“You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud. You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.”
Psalm 18:27-29 NLT
Humility is not a word revered by most people these days, but then, as now, the same dichotomy between humble and proud people features in the difference between the two kingdoms. In God’s sight, the humble are exalted, and the proud are humiliated. In the world’s sight, the humble are trodden on and the proud elevated. But what is being humble all about? One dictionary definition, with a secular viewpoint, says, “humility is a low self-regard and a sense of unworthiness”. Another expands with, “humility involves having an accurate opinion of oneself and expressing oneself modestly as situations demand”. But as is often the case, a real life example brings out the true meaning. If we look at Mary’s response to the angel Gabriel when he said, ““Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favour with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus” (Luke 1:30-31), it was not one of pride at being especially selected by God Himself. Instead she modestly and humbly said, “ … “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her” (Luke 1:38).
David wrote that God rescues the humble, but why would they need rescuing in the first place? Perhaps a comparison between David and his adversary Saul brings out a man who depended on God for his position and situation in life, and one who relied on his own strength, ignoring God. One became King, the other was killed in battle. David was rescued many times from his enemies because he displayed the quality of humility favoured by God.
Regarding Psalm 18:27, the Amplified version of the Bible reads, “For You save an afflicted and humble people, But bring down those [arrogant fools] with haughty eyes“. We pilgrims have all met “arrogant fools” haven’t we? In fact, we might at one time have even been one ourselves. A dictionary definition of pride is “a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements”. Straight away we can see the difference with humility with the word “own”. A humble person depends on God and looks to Him as the Source of all they are. A proud person looks only to himself. The root of pride is of course sin, and we need to be careful in striking the right balance between God’s ways and our ways. So even though we might achieve great things, we point to God and His provenance as the real reason for our success. But sadly, we have a tendency to adopt a feeling of pride in our achievements, excluding God in what we do.
David wrote that the proud will be humiliated, and we see an extreme example in Acts 12. Herod Agrippa, the last king of Judea, granted an audience to the people of Tyre and Sidon, and we read what happened after Herod gave a speech, “The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”” (Acts 12:22). But his pride took over and we read in the next verse, “Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died“. Was Herod humiliated? Sadly, very much so.
Peter wrote, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honour” (1 Peter 5:6). James said much the same thing, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honour” (James 4:10). Jesus warned, “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12), and of course we mustn’t forget, “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth” (Matthew 5:5).
God upended the world’s view of people when He expressed a preference for those who meet His criteria of humility. It’s a choice that we make, when faced with situations where pride is in danger of rearing its ugly head over the parapet of our lives. At a time when the world’s opinion of us is one of praise, we instead point to our Father God, and give Him all the glory. We quietly get on with our lives, batting aside all attempts by ourselves and others to take the glory for ourselves. When we feel that warmth of pride starting to emerge within us, we snuff it out before it blossoms into sin. If we don’t then God will deal with us in a much less comfortable way.
Dear Lord God. You have granted us ways that allow us to serve You, with talents and abilities much admired by others. Please help us to keep the lid on any thoughts of pride in our achievements and instead give You all the glory for all You have done in our lives. We praise You today. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 