Psalm 119:39  Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.

It is always the yearning of children to please their fathers and for them to see and feel their father’s smile. And the greater the compassion of the father, the greater the passion of his child is for him. And so it is here with David, God’s son, God’s child. His desire is to please his Heavenly Father, and the possibility of this being frustrated is dreadful to him. It is as if he would say, “I fear sin, and I fear the result of sin in my life. I am plagued with apprehension and anxiety because of it. But worst of all, I shudder to know the shame of your disappointment, Father.” 

But, the psalmist doesn’t stay in dread. He does not reside now in a pool of despondency, and self-pity. He makes a request to his Father, “cause this reproach to pass away from me.” Whatever this sin was or whatever a malicious gossip was saying about David, and the harm that it caused, David was well aware that his Heavenly Father can overlook it, throw it into the sea, and cover it. He does not doubt whether he can but instead says, “Father, you have done this for me before. Please do it again.” 

But on what grounds? On what grounds will the Lord willingly turn away from our reproach and forget it? Well, upon His righteous and merciful judgments of course. The Lord God judges with perfect righteousness, and so when we are maligned, he judges us according to truth, not spiteful pronouncements. And when we have been the cause of reproach, God has judged his Son, Jesus Christ, in our place. He became sin so that our reproach could be turned away (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

You are God’s child, and he has given you his rules as a constant embrace, and a promise that those things which disgrace you, will be either overlooked or covered.