“Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD.”

This is the shame that we want. It's godly sorrow leading to salvation. 2 Corinthians 7:10 - "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation,"It's guilt over what we've done.

If you preach to people and read their faces, then you can often tell when they have no interest. The Subject is good, and the preacher feels it, but their minds wonder. They pay no attention. Why? They have no shame. They sin against God and do not care. They're cruel to their neighbor and unconcerned.

This is a horrible condition, but it's the condition of the wicked. It's the condition of a calloused conscience. Ephesians 4:18 - "They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart." They fear not God.

First, woe to us if we have no shame! Jeremiah 6:15 - "Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown," says the LORD." We are far from God, on the edge of danger, and we know it not. We are very near to hell, and could fall in at any moment. God could stop our breath, or Christ could return. Then, we're before the Judgment unmasked. All hope is gone. Forever, our doom is set, and there's no getting out. This is the end of those who don't fear God. They must pay for their sins. They never sought a Mediator, and they don't have one. They must answer divine justice, and wrath is filled with punishment. God despises their face! Psalm 73:20 - "Like one waking from a dream, Lord, when arising, you will despise their image." They've rejected his Son. Woe unto them! They shall weep forever.

We must escape this condition by the Holy Spirit and the word. We must see that God is serious, and he's real. We must measure our lives against eternity, and choose wisely. Will we squander our souls for a little pleasure? Will we reject the wisdom of God - the justice he's satisfied in putting away sin? Will we deny the power of his word, and the truth of it?

Oh, God help us the FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME! Taking heed to the warning is wise.

We are not “enlightened” because we fear not. We are not advanced in thinking. We are like animals made for the slaughter, oxen walking to the butcher. Psalm 49:20 - "Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beasts that perish." We are deceived by Satan.

Give up your pretense. You are not wise. Count the cost! Count the cost!

Secondly, there's healing for the shamed. “Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD.” If we feel this guilty conscience, then God is for us! What a wonderful Being to pardon sinners! What a gracious God to show mercy.

The fallen angels feel no shame, but they have no Mediator and no hope. We, on the other hand, have Jesus Christ, and he will receive us. He welcomes hardened sinners who've been awakened. He teaches us to fear, and then relieves it. He's the God of mercy, hope, and satisfied justice. He welcomes sinners with kisses, and restores us to his favor. He gives us grace to honor him, puts his law in us, and causes us to keep his commands. Hebrews 8:10 - "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." He makes us love people.

Come to him as a poor sinner, enlightened to your need. Come without excuses, but come by faith. Trust the blood of his Son as sufficient - that he's done enough to put away your sin, and no matter how unworthy you are, his worthiness covers it. Trust the power of his Spirit to enable you to obey. Sin can be conquered by grace, and it will be. He's helped every sinner who trusts him. He's turned everyone of us to a saint. He healed the leper, and he will heal you. Luke 5:13 - "And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him." No power of sin can match his power to save. He casts out Satan and makes oppression cease. He gives peace for great bitterness. He quickens the dead. Isaiah 38:17 - "Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back."

Thirdly, conquered shame leads us to love others. In Psalm 83, David prays for his enemies. Under the Old Covenant it was also right to pray that they'd die. Exodus 22:18 - ""You shall not permit a sorceress to live." Under the New Covenant, however, we pray for those who afflict us. We pray for saints, and we pray for the wicked - that they'd wake up.

Praying for shame and conviction of conscience is not cruel, because it leads to salvation. 2 Corinthians 7:8-9, "For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it--though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us." Paul regretted hurting the Corinthians, but he did not regret it too long or too much. He had to hurt them to heal them.

Pray for people to feel their shame. Ask God to convict them, so that they can live. This isn't a prayer of hatred! It's a prayer of love. Keep the end in mind. Ask God to enable you to pray for those who do you wrong, sincerely wanting their healing through the necessary means.

Finally, when this shame comes, be patient. It may take a long time. Many saints have passed through the flood of guilt and despair. Many have gone years in the wilderness and been sent to Babylon. Many have suffered under the consequences of turning their back on God. The way home may be unclear. It may take time to truly trust Christ, though your lips pray the words.