Psalm 25:1-3 - Waiting, unashamed

David wrote:
"1 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in You I trust,
Do not let me be ashamed;
Do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed."
(Psalm 25:1–3, New American Standard Bible, 1995)

David is a bit torn here. On one hand he sounds very confident that,
"None of those who wait for You will be ashamed."

At the same time, he is under attack. So while he affirms his trust in God, he also begs,
"Don't let me be ashamed." (v.2)
New Living Translation puts it: "Don't let me be disgraced."

Why does he worry about feeling ashamed? God wouldn't shame David for trusting Him.
The sense of being ashamed comes from non-believers who mock the very idea of trusting God.
They are the ones that try to "exult" over David and his God (v.2).

But why ask God, "Don't let me be ashamed," if you're sure that God wouldn't let that happen?
It's because waiting on God implies a time gap between our "waiting" and God's "doing."

That's why David started out "lifting up his soul" to God (v.1)
It's the dynamic of "I believe, help my unbelief."
"I believe you'll come to my help, but help me to trust you while I wait for that help."

Lord, we don't even know everything we'll encounter today.
It's easy to trust you when things go smoothly. But when things are rough, and people think we're stupid to trust you, keep our faith from drifting. While we wait for you to intervene, anchor us in knowing that You are still for us... so who can be against us? In Jesus' name, Amen.