To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.  No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame…(Psalm 25:1-3a).

Shame

Not embarrassment…not awkward self-consciousness, but full-blown shame.

Look, I’ve been embarrassed a time or two

or twelve.  

I’ve blown my lines in front of a large audience, I’ve driven my car over a curb amid a symphony of honks and jeers.  I’ve dropped the fly ball that should have been an easy out.

Hey, I once walked into a tether-ball pole in full view of the entire playground.  

I know embarrassment.

But shame, the way David is talking about it here–shame is different.  Shame strikes to the very core of your being. Shame isn’t about what you did.

It’s about who you are.

So…who are you?

If you are a child of God, you cannot be put to shame, because the very core of your being is Christ.

Because you are his Beloved.

So whether your enemy is some guy named Ted, or some disease named Cancer, or some life-wrecker named Self, you will not be put to shame, because your hope is in Him.

But, I gotta tell you, if you walk into a tetherball pole you’ll still feel like an idiot.

Happy Monday, Beloved.