“Remove” is an interesting word for us to think about.  The root meaning of the word is to roll some object on, upon or against.  The figure is mostly used of committing or “rolling oneself” upon the Lord.  The idea is that of rolling a burden on God so as to be relieved of that burden.  Hence we see the translation of “remove” in this verse.

It is noteworthy that David recognizes that there is a burden to be removed, as well as recognizing that he has no ability to remove that burden on his own.  The verb is in the imperative and speaks of the great desire of the heart of the writer.  It is David’s fervent wish that he be relieved of this burden and that he be clean before God.

“Reproach” has specific reference to casting blame or scorn on someone.  It can refer to the active blaming of one, or it can refer to the absence of regard, as in scorning one’s life.  In other contexts it can even refer to taunts and insults tossed at someone.  “Contempt” is a verbal synonym and speaks of despite or being held as insignificant.

One must ask from what perspective these are seen as undesirable – or more properly, who is it that they wish to be sure that they are not receiving reproach and contempt from.  It could be men, but that seems out of character for the Psalmist who characteristically gives little regard to the esteem of men.  It might be himself or his close family or associates, but again that seems out of character and ill suits the author.  That really only leaves God, who is the most obvious target.

David was concerned that God not despise him or that he be the target of God’s contempt.  We cannot here be talking about the loss of David’s position as a child of God as such as dramatic thing would contradict the plain teaching of the rest of the Bible and of David’s own theology.  We know he understood that his position in God was secure and rested on the grace and sovereign choice of God and that alone. 

And so we must pause and think for a moment of what David was speaking.  First, we ought to observe that there is the clear statement here that such contempt is very possible.  It is possible for God to have contempt for and to reproach His children!  Surely this cannot be so in the sense of ultimate judgment, but it can be so in the sense of a temporal or relational mechanism.

We can displease God and cause Him to reproach us or, perhaps better said, can bring reproach upon ourselves.  This is surely a serious matter.  David on a number of occasions expresses his very real concern for this very thing.  He was secure in his eternal relationship with God, but he also saw that there was an experiential aspect to that relationship and that in the temporal experience with God, a positive outcome was not always guaranteed.  Thus it was his intent to always conduct himself in such a fashion as to be sure that he brought no contempt upon himself by disobeying God.

He underscores this idea by proclaiming that he has “kept” God’s testimonies.  “Testimonies” is a word that refers to that which is returned or repeated in the root.  It literally means “to do again”.  Most frequently it has a temporal reference as an ongoing witness or testimony.  As such it pictures the Word as the ongoing continual statement of the character and will of God.  It records the desire and the particulars of God regarding our behavior.

David tells us that he has “kept” those testimonies.  We observed that his word is very rich in significance in an earlier study.  It speaks of fulfilling or meeting the requirement of in this context.  We might translate it “observe”.  David knew the Word and he viewed it as binding, requiring his obedience.  Obeying it was keeping or observing the charge of One with a superior authority.  He saw his obedience as the observing of that which connected him with the very character and will of God.