Whether it be: 1. Before our own conscience. An inward blush, though unseen by any fellow-man, is to many, and to all who are capable of it, a source of pain, and to some of very real pain. To be ashamed of one's self is the reverse of pleasant. 2. Yet more, before our fellow-men. That has often driven men to self-destruction, so intolerable has it been. Or: 3. Before God. (See Psalm 40:12.) And who has not known, by reason of ingratitude and sin, what this shame is? And there is the last awful shame - that 4. Before the Lord at his coming. (1 John 2:28.) May he keep us from that! II. THE SURE WAY OF AVOIDING IT. By having "respect unto all thy commandments." 1. But can any one have respect unto all God's commandments? Not so as to merit salvation thereby; for "by the works of the Law shall," etc. And even if we could for the future, what about the past? People often talk of turning over a new leaf, but what of the old ones? The new leaf will not blot out those old ones. If a man has broken the law of his country in the past, the plea that he will never do the like again will not avail for his pardon. 2. But in reference to God's commandments it is possible (ver. 3) to "do no iniquity." Christ will keep the soul that daily, hourly, trusts in him. As the pebble that lies in the bed of the stream is ever kept bright and clean by the constantly flowing water that passes over it, so he who will "walk in the light," that is, honestly strive to live in such wise as that his whole conduct will bear God's light, and who will, so to speak, keep touch with Christ, continually looking to him for grace, he will find that the blood of Christ does, as a fact of experience, cleanse him, keep cleansing him, from all sin. There are thousands that can attest this. And: 3. This is what we should desire. Not out of dread of wrath, but out of love for God (Psalm 63.), has come to be our deep longing. 4. Such desire will lead to conduct very different from that of most. For most men do not have respect unto all God's commandments. They may be public duties, but not private ones. So the commands of the first table, but not those of the second, or it may be vice-versd. Or in great matters, but not in the little ones of daily life. The agreeable duties, but not the disagreeable. III. BUT HE WHO WILL HAVE RESPECT UNTO ALL GOD'S COMMANDMENTS, SHALL NOT ONLY AVOID SHAME, BUT BE FILLED WITH THE LOVE OF GOD. - S.C. Parallel Verses KJV: Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. WEB: Then I wouldn't be disappointed, when I consider all of your commandments.