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It is actually difficult to write
about humility, like the man who wrote the book entitled: “Humility and How
I Attained It”. It seems contradictory, doesn’t it? As John Piper says,
“Humility can only survive in the presence of God. When God goes, humility
goes. In fact, you might say that humility follows God like a shadow.”
At least three times these words
appear in the Bible:
"GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE
PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."
Peter tells us, “Humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.” In Proverbs
we read, “An arrogant man stirs up strife, but he
who trusts in the Lord will prosper.” That is why Stephen
Charnock said, “A proud faith is as much a contradiction as a humble
devil.”
Every turning from God, for
anything, presumes a kind of autonomy or independence that is the essence of
pride. Turning from God assumes that one knows better than God. Thus pride
lies at the root of every turning from God.
Jeremiah 9:23 says, “Thus
saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches.”
These things tempt us to take satisfaction in ourselves, our intelligence,
our strength, our material resources. Humility brings us to confess that
the source of all our joy resides outside ourselves. Pride is always
obsessed with self.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
1:26, “For
ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called: [27] But God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; [28] And
base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: [29]
That no flesh should glory in his presence. [30] But of him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: [31] That, according as it is written, He
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
We are prone to boast in our might.
When God graciously blesses us, we leap to take credit for the gift. Is
there more satisfaction in being recognized for our resourcefulness than in
benefiting from God’s? Look at the warning in Deuteronomy 8:11-17 “Beware
…lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and
dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver
and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine
heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee
forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee
through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and
scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth
water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna,
which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might
prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart,
My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.”
We should know that all the products of our living are the products of His
grace.
Remember the king of Assyria? God
made him a rod of righteous wrath against the people of Israel (Isaiah
10:5). Yet the king did not delight in God’s enabling power and guidance,
but took credit for himself and said, “By the
power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, for I have understanding; and
I removed the boundaries of the peoples, and plundered their treasures, and
like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants” (v.13). But
God will not share his glory with the proud. He said, “I
will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the
pomp of his haughtiness.” (v.12).
Also, the king of Babylon,
Nebuchadnezzar, was brought low for his proud boast: “Is
this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence
by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” For
that pride, God humbled him and made him eat grass like an ox in the open
field, until he learned to exult in God’s sovereign power far above his own.
(Dan.4:33 - 37)
Money makes some proud. Hosea
13:6 “As they had their pasture, they became
satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore, they
forgot Me.” Pride is an issue of where your satisfaction is.
Paul would ask these people, as he did the Corinthians, “What
do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you
boast as if you had not received it?”
We exercise pride in our plans.
James warns us, “Go to now, ye that say, To day
or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy
and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little
time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will,
we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings:
all such rejoicing is evil.” James 4:13-16
Self-pity is pride. It doesn’t look
like it, but it is. It appears to be needy. But the need arises from a
wounded ego and the desire of the self-pitying is not really for others to
see them as helpless, but heroes. The need self-pity feels does not come
from a sense of unworthiness, but from a sense of unrecognized worthiness.
It is the response of unapplauded pride.
When pride appears in this “weak”
mask, it begins to worry about the future. In the heart of the proud,
anxiety is to the future what self-pity is to the past. What did not go
well in the past gives us a sense that we deserve better. But if we could
not make things go our way in the past, we may not be able to in the future
either. Instead of making the proud humble, this possibility makes them
anxious.
Anxiety does not look like pride.
It looks weak. It looks as though you admit you don’t control the future.
Yes, in a sense the proud admit that. But the admission does not kill pride
until the proud heart is willing to look to the One Who does control the
future and rest in Him. These proud are hanging onto their right of
self-sufficiency even as it crumbles on the horizon of the future.
Look how God indicts anxious Israel:
Isaiah 51:12-13 “I, even I, am he that
comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that
shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And
forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and
laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day
because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy?”
God is showing them their pride beneath their fear. In other words, “Who do
you think you are to be afraid of mere men? You must really think you are
somebody to be afraid like this!” Your fear of man is a form of pride.
Why is anxiety about the future a
form of pride? God gives the answer: “I – the Lord, your Maker – I am He
Who comforts you, Who promises to take care of you; and those who threaten
you are mere men who die. So your fear must mean that you do not trust Me.
You must think that your protection hangs on you. And even though you are
not sure that your own resources will take care of you, yet you opt for
fragile self-reliance, rather than faith in my grace. So all your trembling
– weak as it is – reveals pride.” The remedy? Turn from self-reliance to
God-reliance, and put your faith in the all-sufficient power of His grace.
Peter’s statement shows that one way
to be humble is to “cast your anxieties on God.”
Notice that he says 1 Peter 5:6-7 – “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt
you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
“Casting all your care upon him” is not another sentence. That is
saying HOW YOU HUMBLE YOURSELF UNDER GOD’S MIGHTY HAND – that is, BY CASTING
ALL YOUR CARE UPON HIM. That is true humility.
Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride
won’t. Therefore the way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely
that you have anxieties, and to cherish the promise of His grace in the
words, “He cares for you.”
But
let him that boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I
am the Lord which exercises lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in
the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 9:24
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