Silent Night

Let me not be put toshame, O Lord, for I call upon You; let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol  Psalm 31:17 NASB Silent– Did you notice David’s poetic parallelism?  First, don’t let me be put to shame for I call upon You. Implication: those who are exonerated by God have something to say in the…

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…

One Day at the Spa

Thus says the Lord, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3 NASB Innocent Blood – We live in a world much like the one that…

Spiraling In

Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:34 NASB Shame – You might find it surprising that the Greek word Paul uses for “shame” is entrope. We have a derivative of this Greek word in modern physics. Entropy is…

Bending the Word – Rewind

If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear…

Waiting

“In that day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me;” Zephaniah 3:11 Shame – I’m waiting. Perhaps you are too. I’m waiting for that day, the day when I will no longer feel public disgrace about my past rebellion against Him. You might ask how…

John and Genesis

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Genesis 3:21 NASB Clothed – Just in case you didn’t realize it, this verse has almost nothing to do with apparel. God’s actions following the first sin reveal an attempt to restore the original intention of Mankind. Davidson’s remark on…

After the Fact

“so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord God declares. Ezekiel 16:63 NASB Be ashamed – How is shame connected to community? If we imagine the word reflects our cultural understanding, then…

Naked and Ashamed

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25 NASB Not ashamed – But it didn’t last, did it? A few verses later Adam says, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10). The…