Reputation

I cling to Your testimonies; Lord, do not put me to shame!  Psalm 119:31 NASB

Put me to shame – In order to feel the impact of the psalmist’s plea, we must notice his use of dābaq, the word first found in Genesis 2:24.  Looking back a few verses, we see the poet’s deliberate allusion to that Genesis story when he uses this word in verse 25 to describe his created condition.  dābaq is what he is made of—generated from the earth, no more valuable than dust.  He can no less be earth-bound than he can fly to the moon.  What’s important about this ontological connection is that now he asserts the same essential relationship between his existence and God’s ʿēdût, and as you will recall, ʿēdût is the witness of God’s past and present actions among humanity.  In other words, the psalmist is saying that God’s story is as much a part of his life as his very creation.  He lives because of God’s history.  Paul reminds us of the same truth.

That’s a very strong claim.  It completely acknowledges the psalmist’s dependence on the divine.  It leaves no room at all for self-determination.  Since this is the case, why would the psalmist fear the possibility of being put to shame?  He has staked his very life on God.  Isn’t that enough?

“Put to shame” is derived from the Hebrew bôš.

The primary meaning of this root is “to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either of self or of an object of trust.” Along with its derivatives, it occurs 155 times, all but 25 times in the prophets or the Psalms. No less than 38 occurrences are found in Jeremiah and 20 in Isaiah. The word is often paralleled with kālam “to be humiliated,” and less frequently with ḥātat “to be shattered, dismayed.” As these parallels suggest, the force of bôš is somewhat in contrast to the primary meaning of the English “to be ashamed,” in that the English stresses the inner attitude, the state of mind, while the Hebrew means “to come to shame” and stresses the sense of public disgrace, a physical state.^[1]

Now we understand the psalmist’s concern.  Since he’s opted to put all his trust in God, what should happen if it appears not to work out?  His public affirmation would be questioned.  We already have the perfect biblical example of this situation—Job.  Job could have asserted, “I cling to Your testimonies,” using exactly the words of this poem.  He says as much when he declares, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15).  But we usually don’t remember the rest of Job’s declaration, “Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.”  The psalmist does.  “Do not put me to shame” is the equivalent of asking God not to let the Job experience happen again.  “I’ve staked my life on you, Lord.  Don’t let me down.”  I wonder if we would dare echo these words.

Since the psalmist starts with ʿēdût, do you suppose he was thinking of Job when he wrote this?

Topical Index: bôš, put to shame, Job 13:15, Psalm 119:31

^[1] Oswalt, J. N. (1999). 222 בּוֹשׁ. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 97). Moody Press.