Public Debate

I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed. Psalm 119:46  NASB Shall not be ashamed – If you’ve discovered anything at all in this vav section, it’s that each of these verses not only begins with a vav but also is a past statement of God’s faithfulness and the poet’s…

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…

Public Persona

Then I will not be ashamed when I look at all Your commandments.  Psalm 119:6  NASB Not be ashamed – It’s worth reiterating the difference between our contemporary, psychological idea of “shame” and the ancient Hebrew idea.  As we’ve discovered before: The primary meaning of this root is “to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either…

Public Debate

I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed. Psalm 119:46  NASB Shall not be ashamed – If you’ve discovered anything at all in this vav section, it’s that each of these verses not only begins with a vav but also is a past statement of God’s faithfulness and the poet’s…

Kierkegaard to the Rescue

My tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long; for they are put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek my harm.  Psalm 71:24  NASB Put to same/ humiliated – Ah, we’re back at the beginning, a great place to end.  What is the result of being “redeemed,” that is, becoming a soldier in…

Public Enemy Number 1

May those who are enemies of my soul be put to shame and consumed; may they be covered with disgrace and dishonor, who seek to injure me.  Psalm 71:13  NASB Shame/ disgrace/ dishonor – Before the Greeks invented reward and punishment in the afterlife, Semitic societies focused ethical attention on contemporary experience.  Cut off from the Egyptian preoccupation with the…

Biblical Social Media

In You, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.  Psalm 71:1  NASB Put to shame – It isn’t surprising to find out that social media is one of the sources of psychological distress in young people.  A recent study confirms the negative effects on teenagers,[1] but I suspect that we adults…

The Greater Commission

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25  NASB Not ashamed – When you read this verse, what mental picture comes to mind?  Something like this:  (Rubens and Brueghel)?[1] We grew up with the 17th century version of Eden, complete with Nordic men and women.  Naked, of course,…

Failure Rate

Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call upon You; let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol  Psalm 31:17  NASB Shame– We’ve investigated the Hebrew word bôš several times in the past. John Oswalt notes: The primary meaning of this root is “to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either of self or…

God’s Disgrace

O my God, in You I trust, do not let me be ashamed; do not let my enemies exult over me. Psalm 25:2 NASB Ashamed – We have encountered this word, bôš, many times in the past. We’re familiar with the fact that the Hebrew idea of shame is public disgrace, not the inner attitude we ascribe to…