PRIDE VERSES HUMILITY
Proverbs 11:2
Proverbs is direct and forceful in rejecting pride and honoring humility. Pride is pagan behavior. It has no place in the lives of God's people. Pride is a declaration of independence from God if not an assertion of war against Him. Pride therefore draws God's scorn, sparks His ire, and guarantees His judgment.
Moreover, the haughty are damaging to their communities. It is impossible to love our neighbor as ourselves when we have an exaggerated sense of our own importance. The proud exhaust their energy and love for their own needs with only table scraps for others.
Pride and humility are the outcomes of attitudes and opinion we harbor and the choices we make (CIM). The harmful results of pride are repeatedly contrasted with humility and with its benefits. So the sayings in Proverbs hammer hard against pride and drives home the importance of humility.
An outline of their teachings could be:
I. A Considered Choice
II. Pride's Punishment
III. Pride's Precipice
IV. Humility's Honor
Proverbs 11:2 teaches that the choice between pride and humility is also a choice between wisdom and dishonor. "When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom" (NASB). "When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom."
This assertion help us see our choice between pride and humility more clearly. Humility leads to wisdom but pride leads to disgrace. As the adage goes; "What goes up must come down; what bows down will be lifted up."
It is "shame" or "wisdom." "Pride" [Hebrew zdôn; 13:10; 21:24; Deut. 18:22; Jer. 49:16; Obad. 3—the last 2 describe Edom's arrogance highlighting how pagan human pride is] does not walk alone. Its inevitable companion, lurking in its shadow, waiting to announce itself, is "shame" (3:39; 6:33; 13:18). Shame is the lightweight, worthless opposite of honor or glory. "Humble" people [Hebrew enûm; used only here in the O T] recall the demand of Yahweh to "walk humbly with your God" in Micah 6:8 and find a different kind of fellow-traveler, wisdom. Their humility teaches them the limits of human strength and knowledge so they are willing to learn all they can from trustworthy teachers and companions. They cast themselves on the mercy and support of God whom they fear. For, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7).
The choice is really two choices. Choose between pride or humility, and you have chosen the companion who will either drag you into shame or lead you into wisdom.
It may be hard to admit that we are prideful but its not difficult to recognize if one is truly heeding wisdom or not. Proverbs 13:10 teaches that humility takes advise but pride produces quarrels. "Through insolence comes nothing but strife, but wisdom is with those who receive counsel" (NASB).
Pride or insolence (zôn, from zî, "to boil"; 11:2) means an unyielding arrogance. Here strife is traced to it source. An inflated, know-it-all or "know much more than you" view of oneself leads to quarreling. In contrast to one who takes no counsel a wise humble person is willing to learn and take advice (12:15).
Proverbs 15:33 reveals to us that godly wisdom and humility comes before honor. "The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility" (NASB).
"The fear of the Lord" not only is the beginning of knowledge, but it also teaches wisdom. By fearing (reverencing, trusting, obeying, serving, and worshiping) the Lord a person learns wisdom. Humility, which results from the fear the Lord, must precede honor (18:12b; 29:23) which is wisdom's companion. [The fear of the Lord and humility are also connected in 22:4.]
Before honor, there must always be humility. Before Joseph was prime minister in Egypt, he had to spend time in prison. Before Moses was a leader in the desert, he first had to spend time on the backside of the desert. Before Abigail became the wife of David, she humbled herself and offered to wash the feet of the servants of David.
Why must this be? Because otherwise, we would think honor was due to our great ability, charming personality, intellectual insight, or tremendous spirituality. The Lord allows us to go through humbling circumstances in order that we will join Paul in saying, "I am what I am solely and completely by the grace of God" (1 Corinthians 15:10). [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary, Vol 2. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson, 2006, S. 225]
II. PRIDE'S PUNISHMENT.
Various Proverbs relay the fact that pride is punished. The certainty of pride's punishment rings loud and clear in Proverbs 16:5. "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished."
The fate of the "proud" [again the root idea is "high" (16:18)] is to be hated or "abominable" [as despicable a term as is possible in Hebrew; 3:32; 6:16] to "the Lord." So insulted is Yahweh that He personally sees to it that no proud person will "go unpunished" (6:29; 11:21; 17:5; 19:5, 9; 28:20). The punishment is guaranteed by an oath. "Though they join forces" describes a "handshake" or some other gesture where two parties join hands to seal an agreement or strike a bargain (11:21). "Be sure of this" (NIV) conveys the intensity of the divine commitment and the certainty of retribution.
Proverbs 16:18–19 teaches that pride leads to destruction. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (19) Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud."
Here is the clear inevitable consequences of "pride" [or "high"; Hebrew gh] "A haughty [another word for "high"; Hebrew gbh; 16:5] spirit" is the opposite of "humble ["low"] in spirit" ( 29:23). "Spirit" [in both instances] describes the totality of inward attitudes which reveal themselves in outward signs, words, and actions. The results of lofty self-exaltation are calamitous. "Destruction" is a total shattering of what the person has and is. It is a crashing down as from a cliff or high place ["fall," lit., stumbling off the edge of a bank or precipice.]
The message of verse 19 underscores the dangers of pride by amplifying the teaching of verse 18. So dangerous is pride that it is infinitely better to retain "a humble spirit" and keep company "with the lowly" people who live in day-by-day dependence on God than to hobnob with the "proud," [who may be financially successful] and share in the division of their often ill-gotten loot (or "spoil"). The spoil which the proud "divide" ultimately will bring God's punishment upon those whose share in it. Their pride itself is contagious, and so their very company—rewarding though it may seem—is a menace to sound living and thinking. [Hubbard, David. The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol. 15: Proverbs. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1989, S. 336.]
Proverbs 18:12 again warns the proud and points to those God will honor. "Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility."
The first line of 18:12 repeats the calamitous notes of 16:18: "destruction" [translates the same Hebrew word (sheber, breaking or shattering]. The act of pride here is centered in a "haughty ["lifted up"; Hebrew gbh as in 16:18] heart." It pictures a person whose thoughts and decisions are both selfish and unrealistic. He sees himself larger than life, imagines he can accomplish more than he can or does, and fantasizes that others will rally to his greatness. When none of these things comes true, his life breaks into pieces with no one to care, let alone to rescue. His destruction evokes more scorn than sadness. "Humility," devout and pious dependence on God and concern for the well-being of others (for the Hebrew anwh, see 15:33; 22:4; Zeph. 2:3), in contrast, leads to "honor" or glory (kbôd, lit., "weight") in the community. People trust its selflessness, are attracted to its esteem of others, and hold no fear of threat or ambition from it.
III. Pride's Precipice
In addition to the clear-cut punishment threatened in the sayings above, pride brings one to a risky precipice of dangers. First, Proverbs 15:25 teaches that pride offers no protection. "The Lord will destroy the house of the proud, but He will establish the boundary of the widow."
The contrast here is deliberate and powerful. "Proud" persons will find their whole estate ["house" here means dwellers, buildings, and holdings] wiped out because of their lofty claims of worth, achievement, and invulnerability. When "the Lord" marches to "destroy," they who thought so highly of themselves will have little left. Their presumption grants them no protection. They made the Lord their enemy.
On the other hand, the Lord has become the Guardian of "the widow" (only here in Proverbs). The widow is the symbol for defenseless, powerless persons in society (Deut. 10:18; Ps. 68:6). Her territory ["boundary"; 22:28; 23:10] will be kept inviolate by the righteous Judge of All the Earth. Neither God nor man will intervene when judgment strikes the proud.
Proverbs 21:24 announces that pride will leave the haughty person with no prestige. "A proud and haughty man—"Scoffer" is his name; He acts with arrogant pride."
The very status that pride presumes is rob by that very pride [zdôn, presumptuousness, 11:2]. Others call the "arrogant" man a "scoffer," an address as demeaning as the Hebrew tongue can spit out at another person (1:22; 3:34; 9:7–8). Mocking reveals that a person thinks he is superior to others. This attitude is detestable to God (16:5) and others.
Next Proverbs 26:12 reveals that pride offers no prospects. "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
"Wise in his own eyes" is an apt depiction of pride. It is a solitary act of self-evaluation, a motion seconded by no one. It is the verdict rendered by pure ego utterly heedless of the opinions of others. "There is more hope" [tiqwh, confidence, patient expectation; 10:28; 19:18] of reform and blessing "for a fool." Even a fool is less defeat by his own self-embellishment, and less resistant to the counsel or correction of others. The point, of course, is not the potential of the fool [for he does not change readily]. It is the incorrigibility of the proud, who is dead wrong in his understanding of himself and dead set against any correction to that misunderstanding.
No true perspective is a another danger faced by the proud proclaimed in Proverbs 27:1–2. "Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth. (2) Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips."
Verse 1 reminds them that they are powerless to predict their future ("tomorrow") exploits. [The root word of "boast," means "praise," 20:14; 25:14.] The idea is clearly an act of bragging about what one will achieve, or where one will go, as though the future were in human not divine control. For ignorance of "what a day may bring" should promote humility not presumptuousness. James's strong says, "Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil" (James 4:15–16).
Verse 2 suggests that the proud lack the perspective to evaluate also. The synonymous lines both underscore the fact that we stand far too close to ourselves to see clearly either our strengths or weaknesses, our virtues or vices. Sound evaluation can come only from others—and they ought not to be too close to us; "another man" suggests an outsider, even a foreigner [zr]; "stranger" [nokr] underscores the sense of distance. Neither friend, neighbor, nor family member would be described in such terms. Outsider "praise" [Hebrew hll, the root for praise in the Psalms and the base of "Hallelujah"] may not always be accurate but it is always more seemly than self-praise which shades over into the boasting described in verse 1. [Hubbard, S. 337.]
IV. Humility's Honor
In Proverbs 29:23, the choice is between humiliation or honor. "A man's pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor."
Pride brings one down while humility leads to honor. In a nutshell that is what Proverbs teaches about God's dealings with the proud and the humble. "Pride" [from root gh; 15:25; 16:18, 19] is derived from a word meaning "high." It suggests elevating ourselves, looking down on others, thinking we are better than others.
"Low," implies abject humiliation. The term was used for bowing in humility before elders or superiors or being forced to bend low to masters or even to God (25:7; Job 5:11; 2 Sam. 6:22; Mal. 2:9). [The Hebrew root shaphal occurs in the geographical name of the "lowlands"—shephelah—that bridge the hills of Judah to the coastal plain of the Philistines (Deut. 1:7; 1 Kin. 10:27).] "Humble [or low] in spirit" is the direct opposite of "pride" and depicts the person who does not overvalue himself and consequently devalue his fellows. Starting low means there is no way to go but up. [Modesty gains "honor" by not threatening the neighbors and when worn well, it retains [tmak "clutches," "holds fast," 3:18; 4:4] honor, [the weighty respect,] because it is not abused.
[Though God may level us, our family, friends, and foes may do it also. There is something about the arrogance of others that challenges us to topple them from their lofty, self-assigned status. We are eager to expose their ignorance, call their bluff, prove their limitations. Pity the team that mocks its opponents to the press! The locker room bulletin board will cry out for revenge, and as often as not the high are brought low. The beatitudes that encourage us to be "poor in spirit" and "meek" (Mt. 5:3, 5) are direct descendants of this proverb. They too assume that we have a choice and that choosing wrongly always brings results diametrically opposed to what we ask for. "Seek and you shall find" is a promise only when we seek what God deems right. [Hubbard, S. 337.]
To catch fully the terror of pride, we need to hear Yahweh denouncing everything that exalts itself.
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—
Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high
and lifted up,
And upon all the oaks of Bashan;
Upon all the high mountains,
And upon all the hills that are lifted up;
Upon every high tower,
And upon every fortified wall;
Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
And upon all the beautiful sloops.
The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. —Isaiah 2:12–17
Remember, pride cast Nebuchadnezzar out his mind (Daniel), King Saul out of his kingdom, Adam out of paradise (Gen.), Haman out of the royal court (Esther) and Lucifer out of heaven (Isaiah 14:12-20).
