I have to admit something: there is a not-so-small part of me that likes being proud.
I know I like to be right. I see it sometimes as a form of confidence. I think I know better than others and truly believe I do. There’s no hidden shame in me thinking I know better – or even the thought that I am better. This desire to be better even extends to humility.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
(James 4:10)
To me this verse could often be interpreted as an odd manipulation tactic. You know those times as a kid where you say the opposite of what you intend – bluffing as we might call it – to get what you want? It seems here that if we get ahead and humble ourselves, well that’s the key to being exalted.
Maybe you relate to this… or maybe you think you don’t. But contemplate this: how often do you find yourself right? When someone corrects you, do you rush to defend yourself, make excuses, downplay what happened, or even begin nitpicking the person who corrected you? When you serve, is there an oh-so-small (or oh-so-big) part of you that hopes someone will see you or ask about your service so you can get that recognition? Do you revel at “being in the know” or having others come to you for advice? Does it frustrate you when others don’t do things your way (maybe even because you think or just know it’s the best way)? Are others just so stupid, foolish, or – maybe in a kinder phrase – in need of your help?
Or maybe you simply agree to every service opportunity or event because you can handle it and “they truly need you.” Does failure devastate you? Does rest bother you? Do you wonder what others are thinking of you? Do you feel guilty for saying no? Do you grow frustrated when your service for others is unnoticed?
Join the club my friend, that’s pride.
And the issue is that so many of the examples of pride disguise themselves as humility. We may even rush to tell ourselves “I should be more humble” because we know we should. But that is also pride. Why are we striving for humility? Ask yourself. If your answer’s like mine, it’s to – in some twisted, reverse way – be exalted.
But that’s not why God wants us to be humble or why He exalts us.
Low as Dirt
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of
God so that at the proper times He may exalt you…
(1 Peter 5:6)
Let’s begin with breaking down both this verse and James 4:10. More than a few similarities reside between these two verses. Both quote Proverbs 3:34, both talk about resisting the devil, and both use the Greek word tapeinoo.
Tapeinoo means “low, depressed.” In other places where this word is used, it is in reference to making a path through a hill (Luke 3:5). It is referencing being as low as a path on the ground, namely dirt. Both verses translate this word as “humble.” The radical definition of humility then is completely lowering oneself, practically to the ground. There’s no, “let me lift my head a bit to peek if anyone is noticing my lowliness.” It is straight up ground level.
Proverbs 3:34, the quoted verse in both, brings the same concept.
Toward the scorners He is scornful, but to the humble He gives favor.
The Hebrew word used here, עָנִי, also means “depressed, lowly, and humble.” Again we see to humble oneself is to lower oneself. And if we imagine the imagery of dirt, it sounds dangerously close to being walked on. There’s no power struggle, there’s no seeing who notices, there’s no forcing others to another path as dirt. Dirt is walked on. It is lower than everything else around it.
Let me first be clear before we move on: humility does not mean we allow ourselves or others to be abused, manipulated, or harmed. This is where who we are humbling ourselves before becomes vital. Both verses instruct us to humble ourselves before or under the Lord, the safest refuge who never abuses. This trustworthy character can be seen countless times in the way He reveals His glory.
Dirt Lifted Up
Time after time when individuals or groups encounter God’s holiness, they often fall on their face. In Ezekiel 1 and 3 we see that when the majesty of the Lord was revealed to Ezekiel, he fell on his face (1:28, 3:23). When God appeared to Abraham, Abraham fell on his face at this display of God’s glory (Genesis 17:3). God gives Daniel a vision and in His glory reveals its meaning, causing Daniel to fall on his face (Daniel 8:17-18). In John’s glorious vision of God, he falls at His feet as though dead (Revelation 1:17). In each case, the individual is physically lowering themselves before God. They are humble before the Lord.
This is the proper response to God’s glory. To contrast, look at the times where individuals did not humble themselves. The result of their lack of humility? Death (Leviticus 10:1-3, 1 Samuel 6:6-7). Lowering ourselves before this majesty, then, is our rightful place to be. We are dirt – literally (Genesis 2:7) – before Him.
But back to the various verses of people falling before the Lord. We see something interesting happen after here. They are all afterwards exalted. Exalted in these contexts means “lifted up, elevated.” It can be seen as someone picking up another individual so they are upright again. This is what God does in each of those passages.
In Ezekiel, he is set on his feet by God’s Spirit (Ezekiel 2:2, 3:24) like a child being picked up by his father. In Genesis, God blesses Abraham and gives him a new name (Genesis 17:4-8). Daniel was empowered to stand up (Daniel 8:18). In Revelation, John is touched by God and told not to fear (Revelation 1:17). Whether figurative or literal, each individual is lifted up or exalted after humbling themselves before God.
Yet, dirt is our rightful place as we previously discussed. Why would God exalt us from our rightful position?
The Creator in the Dirt
What I find interesting about the word for humble in Proverbs 3:34 is that an alternative meaning of the Hebrew is “shepherd.” 1 Peter 5 also makes several references to shepherds and shepherding. In fact, 1 Peter 5:4 calls Jesus the chief Shepherd.
During ancient times, shepherds were seen as anything but refined. They earned less, were frequently isolated from society, were often uneducated, and were used as symbols of lowliness. And yet our God calls Himself the Shepherd (John 10:11).
Another interesting note is that in both New Testament quotes of Proverbs 3:34 it says grace but Proverbs 3 says favor. There’s no mistake in this. The Hebrew word used here is “khen,” meaning favor or grace. Quite literally, it refers to someone giving goodness to another out of love and not based on their deserving it. When an individual consistently shows favor to those of lower status, they are said to be full of “khen.”
Okay, okay, what’s my point? Our God is so full of khen that He takes the position of the lowly.
This puts us in a dangerous predicament.
Do we dare hold onto our pride – our little pet that we joke and laugh about getting rid of because we know we should – when our Savior, the Creator of the Universe humbles Himself? Do we really try to live in the delusion that we are better than Him? We may not announce it from the rooftops that we think we’re better, but believe this: pride in any form is the announcement that we think we are better than lowliness, better than the trait Jesus said He had (Matthew 11:28).
You know those examples at the top? The examples of hidden or not-so-hidden pride? I simply listed who I am and what I’ve done there. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I tremble at the thought that I have so often declared myself better than God. Why am I so set on keeping and even being proud of my pride? Pride puts so much pressure that we are bound to fail. We are destined to come tumbling down to the dirt – where we belong. Celebrities, politicians, church leaders, all those in power who have let pride take hold can attest. There’s always a fall after pride (Proverbs 16:18).
With the Father knowing this about us – knowing our inclination to self-exaltation – why does He even exalt still when we finally lower ourselves? Look at Matthew 17:6-8.
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”
And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only
Right before this, the glory of God was revealed through the transfiguration of Jesus. Again, we have individuals who lower themselves. Again, we have an exaltation of the individuals. But notice what they saw when they lifted up (or exalted) their eyes: Jesus.
The goal of exaltation is looking again on God’s glory. God wants us to feel His favor. The exaltation, then, is not to be better but to experience God. God is so full of khen that as we fall at the face of His glory He lifts us again to see more of His glory. His favor as shown through Him taking on the humble form of dirt allows us to see and experience His favor. Woah.
Sit with that. More for than just a minute or an hour but for the rest of your life. Because this revelation that God’s grace is for you to receive more of His favor simply by lowering yourself before Him is what drives us to a holy face plant. Why would we need to hold and defend our pride when the Creator of the Universe gives us favor? When He humbled Himself to the point of death – even death on the cross – to give us grace so we might receive more grace?
I hope you will be able to say along with me that you want nothing else but God’s favor. I will lower myself to the dirt because He’s so much better. It might seem foolish to the world – scratch that, it will seem foolish to the world. But why would we need to pridefully prove ourselves to them? We have the favor of the Great Shepherd! That’s something to exalt your eyes to.
Resources
- What is the Definition of Grace? (According to Scripture) by the Bible Project
- Holier Than Thou by Jackie Hill Perry
- Isaiah 4:6-7
Overwhelmed 