Matthew 26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment the cock crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. 

This has to be a low point for Peter. Earlier in this chapter Peter and the other disciples swear allegiance to Jesus, promising to never deny him. But when Jesus is apprehended fear gets the better of Peter. He not only denies Jesus, he does so vigorously. I can only imagine the pain, the shame, the disappointment he must have experienced in that moment. Lord as you did with Peter, lift us up from the pain and shame of our shortcomings, which are many. Amen.