Psalm 119:5-6 Shame

Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!

Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.

Psalm 119:5-6

As a dedicated follower of Jesus, Bill knew that he should read his Bible and pray. And so he would set aside time each evening to open up the scriptures and spend time with God.

At first his young wife thought this was a wonderful idea. Bill, a former drug addict, was prone to moods, and perhaps this daily time with God would help him.

But when Bill read the Bible, all he could see, over and over again, was his sin. He compared himself with what he read and understood just how wretched a person he really was. And when he compared his wife to the Bible, he came to the same conclusions.

His nightly devotional time would turn into a nightly bout of ranting and raving, keening and moaning, frightening his wife and their infant daughter.


Another friend of ours, Nicky, was just a baby Christian, with no church background whatsoever.

She wanted to know more about the Bible, so she began to read. But she confessed to us that reading the Bible frightened her.

"I read the Bible and all I see is how much God must hate me."

That's the flip-side of the Bible. It can bless us so much, but one of the blessings is that it's also a two-edged sword, cutting right to the heart of the matter.

I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.  Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.  I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.  For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.

Romans 7:7-11

Bill and Nicky both properly saw their sin more clearly because of God's Word. We all need to be forced to acknowledge the horror of our lives.  That's the starting place for the journey toward being steadfast in obedience.

What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7:24-25