I cling to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!
Psalm 119.31
What is this 'put to
shame'? It's actually something that shows up a good bit in the Psalms. Here
are a couple of examples.
To
you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
Psalm 22:5
O
my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult
over me. Psalm 25:2
I think that you can
see that not being put to shame has to
do with counting on God, trusting him to act and then Him coming through. So,
if God were not to come through that would be a problem. Others who were
watching him would mock his distress. He would be ashamed.
Those mocking Jesus
while He was hanging on the cross were shaming Him. God wasn't coming through
for Him on that Friday as He had claimed. Though, of course, the Father did act
decisively on the next Sunday.
So, the psalmist is
asking God to come through for him, to act according to his need, so that he
would not be put shame.
He even offers a
basis for this request, a reason why God should act. He clings to God's
testimonies, His Law. The basis of his appeal is his faithful obedience. That
must mean that there are times when it's okay to tell God how well you are
doing.