“Then shall I not be ashamed,
when I have respect unto all your commandments.”
Psalm 119:6
“Whoever keeps the whole law,
and yet stumbles in one thing, he is guilty of all.”
James 2:10
In the Bible, the word “ashamed” often means “disappointed”, as in Jeremiah 14:3–4, when God sent a famine on the land: “Their nobles sent their little ones to the waters. They came to the pits, and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed. . . . The ground is chapped, for there was no rain in the earth. The plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.”
Those who believe in God’s Son have hope of being blessed at the end of this life; they have a sweet “harvest” to look forward to. However, if while they live they disobey any of God’s commandments, they will be “ashamed” on the Day of Judgment.
The psalmist said that he would not be ashamed if he obeyed all of God’s commandments, not most of them. And James insisted that whoever broke one of God’s commandments was guilty of breaking them all. Then, let us wait on Jesus to lead us; listening to him and following his holy Spirit, we will never sin. That is the truth behind the wonderful promise of the Son of God through Isaiah: “They shall never be ashamed who wait for me.”
