“Let my heart be perfect in Your statutes, that I be not ashamed” [Psalm 119.80 NASB]
Regardless of external occurrences, which we so often allow to affect our faith and commitment, David constantly desired that his heart was settled and at peace with the Lord.
Some of us may be experiencing an all-out war externally, and the flutters of fear may be increasing in our inner man with every passing day. If so, then it is at this time that we need to pray the words of this verse.
Why did David use the word "ashamed?" We often find that our individual conflict is being repeated on a wider scale in the lives of other believers. God wants to use us as we are - to manifest stability and certainty so that those who are not as strong in the faith will look at us and be encouraged.
Why is this being allowed to occur? You will probably not know this side of time, who they are, but rest assured; there are believers who are depending upon your consistent spiritual walk.
Being aware of this, what do we need to do? Ask God to make you, in your inner man, unmoveable and then you will find that "each ruler will be like a shelter from the wind, like a safe place in a storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like a cool shadow from a large rock in a hot land." [Isaiah 32.1-2 NCV]
What a calling and a pastoral responsibility God has entrusted into our hands. [David McArdle]
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