November 21

Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools. — Ps 39:8 BSB

Who are the “foolish”? The best answer comes from Jesus himself in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. The foolish had oil in their lamps, but none in their vessels. So, in this text, we can understand “the foolish” as those who have knowledge in their heads and the appearance of faith in their actions but lack the grace of God in their hearts. They are foolish because they neither know God nor themselves. They don’t understand sin or salvation, the depth of the fall or the greatness of God’s remedy. They are foolish in thinking that knowledge alone can save them without the life and grace of God. They are also foolish in their lack of understanding of the heart. They don’t know the struggles of a true child of God—the temptations they face, how Satan attacks, or how the heart continually urges them toward sin. The foolish are Pharisees, who clean the outside of the cup but leave the inside full of death and impurity.

David knew, as every child of God knows, that if he were to slip, the foolish would be the first to reproach him. The foolish show no mercy for a slip of the tongue or a stumble of the foot because they don’t understand the weakness of the flesh, the cunning of Satan, the power of sin, or the strength of temptation. If he were to fall, the foolish would eagerly point their fingers in scorn.

In praying this petition, we can imagine David saying, “Lord, whatever temptations I face, whatever snares of Satan or lusts of the flesh threaten me, keep me safe from being a reproach to the foolish. Don’t let them have any reason to make me a byword and use me to mock your name, your cause, or your truth.”