Walk humbly with your God
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the
LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8).
Worldly people do not humble themselves before God.
God sent Moses to Pharaoh with the message: How long will
you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they
may serve Me (Exodus 10:3). When Moses first asked Pharaoh to let
the people go, he had replied: Who is the LORD, that I should obey
His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel
go (Exodus 5:2).
God warns: The one who has a haughty look and a proud
heart, Him I will not endure (Psalm 101:5). I will punish the world
for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance
of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible (Isaiah
13:11).
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of
men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in
that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon
everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up, and it shall be
brought low (Isaiah 2:11, 12).
When the wicked repent and humble themselves before God, He
blesses them.
Because he refused to listen to the advice of older men, King
Rehoboam had lost most of the kingdom Solomon had passed on to
him (1 Kings 12:1-16). In the fifth year of his reign, because he and
all Israel forsook the law of the LORD God allowed Shishak, king of
Egypt, to conquer the fortified cities of Judah and to come as far as
Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 12:1-4).
Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because
of Shishak, and said to them, 'Thus says the LORD: You have
forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of
Shishak.' So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves;
and they said, 'The LORD is righteous.' Now when the LORD saw that
they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah,
saying, 'They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy
them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be
poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they
will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the
service of the kingdoms of the nations' (2 Chronicles 12:5-8).
Although God allowed Shishak to conquer Jerusalem and require
tribute, Rehoboam was allowed to remain king. When he humbled
himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to destroy
him completely; and things also went well in Judah (2 Chronicles
12:12).
God exalts the humble and humbles the haughty.
This principle is taught throughout the Old Testament.
The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches
His way (Psalm 25:9).
The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the
ground (Psalm 147:6). He will beautify the humble with salvation
(Psalm 149:4).
Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble
(Proverbs 3:34).
When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is
wisdom (Proverbs 11:2).
Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before
honor is humility (Proverbs 18:12).
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' (Isaiah 57:15).
Various examples are given.
Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who
were on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3).
He told Israel: 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 (Deuteronomy 8:2, 3).
God promised Solomon that He would forgive the people when
they repented and humbled themselves: When I shut up heaven and
there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send
pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name
will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their
sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:13, 14).
King Hezekiah restored correct worship in Judah. He also
encouraged the ten tribes of Israel to return to the Lord. Most of
them laughed his messengers to scorn, but a few listened:
Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled
themselves and came to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30:10, 11).
After reigning for 14 years, Hezekiah had become proud and
God decided to end his life. But when he humbled himself, God
extended his life for 15 more years. But Hezekiah did not repay
according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up;
therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and
Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart,
he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD
did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles
32:25, 26).
Ezra and the people, when returning from Babylonian captivity,
humbled themselves before God and asked for His protection: Then
I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble
ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and
our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request
of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the
enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, 'The
hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His
power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.' So we
fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer
(Ezra 8:21-23).
The New Testament also instructs us to walk humbly with God.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you
up (James 4:10).
Jesus said: Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:4). And whoever
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted (Matthew 23:12).
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves
that they were righteous, and despised others: 'Two men went up to
the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I
am not like other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I
possess. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much
as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be
merciful to me a sinner! I tell you, this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will
be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke
18:9-14).
Paul wrote: Do not set your mind on high things, but associate
with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion (Romans
12:16).
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with
God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a
bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to
the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also
has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in
heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender
mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering (Colossians
3:12).
Peter admonishes: 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.' Therefore humble yourselves under the
mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (1 Peter
5:5, 6).
Worldly people do not humble themselves before God. If they
repent, however, and humble themselves, He blesses them. God's
people humble themselves before God and submit to His will. God
exalts the humble and humbles the haughty.
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the
LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8).
Roy Davison
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc.,
Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.
Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)