February 3rd, 2013
2 Chronicles 26
“Prideful Breach”
Bible Memory Verse for the Week: But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” — James 4:6 (also found in Prv 3:34; 1 Pt 5:5-6)
Background Information:
- In Chronicles Amaziah’s father, Amaziah himself, and Amaziah’s son are all three tarred with the same brush as first faithful to God and then faithless. The royal trilogy is meant as a powerful sermon to believers to “hold the beginning of” their “confidence steadfast to the end” (Heb 3:14). (Leslie Allen, Mastering the OT, 1, 2 Chr, 345)
- Uzziah rules the kingdom of Judah for 55 years, from approximately 792 to 740 BC (ruling as coregent with his father from 792-767). (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 549)
- Uzziah enjoyed one of the longest reigns of Judah’s kings, 52 years (26:3; compare Manasseh in 33:1). (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 392)
- This king, in fact, is known to us by two names: Uzziah (“the LORD is my strength”) and–the one preferred by the writer of 2 Kings–Azariah (“the LORD is my help”). The Chronicler plays upon both of these names, using words like help and strength no less than seven times (vv 7, 8, 9, 13, 15 [twice], 16). As a man is named, so is he. So long as Uzziah/Azariah remembered his name–remembered his true identity in the Lord–he prospered. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 305)
- (v. 1) The opening words all the people of Judah took Uzziah (26:1) is an unusual way to describe the rise of a king. It may indicate that popular demand brought Uzziah to power while his father was in captivity in Samaria (see 25:23-24). For other situations where similar transitions of power took place see 22:1; 23:20-21; 33:25; 36:1. Whatever the case, Uzziah shared power with Amaziah from 792/1 to 767 BC. He then reigned as sole regent until his son Jothan ruled alongside him for the last ten years of his life (750-740/39). (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 392)
- (v. 2) One would have expected an historian to refer to the most memorable event in Uzziah’s reign–an earthquake, notable enough to be recorded by a writer in a different country and by another in a different age, 200 years later. But even that is considered by the Chronicler to be less worthy of mention than the restoration to Judah of the town of Eloth. (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Chr, 223)
- (v. 2) Elath was an important port city in Edomite territory which Solomon had taken for his kingdom (see 8:17-18; 1 Kgs 9:26-28) and Jehoram had lost (see 21:8-10). Amaziah subdued the Edomites (see 25:11-12), but Uzziah rebuilt the port. The opening of this sea port was a very positive dimension of Uzziah’s reign. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 392)
- (v. 2) Elat(h) was the strategic port at the head of the gulf and was critical to control of the seaborne commerce with Arabia, Africa, and India. It had been subdued by Solomon (8:17-18; 1 Kgs 9:26-28). Edom had revolted during the reign of Jehoram (21:8-10). Though Uzziah reasserted Judean control, it would be lost again during the reign of Ahaz (28:17; 2 Kgs 16:6). (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 207)
- (v. 4) “He did what was right,” even though 2 Kgs 15:4 cautions that the high places still remained (cf. The comments to 24:2; 25:2). Furthermore, below the surface prosperity that was enjoyed by both kingdoms at this time (v. 5 comment), the contemporaneous preaching of Hosea and Amos indicates the presence of serious moral and spiritual decay. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 521)
- (v. 5) We are told little about Uzziah’s friend Zechariah, “who instructed him in the fear of God” (26:5); there are nearly 30 Zechariahs in the Bible, and the verse before us seems to be the only mention of this particular one. But what we do know about him is that Uzziah’s spiritual welfare was closely linked with his influence. The relation between the two is very like that between Joash and Jehoiada in 24:2. The natural way to read 26:5 is to see Zechariah as being for the whole of his lifetime Uzziah’s mentor and the architect of his prosperous rule. We may presume that had the friendship not come to an end before the fateful temptation of 26:16 waylaid Uzziah, he would never have yielded to it. (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Chr, 226)
- (v. 6ff) It also seems likely that some of the building activity is related to the restoration of destruction caused by the well-known earthquake during Uzziah’s reign (cf. Amos 1:1; Zech 14:5). (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 550)
- (vs 9-15) summarize the domestic activities of Uzziah. In Chronicles building projects by the various kings are signs of divine blessing. Some of Uzziah’s construction was no doubt repair of damage done by Jehoash of Israel in his campaign against Amaziah (25:23-24), though some may reflect repairs following the famous earthquake during his reign (Amos 1:1; Zech 14:5).
An impressive array of archeological evidence has been interpreted as reflecting Uzziah’s building activity. Towers and cisterns from excavations in Qumran, Gibeah, Beersheba, and other sites have been assigned to this period; a seal bearing Uzziah’s name was found in a cistern at Tell beit Mirsim. The towers provided defensive positions, but may also have served as storehouses and as refuge for workers tending fields or livestock (2 Chr 27:25-31). (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 208-09)
- (v. 11) Mentioning large and skilled armies is one way in which the Chronicler often exalted faithful kings (see 1 Chr 12:24-40; 21:5; 27:1-15; 2 Chr 13:3; 17:12-19; 25:5-6; 26:13). (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 395)
- (vs. 14-15) The note that Uzziah provided the army with its weapons and armor reflects both Uzziah’s prosperity under divine blessing and a departure from ordinary practice in expecting conscripts to provide their own arms (Jdg 20:8-17; 1 Chr 12:2, 8, 24, 33; 1 Sm 13:19-22). (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 209)
- (v. 15) We should see here a reference to defensive constructions on the towers and the corners that enabled the soldiers to shoot arrows and great stones from a position of safety. The Assyrian reliefs of the siege of Lachish, which come from a period only shortly after Uzziah, portray just this kind of construction, which has hardly any other known parallels. (H.G.M. Williamson, The New Century Bible Commentary, 1 & 2 Chr, 337-38)
- (v. 17) It is no wonder then that the Chronicler described these men as courageous priests. They moved against the king at great risk. At this time, Uzziah was very powerful (see 26:8, 15, 16). In his powerful position, Uzziah could easily have had these priests executed for their actions. Yet, their zeal for Moses’ Law gave them courage to face the powerful king. This complementary portrayal of the priests encouraged the Chronicler’s readers to the same courage in resisting those who disregarded the Law of God, especially the regulations of the temple. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 397)
- (v. 18) The priests did not humbly appeal to the king or entreat him. They boldly resisted him by directly addressing him as “you, Uzziah” (26:18). (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 397)
- (v. 18) Even as the Davidic king is anointed to shepherd the Israelite nation, so the Aaronic priest is anointed to serve God and the people through the ministry of ritual sacrifice. This divinely ordained division of labor and service is also designed to separate political power from religious authority in Israelite society in order to prevent abuse of one office by the other. Azariah’s threat to Uzziah is cast generally as a censure of divine honor for the king (2 Chr 26:18).
The king does not have to wait long before the priestly threat becomes a divine curse. (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 552)
- (v. 18) The prediction that “it will bring you no honor from the Lord God” (v. 18) is an ironic understatement in view of what follows since honor, or eminence, is exactly what Uzziah coveted. (J. G. McConville, The Daily Study Bible Series, 1 & 2 Chr, 220)
- (v. 19) In the Bible, “leprosy” does not refer to what we today call leprosy, or Hanson’s disease. Hanson’s disease is an affliction of the nervous system that affects the ability to feel pressure or pain. As a result, the patient with Hansons’ disease often suffers terrible accidental disfigurement. Biblically, “leprosy” is a catchall term for a host of disfiguring skin diseases, involving some kind of discoloration of or discharge from the skin. In the priestly worldview, leprosy was ritually defiling. The priests were charged therefore with diagnosing leprosy (Lv 13:2; Dt 24:8). Any spot or discoloration that grew and spread, whether on a person, an animal, or even a garment, leather bag, or plastered wall, could be identified as leprous, and therefore unclean (see Lv 13-14). When a person was diagnosed with leprosy, he or she was barred from contact with others until the leprosy was gone (Lv 13:45-46). Only after an examination by the priests confirming that the leprosy was gone, and the performance of certain cleansing rituals, could the person be reintegrated into the community (Lv 14:1-32; see also Mk 1:44). (Steven S. Tuell, Interpretation: 1 & 2 Chr, 203-04)
- (v. 20) The priests “turned towards him” –the same word is used as in the exactly similar action by Aaron when Miriam was afflicted in this way (Nm 12:10); it probably denoted the formal designation that the condition is recognized and that the presence of the afflicted person cannot be tolerated in the holy place. He had therefore to be driven out, and is shown also as himself recognizing that he has no right to be there. (Peter R. Ackroyd, 1 & 2 Chr, Ezra, Neh, 170-71)
- (v. 21) We know from the gospels and from OT books like Leviticus that leprosy rendered a person unclean. Until declared clean again by God’s priest, a leper had to shun society. He was also unfit to worship together with God’s people (v 21). There in the holy place stood an unclean leper! God had struck Uzziah with a physical disease to match his spiritual condition. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 308-09)
The question to be answered is . . . What is there about pride that would encourage the Chronicler to condemn it so conspicuously throughout Chronicles; especially here in chapter 26?
Answer: Pride leads us to be unfaithful to the Lord, blinds us to who we really are and Who God really is and ultimately leads us to a terrible fall. Besides, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
It was “when he became powerful” that Uzziah’s pride led to his downfall. Pride was a cardinal sin in Chronicles; see 25:17-20. (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 210)
Pride in the Hebrew means literally “a bubbling up or a foaming over.” It is the attitude of self-exaltation at the expense of honoring God. …Pride regards self as fundamentally more significant than anybody else. (Stuart Briscoe, Choices for a Lifetime, 188)
“The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil . . . It is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity — it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.” (CS. Lewis; Mere Christianity, 109-11)
The Word for the Day is . . . Pride
What can we learn from 2 Chronicles 26 about the dangers of pride and arrogance?:
I. When Uzziah took pride in knowing and fearing the Lord, he was amazingly successful militarily, politically, economically, architecturally, strategically, diplomatically, and socially. (2 Chr 26:1-15)
A brief glance at the Chronicler’s presentation of the positive side of Uzziah’s reign leads us to conclude that the king must have been an early prototype of a Renaissance man. Concerning his earthly successes, we are told that he enjoyed military victories (vv 6, 7), engaged in building projects (vv 2, 9, 10), and farmed extensively (v 10). His interest in these matters was by no means superficial, either. Under his administration the army was well-organized and well-equipped (vv 11-14). He kept his defenses up-to-date by the acquisition of the latest military hardware (v 15). His construction projects ran the gamut from the founding of settlements (v 6) to the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s shattered fortifications (v 9). In his spare time, he built defensive towers in the desert and dug cisterns for his livestock (v 10). As far as his farming was concerned, he was so adept at it that he earned for himself a title. He was called “Lover of the soil” (v 10). (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 303-04)
Uzziah was a great king: during his reign Judah reclaimed in the South much of the territorial extent of the Solomonic empire; the kingdom prospered through conquest, the control of strategic trade routes, and the receipt of tribute. Yet isn’t it ironic that Uzziah is now largely remembered only because of his disease and the fact that it was the year of his death in which Isaiah received his call? In spite of the wealth, success, power, and conquests of Uzziah, Isaiah could see that the day was not far off when cities would lie deserted, uninhabited, ruined, and ravaged (Isa 6:11-12). (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 211-12)
The nation enjoys a time of prosperity, not because Uzziah is doing good works but because he places God before everything else in his life (26:2-5). God has begun to once again bless the southern kingdom of Judah with victory over their enemies. The Chronicler emphasizes this again and again: When the Israelites seek God, they become mighty (26:6-8). Under Uzziah’s leadership, the people begin to honor God and also return to cultivating the land. As a result, it truly blossoms once again (26:9-10). (Dr. Tremper Longman, Quicknotes, 1 Chr Thru Job, 93)
To seek God meant primarily to carry out the proper worship of God at the Temple. Behind the description of Uzziah’s prosperous reign is the assessment that “as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him” (26:5). (John Sailhamer, Everyman’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 103)
Everything shows that the kingdom reached a condition of prosperity such as it had not known since the days of Solomon. And the explanation of it all is the marvelous help of the Almighty. (Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator, 2 Chronicles, 117)
II. When Uzziah became arrogant about himself, his ungrateful refusal to give credit to God for his success created a prideful breach between himself and God so God labeled Uzziah “unfaithful.” (2 Chr 26:16)
The divine blessing which made the king strong is forgotten, and he becomes PROUD. Such false pride, as if success depended on merit, is firmly condemned in Dt 9:4ff. and other passages; the Chronicler applies this teaching to a particular instance. (Peter R. Ackroyd, 1 & 2 Chr, Ezra, Neh, 169-70)
Not content to go to the temple and to meet God there in the prescribed way, Uzziah wanted to set up his own way, his own worship. Doubtless he saw himself as one of the super-pious in this: “See how I–a king–go beyond any of my predecessors in my devotion to the Lord. I go before him and burn incense in his house.” But whatever justification Uzziah may have used for his action, the Chronicler labels this act correctly as being “unfaithful,” a deed contrary to the clear Word of God (v 16). (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 308)
Uzziah’s story here is the reverse of that of his great-great-great-grandfather Jehoshaphat. The earlier king was fundamentally a weak man who could not say no, and his weakness as blameworthy–until it came to the crunch. Then it was that in his real need he found that God came to his rescue; so his weakness was his salvation. Uzziah was a strong man, and his strength was praiseworthy–until it came to the crunch. Then his strength was his downfall. (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Chr, 229)
Uzziah comes to believe that his strength is his own. His pride leads to a cultic offence of the utmost gravity. (v 16a might better read “he grew proud, so that he acted corruptly”, showing that the offence is a result of his pride. Pride does not in itself, therefore, constitute the offence entirely.) Seeing himself supreme in the political sphere he now wishes to arrogate to himself supremacy in an area which is properly closed to him. The offence was hardly the entry of the Temple itself, since other kings did that (Solomon, Joash), but the burning of incense. Ex 30:7ff. show that this–like other sacrifices–was the province of the priests. Uzziah’s act was, therefore, a deliberate challenge to their authority, and tantamount to defiance of the holiness of God himself. There is thus a dimension to it that is more than mere disobedience. The fate of Korah’s rebels (Nm 16) is an indicator of the seriousness of trespass in this area. Kings were, apparently, particularly susceptible to this sort of temptation (e.g. Saul, 1 Sm 13:8ff.; Jeroboam I, 1 Kgs 13). Uzziah illustrates well the nature of such temptation–it is another facet of the urge to turn legitimate, delegated authority into a power that is absolute and self-glorifying. (J. G. McConville, The Daily Study Bible Series, 1 & 2 Chr, 219-20)
Uzziah’s success leads to his downfall because the pride that swells out of his many achievements is the cause of his failure. (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 551)
God blesses us, enables us to do what otherwise we could not possibly have done, makes us great in control over ourselves, and perhaps, also, in influence over others. We, in some crisis of temptation, listen to the whisper that it was our own hand that made us strong; self-complacency begets presumption; until at last conscience smites us; we know ourselves to be leprous in spirit in the sight of God, and the self-built fabric of prosperity crumbles in a moment. (Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator, 2 Chronicles, 117)
III. Uzziah’s prideful, unrepentant response to the priests’ rebuke of Uzziah’s sinful actions and his thinking more highly of himself than he was, created a prideful breach between himself and God, so God cursed Uzziah and made him less than he could have been. (2 Chr 26:16-23; see also Lev 10:1-4)
Like his predecessors Joash and Amaziah, Uzziah is shown as a king who resists rebuke, but the moment of resistance is the moment of judgment. The blow falls in a sudden outbreak of LEPROSY, not the disease known from its widespread occurrence in Africa and eastern lands, but a skin disease whose precise nature is uncertain; its sudden appearance and disappearance is noted also in the Mosaic traditions (e.g. Ex 4:6f.) and in the story of Naaman (2 Kgs 15). (Peter R. Ackroyd, 1 & 2 Chr, Ezra, Neh, 170)
Accordingly, when a remarkable day was come, and a general festival was to be celebrated, he put on the holy garment, and went into the temple to offer incense to God upon the golden altar, which he was prohibited to do by Azariah the high-priest, who had fourscore priests with him, and who told him that it was not lawful for him to offer sacrifice, and that “none besides the posterity of Aaron were permitted so to do.” And when they cried out, that he must go out of the temple, and not transgress against God, he was wroth at them, and threatened to kill them, unless they would hold their peace. In the meantime, a great earthquake shook the ground, and a rent was made in the temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king’s face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately; and before the city, at a place called Eroge, half the mountain broke off from the rest on the west, and rolled itself four furlongs, and stood still at the east mountain, till the roads, as well as the king’s gardens, were spoiled by the obstruction. (Baker Book House, The Works of Flavius Josephus, 38-39)
A co-regency was immediately set up with his son Jothan, while Uzziah himself vacated the palace to live out his days as a leper “in a separate house” (v 21). Literally that last phrase reads “in a house of freedom,” a euphemistic expression if ever there was one. The king was free all right–free from all the tasks of daily life that had once occupied his active mind, free from all normal human contact, free from joining with God’s people to bask in God’s gracious presence. What a horrible kind of freedom that was! And it is the inevitable future for all those who, by self-assertion, want to free themselves from God’s gracious rule. Left to themselves, they wind up in a self-imposed prison, a “splendid” isolation–if not in this life, then certainly in the one to come. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 309)
We have in fact come full circle back to Jehoshaphat. He could not say no to others; Uzziah could not say no to himself. He was a foot wanting to be a hand, an ear wanting to be an eye; and his sin was crowned by the fact that he resented Azariah’s criticism of it. It was “when he became angry with the priests” that “leprosy broke out on his forehead” (26:19). To use another of Paul’s illustrations, describing exactly such a situation, he was a man who for 40 years had demonstrated to others the ways of God for his people, and now found himself disqualified. (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Chr, 231)
Infectious skin diseases rendered an individual ceremonially unclean and required isolation “outside the camp” (Lv 13:46; Nm 5:1-4; 12:15; 2 Kgs 7:3). Uzziah would be unable to discharge all the duties of kingship, particularly toward the temple, and so began a coregency with his son Jotham. (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 211)
It is important to notice that God’s anger breaks out against Uzziah only after he has vented his anger against the priests (26:19). The king was warned to leave, but he ignored that warning. His disregard for the Lord’s priests and the Lord’s sanctuary implicitly signals a disregard for God himself. God will not stand idly by when his holiness has been violated by ritual impropriety (cf. Aaron’s sons, Lv 10:1-2; the men of Korah, Nm 16:35). (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 552)
Certainly in Chronicles, as we have seen, sacrifice is everywhere restricted to the priests of Aaron’s line. So, when Chronicles describes the consecration of David’s tent-shrine and of Solomon’s temple, proper cult personnel are clearly in evidence, to counter the suggestion that even these greatest of Israel’s kings took it upon themselves to act as priests (see 1 Chr 15:11-16:6; 2 Chr 7:1-7). In Chronicles, then, it follows that a king claiming priestly authority could expect to be punished. (Steven S. Tuell, Interpretation: 1 & 2 Chr, 203)
The priestly act Uzziah was attempting to perform, the offering of incense, is also ascribed to the heretical kings Jeroboam (1 Kgs 13:1) and Ahaz (2 Chr 28:3). Note, too that the attempt to burn incense before the Lord was the undoing of Korah and his Levitical followers in the priestly story of Korah’s rebellion (Nm 16:3-11, 35). Similarly, Uzziah’s punishment is reminiscent of that meted out to Miriam, when she aspired to Moses’ office (Nm 12:10-15). (Steven S. Tuell, Interpretation: 1 & 2 Chr, 204)
Uzziah’s devotion to God led to great political successes and prosperity. His pride led to the judgment of God. The lesson for post-exilic Israel could not have been more obvious. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 399)
ANALYSIS of PRIDE’S HARMFUL EFFECTS:
1- Pride makes one think he is who he is without any contribution by God whatsoever. This causes one to start believing he is no longer subject to the law because he is above all authority and law. Pride can also make a person nearly impossible to live with because everyone else does it wrong while the prideful one fails to see his own sins. (2 Chr 25:19; Neh 9:16, 29; Ps 44:8; Prv 11:2; 3:34; 13:10; 29:23; Isa 37:23; Rom 12:16; 1 Cor 4:7; 15:10a; Eph 4:2)
“He was greatly helped” it says in v 15, according to the NIV translation. This is a somewhat milk-and-water rendition of the Hebrew’s “he was wondrously helped,” or even “miraculously helped.” In case we are in any doubt as to who precisely came to his aid, we need only glance back to the statements “God gave him success” (v 5) and “God helped him” (v 7). In other words, whatever natural gifts or talents Uzziah might have possessed, they all came down from the Father of the heavenly lights (Jas 1:17). He was no self-made man; his success was God-given. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 304)
The incident took place probably in the year 750 BC; he had already been king for 17 years–indeed if we include the period when he had ruled also during his father’s lifetime, he had been on the throne for 41 years. He was a man in his mid-fifties, a highly experienced pastor, and a man of power and authority. His was not a sin of callow youth. If we call it presumption, we must know what we mean by that. Youth can be presumptuous in its ignorance; maturity is in danger of presumption of a different kind, and needs to beware of thinking itself exempt from the rules that apply to those who are less advanced. “I am not an ordinary man”, Napoleon once said, “and the laws of morals and of custom were never made for me.” (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Chr, 230)
Uzziah’s sin was a cultic transgression and brings immediate retribution in the appearance of a skin disease; Uzziah’s pride brought him to usurp the honor or glory of the priest’s role, but he would receive no honor (v 18) from the LORD. Just as a cultic sin produced a plague in the wilderness (Nm 16:46-50), so also Uzziah was punished with a disease. It was the offering of incense that formed the climax of the condemnation of Jeroboam (1 Kgs 12:33). (Raymond B. Dillard, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 15, 210-11)
The Chronicler made it clear that Uzziah’s accomplishments were not by human power. He was successful because God helped him (26:7). This terminology occurs a number of times in Chronicles where an intervention by God is in view. Unusual success and extraordinary accomplishments are often attributed to the help of God (see 1 Chr 5:20; 12:18; 15:26; 2 Chr 14:11; 16:12; 18:31; 20:4; 26:7; 32:8). God extended such favor to Uzziah that his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt (26:8). (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 393)
That is in reality what happens to relativists: in claiming to be too lowly to know the truth, they exalt themselves as supreme arbiter of what they can think and do. This is not humility. This is rooted in deep desire not to be subordinate to the claims of truth. The name for this is pride. The only way pride can be conquered in us is for us to believe in Truth and be conquered by it so that it rules us and we don’t rule it. (John Piper, Think, 112-3) Nobody can tell me what to do. Nobody can tell me how to think. Nobody can tell me what is right or wrong
The proud person has a hard time coming to God. We want God on our terms, in our understanding. It’s simply impossible. He wants us, as He tells us in the Bible, on His terms. He wants our childlike faith. The Good Shepherd goes out to find those who finally come to understand they are lost without Him. I experienced precisely this. (Charles Colson, The Good Life, 381)
God repeatedly expresses his pleasure with and delight in those who do exactly what he says. In Isa 66:1-4 true religion (“the life of God in the soul of man”) is characterized by one “who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” in contrast to these who choose their own way. (Philip Graham Ryken, Give Praise to God A Vision for Reforming Worship, 58)
Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the person who has it. (Buddy Robinson as quoted in Charles R. Swindoll; The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, 465)
Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. — John Wooden
“Surely one of the reasons in these days for low moral standards is the lack of awareness of the majesty and holiness of God and of our accountability toward him. To a certain degree the same deficiencies can be seen among professing Christians. One of the marks of spiritual decline is that “there is no fear of God before his eyes” (Ps 36:1). Instead we fill ourselves with confidence in our own sufficiently. This is the complete antithesis of holiness.” (Kenneth Prior; The Way of Holiness, p. 21).
2- Pride makes one think he does not need to be faithful to God because he owes God nothing. If fact, God should be recognizing him because God is so lucky to have him on God’s side. This causes one to become very ungrateful or unappreciative of others and of God. In fact, instead of a thankful heart; the prideful person tends to have a critical spirit finding the fault in nearly everyone else but himself. (Dt 8:10-18; 2 Chr 36:12; Ps 10:4-5; 34:2; 101:5; 119:21; Prv 8:13; Ezek 16:49-50; 1 Tm 6:17; 1 Jn 2:16; Jude 1:16)
In one sense, of course, all sin is wickedness. But we could not call Uzziah a blatantly wicked man, and his sin has little to do with vice or villainy. On the contrary, it has to do with religion and worship. It takes place at the very heart of the life of the people of God, in the temple. It is a sin committed in the Holy Place. That is precisely what makes it the outrageous sin that it is. (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Chr, 230)
Prosperity seldom draws men to God. Gratitude does not increase in proportion as God’s favors multiply. A man’s piety is not usually increased by his becoming rich. It is seldom men are more religious in health than in sickness. (Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator, 2 Chronicles, 122)
In 26:8 the Chronicler merely mentioned that Uzziah had become very powerful. In 26:13, however, he said that Uzziah received divine help until he became powerful. In other words, divine assistance came to Uzziah up to the time he gained much power. By this turn of the phrase, the Chronicler foreshadowed the events that follow. Uzziah’s power brought an end to the period of his blessing from God. In the final analysis, his success was the occasion of his downfall. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 395)
With this background we will see more clearly that pride is a species of unbelief. Unbelief is a turning away from God and his Son in order to seek satisfaction in other things. Pride is a turning away from God specifically to take satisfaction in self. So pride is one specific form of unbelief. And its antidote is the wakening and strengthening of faith in future grace. (John Piper, Future Grace, 87)
James says that not believing in the sovereign rights of God to manage the details of your future is arrogance. The way to battle this arrogance is to yield to the sovereignty of God in all the details of life, and rest in his infallible promises to show himself mighty on our behalf (2 Chr 16:9), to pursue us with goodness and mercy every day (Ps 23:6), to work for those who wait for him (Isa 64:4), and to supply us with all we need to live for his glory (Heb 13:21). In other words, the remedy for pride is unwavering faith in future grace. (John Piper, Future Grace, 93)
The tendency to excuse ourselves and quickly judge others is proof that pride has gripped our hearts. (Gary L. Thomas, Seeking the Face of God, 136)
The fuller of pride anyone is himself, the more impatient will he be at the smallest instances of it in other people. And the less humility anyone has in his own mind, the more will he demand and be delighted with it in other people…You must therefore act by a quite contrary measure and reckon yourself only so far humble as you impose every instance of humility upon yourself and never call for it in other people. (William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, 234)
The person with an abiding spirit of gratitude is the one who trusts God.
The foremost quality of a trusting disciple is gratefulness. Gratitude arises from the lived perception, evaluation, and acceptance of all of life as grace–as an undeserved and unearned gift from the Father’s hand. Such recognition is itself the work of grace, and acceptance of the gift is implicitly an acknowledgment of the Giver. (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust, 24-25)
3- Because pride has such a blinding effect on the heart and mind of the arrogant one, you can fully expect to see a long, hard, and humiliating fall to occur from the lofty place they foolishly tried to obtain by their own abilities. (Dt 9:4-6; Psa 17:10; 31:15; Prv 16:18-19; 18:12; Jer 17:9; Ezek 38:2; Hos 12:8; 1 Cor 10:12; Jas 4:13-16; Rv 3:17)
It’s as if the Chronicler is setting us up for a shock. And he is. When the change comes, it is abrupt, it is swift, it is terrible. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall,” the Scriptures say (Prv 16:18). The Chronicler has told the story in such a way to mirror the way it was for Uzziah. And with the shocking fall of Uzziah, the Chronicler hopes to alert us to the danger of pride in ourselves before it sweeps us off a cliff. (Paul O. Wendland, The People’s Bible, 2 Chr, 306)
Uzziah’s haughtiness so impairs his judgment that he attempts to enter the temple and burn incense to the Lord, thus usurping the role of the priests (26:17). The altar of incense symbolized the prayers of Israel rising continually before God (cf. Ps 141:2). Only the Aaronic priesthood was allowed to attend to the altar and burn incense there (cf. Ex 30:1-10). (Andrew E. Hill, The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 552)
Pride is the sin we cannot see in ourselves and yet so detest in others. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Luke, Vol. One, 365)
The proud and lofty man or woman cannot worship God any more acceptably than can the proud devil himself. There must be humility in the heart of the person who would worship God in spirit and in truth. (A. W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship?, 84)
The rabbis believed that humility was an indispensable condition for learning: “Just as water flows away from a high point and gathers at a low point, so the word of God only endures with the learner who is humble in his knowledge.” (Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 7a) (Ann Spangler, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, 60)
We pick out the weaknesses in others because pride is a sin of comparison in which I compare my strengths to another man’s weaknesses. (Patrick Morley; The Man In The Mirror, 237)
The man who does not fear God becomes so proud that he cannot detect his own sinfulness. (Patrick Morley; The Man In The Mirror, 242)
If you harden your heart with pride, you soften your brain with it, too. — Jewish proverb
Humility rests on self-knowledge; pride reflects self-ignorance. Humility expresses itself in self-distrust and conscious dependence on God; pride is self-confident and, though it may go through the motions of humility with some skill (for pride is a great actor), it is self-important, opinionated, tyrannical, pushy, and self-willed. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prv 16:18). (J. I. Packer; Rediscovering Holiness, 149-50)
One thing the Bible makes abundantly clear is that human beings with a stake in their self-centered lives are experts in fooling themselves. (D. James Kennedy; What Is God Like?, 73)
4- The most harmful effect of pride is that it convinces its victim that he no longer has any need of God and His love and care. This makes the possibility of any kind of repentance leading to salvation nearly impossible. (Ps 5:5; 18:27; 138:6; 147:6; 149:4; Prv 16:5; Eph 2:8-9)
Many today try and do what Uzziah did–approach God any way they desire. The story follows Uzziah from power to pride to his downfall. His strength is his weakness (Prv 16:18-19; 18:12). When we become proud, God always has a way to humble us and give us the right perspective again. We are strong when we look to the Lord for our strength in humility (2 Cor 12:10). (Dr. Tremper Longman, Quicknotes, 1 Chr Thru Job, 93)
Uzziah’s lifting up of his “heart” (v. 16) is a repetition of his father’s pride (25:19). It implicitly contrasts with the self-humbling essential for the procuring of divine forgiveness. Moreover, it is stressed in v. 19 that judgment strikes not when Uzziah commits a religious sin by usurping the role of the Aaronic priesthood, but when he reacts to the high priest’s reprimand with wrath instead of repentance. In each of the cases of the three apostate kings there is a concern on the Chronicler’s part to stress God’s patience in giving an opportunity for rethinking and repenting. There is ever a divine reluctance to punish, and punishment materializes only as a last resort. First, there is an endeavor to touch the sinner’s conscience by challenging him (24:19, 20; 25:15; 26:18). Only when that expedient fails does the ax fall. (Leslie Allen, Mastering the OT, 1, 2 Chr, 348-49)
He who wanted too much ends up with less than he previously had. Yet the Chronicler desires his readers to appreciate that, great as his sin was, his fate was not irrevocable until it was sealed by willful refusal to climb down from his high and mighty attitude. In retrospect the incident casts a chilling shadow over the narrative of 1 Chr 13. David’s recourse to anger to express his frustration over the transporting of the ark was a dangerous one, but in his case it gave way to a proper reverence for God (1 Chr 13:12, 13). Ultimately to be a man or woman after God’s own heart entails compliance not with the law of His moral will but with His gospel of a second chance. (Leslie Allen, Mastering the OT, 1, 2 Chr, 349)
What sin makes God seem more irrelevant? God wants to fill us with his Holy Spirit, but when we are proud we are already full of ourselves. There’s no room for God. Augustine characterized pride as the great political enemy in the City of God, the usurper that wants to unseat God and enthrone itself. (Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, 82)
Christian living, therefore, must be founded upon self-abhorrence and self-distrust because of indwelling sin’s presence and power. Self-confidence and self-satisfaction argue self-ignorance. The only healthy Christian is the humble, broken-hearted Christian. (J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness, 196)
CONCLUSION/APPLICATION: How can a relationship with Christ help kill your pride?:
A- Jesus shows us that we must know and “Fear the Lord”. No one can possibly be prideful or arrogant in the presence of God. (Dt 8:14-16; 2 Sm 6:22; 22:28; Prv 15:33; 22:4; Isa 66:1-4; Lk 12:4–5; Jn 3:19-21)
INDICATOR: Whenever you sin, worry or find it difficult to obey God and His commands, notice yourself criticizing all the time and thinking everyone is screwed up but yourself; then you can be sure pride has its dirty fingers somewhere in your heart or thinking.
Uzziah was righteous only under the sway of another. Thus the Chronicler drew his readers’ attention to the need for enduring fidelity stemming from wholehearted devotion, rather than mere temporary obedience brought about by external influences. (Richard L. Pratt, 1 & 2 Chr, A Mentor Commentary, 393)
Similarly, “Humble yourselves…casting your anxieties on God.” One way to be humble is to cast your anxieties on God. Which means that one hindrance to casting your anxieties on God is pride. Which means that undue worry is a form of pride. Now why is casting our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties. And if pride has to admit it, it still does not like to admit that the remedy might be trusting someone else who is wiser and stronger. In other words, pride is a form of unbelief and does not like to trust in future grace. Faith admits the need for help. Pride won’t. Faith banks on God to give help. Pride won’t. 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 future grace in the words, “He cares for you.” (John Piper, Future Grace, 96)
Humility is achieved by companying with One infinitely above us. After a visit with Tennyson, Edward Fitzgerald wrote: “Perhaps I have received some benefit in the now more distinct consciousness of my dwarfishness.” For a people or an individual to walk with God is to walk humbly. (The Interpreter’s Bible, 606)
It is impossible to have spiritual maturity and pride at the same time. (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 338)
The organic material that has been broken down to give the soil its richness is called “humus.” Our word humble is related to it, meaning “to be brought low.” That is the process God uses to makes us receptive to His word. He allows us to be brought low. Sometimes He Himself is the one who brings us there.
Humility, said Confucius, is the foundation of all virtues. (Ken Gire; The Reflective Life, 54)
When people don’t believe in a final judgment, they don’t feel ultimately accountable for their actions. There is no firm leash holding back sinful impulses. As the book of Judges puts it, there is “no fear of God” in their hearts, and everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
The doctrine of hell is not just some dusty theological holdover from the Middle Ages. It has significant social consequences. Without a conviction of ultimate justice, people’s sense of moral obligation dissolves; social bonds are broken.
People who have no fear of God soon have no fear of man–no respect for human laws and authorities. (Charles Colson, A Dangerous Grace, 21-22)
The sin of presumption is the antithesis of the fear of the Lord. It is the harbinger of future defeat. (Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds, 142)
B- In light of God’s greatness, holiness, perfection and righteousness Jesus asks us to be quick to repent in light of our depravity. Repentance is the antithesis and negation of pride. (Jer 29:23-24; 31:19; Mt 4:17; 11:21; 12:41; 21:32; Mk 1:15; Lk 5:32; 10:13; 11:32; 13:3-5; 15:10; 24:47; 2 Cor 11:30; 12:9; )
INDICATOR: Whenever you sin, worry or find it difficult to obey God and His commands, and you are not broken, contrite and desirous of confession and forgiveness before a holy, righteous and perfect God; this is an indicator that pride has its tentacles deeply embedded in your heart or thinking.
Growing downward in humility is repentance.
It is essential therefore for an effective pastoring of the people of God that their leaders should constantly seek for themselves God’s direction and blessing–that along with what is good in inherited tradition there should also be daily personal consecration. (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Chr, 226)
Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because he shows us both God and our own wretchedness. -Blaise Pascal
Once I was pondering why our Lord was so fond of this virtue of humility, and this thought came to me–in my opinion not as a result of reflection but suddenly: it is because God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth, for it is a very deep truth that of ourselves we have nothing good but only misery and nothingness. Whoever does not understand this walks in falsehood. The more anyone understands he is walking in truth. (Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle, VI:10:6)
A truly humble man does not fear being exposed. (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust, 121)
“The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.” (Phillip Brooks as quoted in E. Skoglund; Burning out for God, 11)
You are to love your neighbor as yourself. You are not to love your neighbor because they are like yourself.
What do you mean when you say, “I love you”? Do you mean I love you or do you mean I love what little bit of me that I can detect in you? Which in reality, is not love but arrogance, ego, pride, vanity, and narcissism.
“They that know God will be humble,” John Flavel has said, “and they that know themselves cannot be proud.” (quoted in MBI’s Today in the World, November, 1989, 20)
C- Jesus shows us that we must be thankful to God for every good gift we enjoy. One who honestly accepts this cannot be prideful. (Mt 14;19; 15:36; 26:26-27; Mk 6:41; 8:6-7; 14:22-23; Lk 9:16; 17:11-19; 22:17-19; 24:30; Jn 6:11; 11:41-42; Jas 1:17)
INDICATOR: If things are going well BEWARE. If you go a day without being compelled to say, write or E-mail a “Thank-you” to someone, or you can go an hour without thanking God for something; this can very likely be an indicator that pride has a grip on your heart.
God cannot use a proud man. “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Pt 5:5). The man who is puffed up with pride, self-esteem, cannot be filled up with the Holy Spirit. Paul saw this danger for himself. God saw it for him, and Paul writes, “Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (2 Cor 12:7). How many men have failed here! They have sought God’s power, sought it in God’s way, and it has come. Men have testified of the blessing received through their word, and pride has entered and been indulged, and all is lost. (R. A. Torrey, The Baptism with the Holy Spirit, 78-79)
D- Look to Jesus and His perfections and be humbled when we realize He is the fulfillment of what we were designed and created to be. Humility, like repentance, is the antithesis and negation of pride. (Dan 4:37; Mt 11:29; 18:4; 23:11-12; Mk 9:35; Lk 14:11; 18:14; Phil 2:1-11; Jas 4:10; 1 Pt 5:5-6)
INDICATOR: You know you have a serious pride problem when you look to fashion magazines, financial reports, business prospects, movies, television programs, or anything else in the world other than God for your direction, guidance and bearings in life. When is the last time you have been rebuked? Why so long?
“Did Christ finish His work? How dangerous it is to join anything of our own to the righteousness of Christ, in pursuit of justification before God! Jesus Christ will never endure this; it reflects upon His work dishonorably. He will be all, or none, in our justification. If He has finished the work, what need is there of our additions? And if not, to what purpose are they? Can we finish that which Christ Himself could not complete? Did He finish the work, and will he ever divide the glory and praise of it with us? No, no; Christ is no half Savior. It is a hard thing to bring proud hearts to rest upon Christ for righteousness. God humbles the proud by calling sinners wholly from their own righteousness to Christ for their justification. — John Flavel
The Bible and Christian tradition tell us that sinful pride (hybris) is an enemy of God. And so it is, no matter whether in fashion or out. According to traditional Christian wisdom, a main problem with pride is that it recognizes neither sin nor grace; in fact, pride hammers them flat and discards them. (Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, 84)
Satan fears virtue. He is terrified of humility; he hates it. He sees a humble person and it sends chills down his back. His hair stands up when Christians kneel down, for humility is the surrender of the soul to God. The devil trembles before the meek because, in the very areas where he once had access, there stands the Lord, and Satan is terrified of Jesus Christ. (Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds, 21)
Thomas a Kempis believed that an accurate self-knowledge always leads to humility. “Whoso knoweth himself well, is lowly in his own sight and delighteth not in the praises of men” It follows that if we aren’t lowly in our own sight and are dependent on the praise of others, then we don’t know ourselves very well. (Gary L. Thomas, Seeking the Face of God, 124)
The more guilt and shame that we have buried within ourselves, the more compelled we feel to seek relief through sin. As we fixate on our jaded motives and soiled conscience, our self-esteem sinks, and in a pernicious leap of logic, we think that we are finally learning humility.
On the contrary, a poor self-image reveals a lack of humility. Feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, inferiority, and self-hatred rivet our attention on ourselves. Humble men and women do not have a low opinion of themselves; they have no opinion of themselves, because they so rarely think about themselves. The heart of humility lies in undivided attention to God, a fascination with his beauty revealed in creation, a contemplative presence to each person who speaks to us, and a “de-selfing” of our plans, projects, ambitions, and soul. Humility is manifested in an indifference to our intellectual, emotional, and physical well-being and a carefree disregard of the image we present. No longer concerned with appearing to be good, we can move freely in the mystery of who we really are, aware of the sovereignty of God and of our absolute insufficiency and yet moved by a spirit of radical self-acceptance without self-concern. (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust, 120-21)
Humility is not a popular human trait in the modern world. It’s not touted in the talk shows or celebrated in valedictory speeches or commended in diversity seminars or listed with corporate core values. And if you go to the massive self-help section of your sprawling mall bookstore, you won’t find many titles celebrating humility. The basic reason for this is not hard to find: 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. We can expect to find humility applauded in our society about as often as we find God applauded. (John Piper, Future Grace, 85)
Anyone who takes it upon himself to enter the arena of God-talk in a meaningful and substantive way had better be prepared to joust with humility, for there is no subject which exposes the finitude of man quite like the infinitude of God. (C. Samuel Storms, The Grandeur of God, 33)
Humility is not a mere ornament of a Christian, but an essential part of a new creature; it is a contradiction to be a sanctified man or a true Christian and not humble . . .” (Richard Baxter; The Reformed Pastor, 99)
Humility is the first thing
Humility is the second thing,
Humility is the third thing. — St. Augustine
“Many worship services are monuments to the spiritual self-centeredness of local churches.” (Richard Lovelace, Renewal as a Way of Life, 174)
Worship point: Pride in one’s self and worship of God cannot co-exist. To properly and effectively worship, you must see God as He really is and see yourself as you really are. An understanding of this reality will kill your pride.
God can never entrust His kingdom to anyone who has not been broken of pride, for pride is the armor of darkness itself. (Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds, 17)
I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him. ( Jim Cymbala; Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, 19)
To receive God’s Grace all you have to do is humbly admit that you need it. James 4:7.
Spiritual Challenge: The best way to kill your pride is to know God and His Son Jesus. The more you look to Jesus and begin to really know God; then, the less pride will have a foot-hold in your life. I challenge you to be cognizant of pride’s tentacles in your heart and mind creating obstacles to your spiritual growth. Allow detection of pride in your heart and mind to motivate and encourage you to continue and pursue even more diligently God the Father, His Son the Christ and the guidance and convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
Labor to be clothed with humility. Humility makes a man peaceable among brethren, fruitful in well-doing, cheerful in suffering, and constant in holy walking (1 Pt 5:5). Humility fits for the highest services we owe to Christ, and yet will not neglect the lowest service to the meanest saint (Jn 13:5). Humility can feed upon the meanest dish, and yet it is maintained by the choicest delicates, as God, Christ, and glory. Humility will make a man bless him that curses him, and pray for those that persecute him. An humble heart is an habitation for God, a scholar for Christ, a companion of angels, a preserver of grace, and a fitter for glory. Humility is the nurse of our graces, the preserver of our mercies, and the great promoter of holy duties. Humility cannot find three things on this side heaven: it cannot find fullness in the creature, nor sweetness in sin, nor life in an ordinance without Christ. An humble soul always finds three things on this side heaven: the soul to be empty, Christ to be full, and every mercy and duty to be sweet wherein God is enjoyed. Humility can weep over other men’s weaknesses, and joy and rejoice over their graces. Humility will make a man quiet and contented in the meanest condition, and it will preserve a man from envying other men’s prosperous condition (1 Thes 1:2, 3). Humility honors those that are strong in grace, and puts two hands under those that are weak in grace (Eph 3:8). Humility makes a man richer than other men, and it makes a man judge himself the poorest among men. Humility will see much good abroad, when it can see but little at home. Ah, Christian! Though faith be the champion of grace, and love the nurse of grace, yet humility is the beautifer of grace; it casts a general glory upon all the graces in the soul. Ah! Did Christians more abound in humility, they would be less bitter, froward, and sour, and they would be more gentle, meek, and sweet in their spirits and practices. Humility will make a man have high thoughts of others and low thoughts of a man’s self; it will make a man see much glory and excellency in others, and much baseness and sinfulness in a man’s self; it will make a man see others rich, and himself poor; others strong, and himself weak; others wise, and himself foolish. Humility will make a man excellent at covering others’ infirmities, and at recording their gracious services, and at delighting in their graces; it makes a man joy in every light that outshines his own, and every wind that blows others good. Humility is better at believing than it is at questioning other men’s happiness. I judge, saith an humble soul, it is well with these Christians now, but it will be far better with them hereafter. They are now upon the borders of the New Jerusalem, and it will be but as a day before they slide into Jerusalem. An humble soul is more willing to say, Heaven is that man’s, than mine; and Christ is that Christian’s, than mine; and God is their God in covenant, than mine. Ah! Were Christians more humble, there would be less fire and more love among them than now is. (Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, 209)
When we are fighting a nasty infection, and the doctor recognizes its continuing presence after an extended period of time fighting it, a good doctor will use more and more aggressive forms of treatment to eradicate the infection.
Temper is what gets most of us into trouble. Pride is what keeps us there.
Pride is your worse enemy and humility is your best friend. — John Stott
Pride has an insatiable appetite. Pride cannot be your friend.
Quotes to Note:
The late J. Oswald Sanders wrote biblical books packed with remarkable insight and common sense. In one of them he said, “Pride is a sin of whose presence its victim is least conscious. There are, however, three tests by means of which it can soon be discovered.” He went on to suggest these three tests:
The Test of Procedure: How do we react when another is selected for an assignment we expected, or the office we coveted? When another is promoted and we are overlooked? When another outshines us in gifts and accomplishments?
The Test of Sincerity: In our moments of honest self-criticism, we will say many things about ourselves and really mean them. But how do we feel when others, especially our rivals, say exactly the same things about us?
The Test of Criticism: Does criticism arouse hostility and resentment in our hearts, and cause us to fly into immediate self-justification? (David Jeremiah, Searching for Heaven on Earth, 174)
The significance of Uzziah’s leprosy is brought out clearly: “He was cut off from the house of the LORD” (26:21). What a distance had been traversed from the promise of a coming son of David who would built a house for God (1 Chr 17:12) to the Davidic king Uzziah who could not even enter the Lord’s house because he was unclean. It is probably not too far off course to suggest that the emphasis on Uzziah’s leprosy was sparked by the same realization that prompted Isaiah “in the year of King Uzziah’s death” (Isa 6:1) to say, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isa 6:5). (John Sailhamer, Everyman’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Chr, 104)
It’s better to lose your pride to the one you love than to lose the one you love because of pride.
Christ:
The Pride Killer
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