Uprightness of Heart

Psalm 119:6-7a Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart…

All of us have experienced embarrassment sometime in our life. It could be something as simple as a split seam in the clothes we are wearing or a forgetting to lock the bathroom door and an unexpected visitor walks in. Even worse, is when we discover that everyone else knows about it.

However, being embarrassed is not quite the same as being ashamed. Being ashamed is usually caused by something we did or failed to do that led to the disapproval of someone else we respect. Or, in some cases, we were doing something we should not be doing. Likewise, there must have been an expectation of what we were expected to do or not do, and we failed to do the right thing.

Our Key Bible passage speaks to our attitude when it comes to God’s directives in our life. When we respect what God has to say to us, it causes us not to be ashamed. The word ashamed is not used as much today as it was used many years ago. In fact, some would say that there has been a loss of shame in our culture when it comes to some of the outrageous behaviors that are tolerated today.

For example, there was a time when we did not use foul language and cursing around others, much less children. But, you can now walk down the halls of elementary schools and hear eight-year-old children using the most extreme of filthy language. This is because they were never taught to have respect for others in the way that they speak. When their parents do not demonstrate respect for others in the way they speak, the children learn to disrespect others from what their parents have modeled.

Biblically, being ashamed takes on a deeper meaning. As we go through tough times we might lose our confidence to trust God to encourage and empower us to have victory. However, He also tells us that through the tough times He will provide opportunities to learn patience, gain experience, which will create hope in us (Romans 5:3-5 KJV). Therefore, when we are ashamed, or lacking confidence, we must bring our concerns to the Lord in prayer, with a willingness to learn, and with thanksgiving. He will then give us hope, which makes us not ashamed, or fearful, providing us with the confidence to boldly move forward.

If we have done wrong, we need to confess our sin and God will cleanse us of all unrighteousness. When we lack confidence in knowing what to do, we must submit our requests to God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving. In doing so, He will guard our hearts and minds and reestablish our uprightness and confidence.

Finally, the result of this is that we will no longer be ashamed. But instead, we will confidently and openly praise Him out of the wellspring of our heart, which He has reestablished to be a light in a dark world. Let us therefore consider how we respect God’s commandments and our standing before Him. Let us actively seek His intervention in our heart. We can then be confident that He will set our hearts upright again and we can praise Him before the world in all that we say and do.