Without Hypocrisy: Psalm 119:80

Psalm 119:80: Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes, That I may not be ashamed.

As I write this, I am not even sure if I will want to post it, because it is difficult to discuss hypocrisy without falling into it yourself. It's like trying to write about pride: “This is how I’ve learned not to be proud (and I’m so proud of myself for having learned!)”. You see the difficulty? All humans are hypocrites at one time or another, and I am no exception! To suggest that I am always able to prevent hypocrisy in my own life would itself be the height of hypocrisy. It is, however, an important issue to discuss, for it is sad and dangerous to have an insincere relationship with God. 

The result of hypocrisy is shame: when we catch ourselves out in some small hypocrisy, we are ashamed within ourselves, and before God, and if we continue down that road, making a habit of falseness, we will certainly be found out by others as well. This painful shame, however, is not the worst of hypocrisy—for it may drive us back into the right path. Far worse is the heart that no longer recognizes its own hypocrisy, but is content with a surface-level piety, deceiving itself as well as others.

The psalmist here is in the middle of writing about his love for God’s word, yet he is aware that his heart is still at risk from hypocrisy, since he asks the Lord to prevent it. Paul tells us in Galatians that the Apostle Peter, and even Barnabas, fell into hypocrisy when they stopped eating with the Gentiles, lest the Jews from Jerusalem should look down on them. We see, then, that just being aware of the dangers of hypocrisy is not enough to prevent it. We need the weapons to fight this constant battle in our hearts.

“Christian, if you mourn for hypocrisy, yet find this sin so potent that you cannot get the mastery of it, go to Christ. Beg of Him that He would exercise His kingly office in you soul, that he would subdue this sin, and put it under the yoke. Desire Him to lance your heart and cut out the rotten flesh, and that he would apply the medicine of his blood to heal you of your hypocrisy.” —Thomas Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture

The only way to be free of hypocrisy is to pray for a sound heart. We cannot conquer this sin on our own, and it is fruitless to try to do so, by second-guessing and focusing on the negative side all the time—Were my motives pure? Was I serving to be seen by others, rather than for love of Christ? Measuring ourselves by ourselves is not wise: our hearts are deceitful, and only God can know them fully, therefore only God can make them blameless. Our focus should be on God, and on His power to change us: “Lord, give me a sound heart. Lord, let me not be ashamed before You; help me do all things for Your glory. Give me Your strength to serve, for without You I can do nothing.”

Hypocrisy cannot survive in a selfless atmosphere, and whenever we find ourselves slipping into insincerity, we must turn from ourselves to God. With our eyes on Him we will never suffer shame.