"For though the Lord is exalted, yet He regards the lowly;
but the proud and haughty He knows from afar."
psalm 138:6
"Crawl into caves in the rocks.
Hide from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty.
The day is coming when your pride will be brought low
and the Lord alone will be exalted."
isaiah 2:10-11 NLT
"For thus says the high and exalted one who lives forever,
whose name is Holy,
I dwell on a high and holy place,
and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
in order to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite."
isaiah 57:15
"Thus says the Lord,
'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool,
where then is a house you could build for me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
For my hand made all these things,
thus all these things came into being," declares the Lord.
"But to this one I will look,
to him who is humble and contrite of spirit,
who trembles at my word."
isaiah 66:1-2
"On that day you will no longer need to be ashamed,
for you will no longer be rebels against me.
I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you.
There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.
Those who are left will be the lowly and humble,
for it is they who trust in the name of the LORD."
zephaniah 3:11-12 NLT
God says, what could you possibly bring to me that I didn't already make? You cannot approach me as if you were rich with things that could make you more valuable in my sight.
Your attitude is all wrong.
This is how you should come to me: humble, contrite and trembling.
contrite: crushed to powder, as in pulverized
"God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble"
"humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you." James 4:6, 10
"You younger men likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5
God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Where did Peter and James get that phrase? The translation is a little more concise and modern than the original, but they seem to have borrowed it from the book of Proverbs.
"Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners, yet He gives His undeserved favor to the low, the humble and the afflicted." proverbs3:34-35
What does my pride get me?
It gets me God on the opposing team, it gets me far from Him, it gets me banished from His Holy mountain.
I wonder that I'm not more scared at the exclusion of the proud and exclusive entry of the humble, wonder that I don't tremble more at the prospect of the severity of God's judgment on the proud.
But I do think, uh-oh, I better put on more humility, just to be on the safe side, you know.
When posed with the problem of his ministry success shifting to another (John the Baptist's disciples were making the comparison between him and Jesus), John replies "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven." john 3:27
In the end, "He must increase, but I must decrease," he says.
It is often an unbearable humility to know that you have depended on the charity of another for everything that you have, to conclude that, without the help of a benefactor, you are impoverished.
We are not into shrinking so much that we become invisible, reducing so much that we become insignificant, emptying so much of ourselves that we are no longer seen. We are too proud to be empty handed.
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God; did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." philippians2:3,5-7
Is humility something I acquire, something I can increase, or is it achieved in the reverse by emptying myself? Is it possible to be humble without being emptied, without being crushed?
Am I humble if I still think I have something to offer God, even if what I think I have to offer is humility?
I have a sneaking suspicion that my flesh might just make a costume of humility and slip it over my pride. Unless I choose to decrease, to be pulverized, I'm in danger of reverting to my natural inclination to improve on myself. I think the High and Exalted One who lives forever will see right through that disguise, don't you?
It is only the lowly that will be with Him in that high place, only the contrite that will dwell in His presence, only the humble who will call Him Holy.