As I stated in the opening article in this short series, I wanted to name four things which the children of God should be thankful to their Father in heaven for, things that many of them fail to to thank him for. After all, why would any child thank his parents for spanking them? Or correcting them? Why would Christians thank the Father for being pruned or chastised? Why thank him for humbling or debasing them? Or for bringing them into sore trials and afflictions? Having considered pruning and chastening I now move to consider God's humbling of his children when they become haughty and proud and why that is a good thing.
"And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you." (Deut. 8: 2-5 nkjv)
"11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ 18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth..." (11: 11-18 nkjv)
I was doing some Internet research on Bible verses which speak of God humbling a person(s) or how humility is a gift of God and I was taken aback by the search engines only referring me to people who are said to have humbled themselves, or texts about God and his prophets and apostles admonishing people to humble themselves, but not to how God is the one who makes humble, or who gives humility. There was also very little reference to humility as it relates to being what accompanies or precedes salvation, how God first humbles a sinner by producing conviction of sin and an awareness of guilt, wherein they experience what it means to be humbled or brought down.
Very few spoke of the subject of humility from the perspective of God humbling, wherein he is the doer of the action and the ones humbled are passive in being humbled. Both are true, people humble themselves, and God humbles them. But people are generally only a second or instrumental cause in producing a humble spirit, for God is the one who brought about the humbling of themselves and so it is a gift and work of God and a step in the process of being converted to Christ and a means of their preservation after they are saved. I have many times in my life prayed for God to keep me humble and from the sin of pride. So should all the Lord's people. Why? Because "pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov. 16: 18 kjv) And, because God "hates a proud look" and a proud walk. (Prov. 6:17)
Pride characterizes depraved sinners. (Psa. 119: 21) They are many times identified simply as "the proud," while born again believers are called "the humble." They are called "children of pride" in Job 41:34. The destiny of the proud is announced in these words of the prophet:
“For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch." (Mal. 4: 1 nkjv)
All proud sinners will be brought down, humbled and abased in the day of judgment. It would have been better had they willingly humbled themselves or been humbled by God in deep conviction of sin and repentance, for that would have saved them. "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God," said the Psalmist (Psa. 10:4 nkjv), so he must be first humbled before he will seek the Lord. The great king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, when he was brought down by the Lord for his pride, hubris, or hamartia, having been sufficiently humbled, confessed this of LORD God -- "those who walk in pride he is able to humble" (Dan. 4:37 kjv).
Hannah, the mother of Samuel the prophet, prayed saying: "The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up." (I Sam. 2: 7 nkjv) Salvation is making rich, lifting up. But, the means unto salvation, what precedes it, is making poor and bringing down. God has several ways in his providence to humble a man. So the two texts above from Deuteronomy tell us. God used the hardships of the desert wilderness to humble the people and to remove pride from their hearts. God knows how to take the swelling out of a person's head, to deflate the inflated ego.
In the Bible we see that verses on humility nearly always say that people humble themselves and/or are exhorted to do so. It is no wonder therefore that Internet search engines about God humbling sinners nearly always reference verses that speak of people humbling themselves. However, the verses at the top of this article from Deuteronomy show how God does the humbling.
Those verses mention chastising, sending trials or times of testing, along with humbling. Also, though the word "pruning" is not used, we see how chastising, trying, and humbling were designed to prune, to perfect, to refine, as gold and silver is refined, "to do you good in the end." So, believers in the Lord should be thankful for God doing these things. Pride is a hindrance to salvation and communion with God. Notice these texts:
"Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud." (Prov. 16: 19 kjv)
"A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit." (Prov. 29: 23 kjv)
"For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isa. 57: 15 nkjv)
"Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews." (Acts 20: 19 kjv)
"Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar." (Psa. 138: 6 nkjv)
"But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." (James 4: 6 nkjv)
"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (I Peter 5: 5 nkjv) (Both reference Proverbs 3: 34)
When the Lord's children become proud, they are walking after the flesh. God their Father will correct for this. He works to ensure that they maintain a "contrite and humble spirit" and "humility of mind." He will use trials and afflictions, chastenings, rebukes, mental anguish, withdrawals of his favors, and other means, to rid his children of pride and boasting and to keep them humble. In the LORD's dealing with his covenant people when they became proud he is said to have "brought down their heart with labor." (Psa, 107:11–12 nkjv) We must confess that the humble and contrite spirit and humility of mind are gifts of God, things we must thank him for. We cannot boast in our humility as if it were our own doing. Wrote the apostle Paul:
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." (Phil. 2:3 kjv)
"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness..." (Eph. 4:1 kjv)
We need to pray for this state of spirit and mind and work hard to keep ourselves from pride. As the above text in Isaiah says, it is with the humble that God desires to indwell, and there is no greater good than having God's presence in you and with you. Likewise, enjoyment of God is the greatest of all joys.
Boasters
"Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord." (Jer. 9: 23-24 nkjv)
"But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." (James 4: 16 nkjv)
"But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” (I Cor. 1: 30-31 nkjv)
Proud people boast or brag on themselves. They love to talk about themselves. Egotism is recognizable in excessive talk about oneself and in the overuse of the pronoun "I." A humble Christian rather boasts or glories in the Lord. They say as did John the Baptist -- "he must increase but I must decrease." (John 3:30) A Christian is one who realizes that all the good he has is from the Lord. (James 1:17; John 3:37) He realizes that if he is different from others in a positive way, that it is God who makes him to differ from another because what good is in him is of the Lord. (I Cor. 4:7) A true born again Christian confesses the following: "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal. 6: 14 nkjv)
The Case of Paul
"5 Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. 6 For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (II Cor. 12: 5-10 nkjv)
In order to keep Paul from pride or boasting, from being "exalted above measure" in his own estimation of himself, and in order to keep him humble and contrite, the Lord gave Paul "infirmities," a "thorn in the flesh," what he also denominates as "a messenger of Satan" to "buffet" him. The word "buffet" (Greek kolaphizō) is used in the new testament to describe Christ being "buffeted" (Matt. 26:67; Mark 14:65). Paul uses it two times, once in the above text and once in his first letter to the Corinthians when he said "Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace" (4:11). Peter also used it when speaking of people who are "buffeted for" their "faults" (sins). (I Peter 2:20) The word means to strike with the fist violently.
I think, along with others, that the thorn in the flesh was a terribly embarrassing eye disease. I will not give the reasons why I take that view in this article but I believe it seems to be supported by other things said in other texts, such as when Paul says "See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!" (Gal. 6:11) Some think this denotes the length of his letters while others think he means how large are the characters of the words he wrote, which if true would seem to imply he did this due to his impaired vision.
So, in conclusion, my Christian brothers and sisters, be thankful not only for God pruning and chastening you but also for his humbling you when you get cocky and proud.
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