“I Shall Not Be Ashamed”

Brant Gardner

Apart from the prophetic description of events in Christ's life, verse 6 sets up a suffering servant - one who must withstand abuse for the calling he has been given. Where verse 6 describes the stripes of the world (and notes an associated shame that would be attached to such events) verse 7 gives the servant's reason for enduring. The Lord God is with him. The Lord's guidance will assure that the servant will speak with the learned and not be confounded (Jesus as a boy in the temple?) and because of the Lord, he will not feel shame.

The matching of "shame" in the two verses is significant. In verse 6 the servant undergoes treatment which ought to shame him. Nevertheless, he not only withstands, but "I shall not be ashamed." There is a message for all listeners here. While following the Lord may not always be the way of the world (is seldom the way of the world?) nevertheless we may be confident and unashamed if we know that we are following God. We need not take our personal satisfaction from the accolades of men if we are attuned to God.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

References