Psalm 119:31
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
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In Psalm 119, we find a glorious text regarding God’s word and God’s faithfulness. This massive poem is an acrostic, intending to give us the A to Z of praise for God’s perfect law. And today, in verse 31, I find myself highly encouraged.
David declares that he clings to God’s testimonies, his word, and then asks not to be put to shame. Clearly, the Lord wants to tell us something. He wants us to know that what David prayed is a legitimate thing to pray. If we cling to God’s testimonies, his perfect revelation of himself in his holy word, we ought to be able to cry out to God to protect us from being put to shame.
One of the things that I think any faithful pastor faces is the temptation to attempt to accomplish the work of ministry in some way other than that revealed by God. There are so many gimmicks, so many books, so many pre-packaged programs out there. There are so many church members, fellow pastors, and critics who would call on the pastor to find a new way to accomplish his job. But how few are those who simply come up to the pastor, grasp his hand, and call him to continue clinging to the testimonies of the Lord.
The temptation to cut corners of biblical faithfulness is not merely a pastoral issue. Many church members face the same thing. How often must our church members face people at home or in the workplace who call them to let go of biblical faithfulness, just on one little issue, in order to accomplish something everybody wants. How often our own flesh cries out to us, directing us to an “easier” path than the one laid out by the scriptures. How often we face the urge to be pragmatic, to consider visible results as the most important thing regardless of the methods used to obtain those results.
But let us stand firm here and now. Let us never give into the temptation to cut biblical corners. Let us cling to God’s word. Let us obey his word with his methods. Let us deny the temptations of pragmatism. Let us turn our eyes away from worldly methods. And let us, like David, cling to God’s testimonies and trust that our Lord will not let us be put to shame.
Pastor Travis Peterson 