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David was a man after God’s own heart. There is much we can learn from the Scriptural record about David and apply them to our lives. Because of David’s great trust in the Almighty he became a mighty man of valor. He was able to slay the lion and the bear as a shepherd boy; he would not back down when Goliath challenged Israel’s armies, his confidence enabled him to slay that giant. After that David became a public figure and he lead the people proclaiming the faithfulness of YHVH. He did not want others to lose confidence in YHVH because of his failures. But the wicked wanted to trip him up, cause him to fail, make a public disgrace of him.

Reading the Psalms gives us a picture of David’s concern that shame would disgrace YHVH, this he did not want. Here is a Psalm that highlights this:

Psalm 31:1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

14 But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.

16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.

17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed… (Authorized Version)

David asks not to be ashamed twice in this Psalm; what does this mean? Looking at the Hebrew word and the commentaries we find some interesting things; for one thing ashamed is not exactly like our English understanding of the word.

Poole Commentary:

Gill Commentary:

…let me never be ashamed; neither in this world, nor in that to come. The believer has no reason to be ashamed of anything in this life but sin, and the imperfection of his own righteousness, and his trust in it; not of the Lord, in whom he trusts…

…for I have called upon thee; who is nigh unto all that call upon him in truth, and is rich unto them, and has promised to help and save them; which should he not do, not only he would be made ashamed, but the promise of God would seem to fail: for the psalmist does not plead any duty of his, nor make a merit of his prayers; but has respect to the promise and faithfulness of God;

222.0 (bôsh) be ashamed, put to shame, disconcerted, disappointed.

The primary meaning of this root is `to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either of self or of an object of trust.' … the force of "bosh" 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.

Again, it is the Psalmist's fervent expectation that because he trusts in God, those who are attempting to destroy him must themselves be brought low in disgrace (Ps 6:10; Ps 109:28).

In that it is a matter of trust, the Psalmist shall not be ashamed because he knows: Psalm 119:6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

… the Hebrew means `to come to shame' and stresses the sense of public disgrace, a physical state. That if one will humbly submit to God, he will find his true glory, for God will not let that person come to shame.

Ezekiel 36:32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways…

Jeremiah 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed… because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

2Thesslonians 3:14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed <1788>.

1788 (v) to be ashamed, to turn about (the purpose is that they may turn about, repent)

Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

2Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Isaiah 49:23 … and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

1John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

David fully put his trust in YHVH; he asks he not be put to shame; even though the intents of the enemy were to disgrace him. Verse 14 But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, "You are my God." The saints will be delivered by their trust in Yeshua’s righteousness. Then we too can beseech YHVH, "let me not be shamed".

Other supporting verses: (NAS)

Psalm 25:2 O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed…

Psalm 25:20 … Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.

Psalm 69:6 May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,

Psalm 119:80 May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, So that I will not be ashamed.

Psalm 119:116 Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.

Proverbs 18:13 He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.

I can relate to this proverb. Do I need someone to reproach me when my tongue gets in the way of my hearing? Wait on YHVH before we suffer reproach and shame His name.

Psalm 25:3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.

Isaiah 40: 31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

"When we have done our best, we should wait the results in peace." J. Lubbock

When we have accomplished something the tendency (our human nature) is to boast about it; even here Lubbock recognizes we should just wait.

James 4:16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…

1. What are the four names given the Son in Isaiah 9:6?
2. Who was not an apostle of Christ: James, John, Matthew, or Luke?
3. In what country was Joseph ruler?
4. What did Paul do for Publics’ father?
5. Why was YHVH angry with Solomon?
6. To whom did Yeshua say, "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do"?
7. Who said, "Who is this: He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him"?

In our pursuit of humility: (Lesson from the lives of His disciples.)

"It is when the truth of the indwelling Christ takes the place it deserves in the experience of believers that the church will put on her beautiful garment and humility will be seen in her teachers and members as the beauty of holiness." Andrew Murray

When we understand the humility of Messiah and that He is willing to live in us and transform us to His image; then truly we can say, "I am not ashamed".

2Timothy 1:12 … but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

For all the scientists out there, and for all the students who have a hard time convincing these people regarding the truth of the Bible, here's something that shows God's awesome creation, and that He is still in control.

Did you know that the space program is busy proving that what has been called "myth" in the Bible is true?

Mr. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, Maryland, and a consultant in the space program, relates the following development.

I think one of the most amazing things that God has done for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at Green Belt, Maryland.

They were checking out where the positions of the sun, moon, and planets would be 100 years and 1,000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't send up a satellite and have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.

They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries, and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong with either the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards.

They called in the service department to check it out, and they said, '"What's wrong?" Well, they found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time. They scratched their heads and tore their hair out. There was no answer.

Finally a Christian man on the team said, "You know, one time I was in Sunday School, and they talked about the sun standing still." While they didn't believe him, they didn't have an answer either, so they said, "Show us." He got a Bible and went to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with 'common sense.'

There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, "Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before Thee." Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy! And if darkness fell, they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's right... 'The sun stood still and the moon stayed and lasted not to go down about a whole day!' (Joshua 10:12-13)

The astronauts and scientists said, "There is the missing day!" They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours and 20 minutes ... not a whole day.

They read the Bible, and there it was about [approximately] a day.

These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes, you'll still be in trouble 1000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.

As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS. The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the Book and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story:

Hezekiah, on his death bed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said "Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?"

Hezekiah said, "It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees." Isaiah spoke to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD! Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes!

Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe! Isn't it amazing?

A young woman went to her pastor and said, "Pastor, I have a besetting sin, and I want your help. I come to church on Sunday and can't help thinking I'm the prettiest girl in the congregation. I know I ought not to think that, but I can't help it. I want you to help me with it." The pastor replied, "Mary, don't worry about it. In your case it's not a sin. It's just a horrible mistake."

The story is told of a married couple that was driving down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position.  As the couple passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the man made the mistake of speaking up first. He asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?"  His wife promptly spoke up and said, "Yep those are my in-laws."  That's a bad mistake.

The fact that we seek out points of egress (exit) before we even consider fighting for truth testifies to the weakness of our character, and the lukewarm state of our commitment. We will not commit to confrontation unless we’ve already mapped out an exit strategy, unless we’ve formulated a means by which we can backpedal and retract what we proclaimed, making our original statements void of conviction or validity. We are pretending to fight a war, with no true intention of winning it! We are pretending to oppose the enemy, with no true intention of shedding one tear or drop of blood for our convictions! (Michael Boldea Jr.)

Some things are loved because they are valuable; others are valuable because they are loved.

The easiest way to get to sleep is to count your blessings instead of your problems.

Don’t just live and let live, but live and help live.

Planting small onion shaped bulbs in the cold, wet ground on a chilly, blustery day that was more conducive to curling up with a blanket and a book inside rather than mucking about outside, I was debating if I would actually finish my last 3 bags of bulbs. Despite my shortcut of digging one large hole and layering multiple bulbs in the depression, it seemed that I would never finish. The only thing that kept my cold fingers carefully placing each bulb pointy-side up was faith. Faith that next spring when the cold would be forgotten in the liquid gold sunshine of spring, the bright flowers would make my act of faith all worth it. So I finished my last 3 bags with great expectations of what I hope for… Flowers! My unwavering faith in a bulb’s ability to grow a beautiful flower is like my faith in my Heavenly Father’s promises for me.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1

1 … From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD…
3 He will not allow your foot to slip…

5 The LORD is your keeper…
6 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.
8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.

Blessed be YHVH

1. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)

2. Luke - Luke 1:1-4

3. Egypt - Genesis 45:26

4. He healed him - Acts 28:7-8

5. Because his heart turned away from YHVH - I Kings 11:9-11

6. Paul (formally Saul) - Acts 9:5-6

7. The disciples - Luke 8:25