Daily Devotional: BE!
Day 16: Be Humble
What is Humility
Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definitions:
Humility: Freedom from pride or arrogance: the quality or state of being humble; from the Latin word “Humilis” meaning “low”
Humble: not proud or haughty, nor arrogant or assertive
Synonyms: meek, modest, lowly, down-to-earth, unassuming, simple
Antonyms: arrogant, haughty, superior, egotistical, pretentious, pompous, conceited, presumptuous
Psalm 45:4
“In your majesty ride forth victoriously in the cause of truth, humility and justice; let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.”
Proverbs 15:33
“Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes
before honor.”
Proverbs 22:4
“Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.”
Zephaniah 2:3
“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.”
Philippians 2:1-11
1 “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
James 3:13
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”
KEY: The humility that comes from wisdom — wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord.
Psalm 111:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
1 Peter 5:5
“In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
KEY: I learn from these Scriptures that pride and humility are opposites. God hates pride and arrogance, but loves the humble in heart, who reverently love and worship, and obey Him.
What is False Humility
Colossians 2:16-23
16 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.
19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:
21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.
23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
Isaiah 2:12
“The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled).”
Isaiah 5:15
So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.”
KEY: I learn from this that false humility comes when the pride of keeping the Law, rather than the acceptance of grace, is present. Keeping the Law accurately does not change the heart. Focusing only on the Law of Moses, or other man-made rules and regulations, or rituals, disconnected people from a loving relationship with God.
Don’t be a Leviathan
God is Creator, He is Sovereign, He is Just, and He is Faithful to all of His creation. In the Book of Job, God shares with Job what He does for all of us. Reading what God accomplishes keeps our own life experiences in perspective, and keeps us humble before a loving Father.
There were two creatures God made, along with humans — the Behemoth, a land animal, and the Leviathan, a sea creature.
God called the Behemoth among the first of His works. [Job 40:19] It’s two main characteristics were strength and power.
The Leviathan’s two main characteristics, according to Job 41:33-34, were fearlessness and pride.
Let’s look at Job 40-41 to see how God describes the characteristics of these two creatures, and see why they are significant even in our lives.
In Job 40:1-14, God asks Job some tough questions.
1 “The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
8 “Would you discredit My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like His?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low,
12 look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.”
15“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16 What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly!
17 Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
20 The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby.
21 Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it.
23 A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?”
KEY: No one can do what only God can do.
Let’s look at Job 41, to see how God describes the characteristics of Leviathan.
Job 41
1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6 Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against Me?
11 Who has a claim against Me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to Me.
12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form.
13 Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double *coat of armor? {Septuagint: *double bridle]
14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15 Its back has rows of *shields tightly sealed together; [Hebrew: *Its pride is its shield]
16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth.
22 Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
24 Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27 Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.
29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal—a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that
are proud.”
KEY: I learn from the characteristics of these two creatures that both were very strong, and only God Himself could tame, or defeat them. The idea of Leviathan’s skin being impenetrable, or Behemoth’s bones being immovable by a human being, is like an arrogant heart that is unreachable, unchangeable, unteachable, and this is one of the things God was showing Job in these two chapters. By asking Job if he knows all these things, because he has lived a long time and had a lot to say, God gently puts Job back in the place of humility, by showing him the bigger picture.
What Happened to Leviathan?
Psalm 104:25-27
25 “There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.”
Isaiah 27:1-3
“In that day, the Lord will punish with His sword— His fierce, great and powerful sword—Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; He will slay the monster of the sea.”
Psalm 74:13-15
13 “It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
15 It was you who opened up springs and streams; you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.”
Isaiah 66:2
“Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.”
Isaiah 2:11
“The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”
KEY: The fear of the Lord, the loving reverence of God, and Humility go hand in hand.
Be Humble
Psalm 55:19
“God, who is enthroned from of old, Who does not change— He will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.”
Matthew 23:12
“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Ephesians 4:2
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
James 4:10
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
KEY: Arrogant prayers don’t work, as we can see in the Parable Jesus told about two people who were praying to God.
Luke 18:9-14 [KJV]
9 And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.’
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
And I leave you with this blessing today:
Come boldly before God, knowing who you are in Christ, and pray with a humble heart, knowing He is the Supreme God, Who knows all things, and therefore can help you with all things.
When we are hungry, let us not be hungry for Leviathan, which God fed to those who desired a life of arrogance and pride, as we saw in Psalm 74:14.
Jesus is the Bread of Life, upon Whom we feed, and thereby we are made the Righteousness of Christ.
John 6:51
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
