Humble or Haughty in Practice?

Psalms 18:25-30 ESV

“With the merciful you show yourself merciful;

    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

with the purified you show yourself pure;

    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

For you save a humble people,

    but the haughty eyes you bring down.

For it is you who light my lamp;

    the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

For by you I can run against a troop,

    and by my God I can leap over a wall.

This God—his way is perfect;

    the word of the Lord proves true;

    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

Those who are merciful are those who are compassionate, kindhearted, and sympathetic to other people’s plights. But this has to be something the Lord accepts, for even the ungodly of this world can show mercy to others. So, I looked it up on biblehub.com in their interlinear, and the word means “godly, gracious, holy one, kind and pious” (devout, virtuous, moral, spiritual). 

And blameless doesn’t mean you will never sin (see 1 John 2:1-2), but it means “integrity, upright, sound” (wholesome, unblemished, pure, unadulterated). And yes, this can only come through genuine faith in Jesus Christ, and by God’s grace, but we must then choose to live holy and godly lives to the glory and praise of God, in the power and wisdom of God.

What the New Testament teaches us is that we must walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. We must walk in holiness and righteousness and not in sin. Sin must no longer be our practice or we will not inherit eternal life with God. And obedience must be our practice if we want to be saved from our sins and go to heaven.

So, this isn’t just Old Testament teaching. This is New Testament teaching, too. And regardless of what we profess with our lips, if we are making sin our practice, and so we are crooked (dishonest, corrupt, devious, twisted, perverted) people in conduct and in practice, the Lord is not going to accept us as his. But we will come under his judgment.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

The New Testament also teaches much on the importance of us being humble people, especially where Jesus said:

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4 ESV).

And the New Testament speaks against the haughty, as well, in Romans 1:29-31 and Romans 12:16 and in 1 Timothy 6:17. And to be haughty is to be proud, arrogant, and those who behave in insolent and insulting manners of behavior toward God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They do not submit themselves to God, but they continue to rule their own lives, instead.

So, salvation will come to the humble, who submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over their lives, and who forsake their sins to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands. They are people whose trust is truly in the Lord Jesus, who take God and his word seriously, and who are following the Lord in obedience in walking in holiness and in righteousness.

But the haughty (proud, self-righteous, selfish, self-centered) the Lord will bring down, for they have no regard for God nor for his commands, but they are a law unto themselves, and they serve as their own god ruling their own lives going their own way making their own choices. Even if they claim Jesus as Savior, still they are the ones directing their own lives, and not God.

For, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is our light, who has brought us out of darkness into his wonderful light, if we are his true followers. And in his power and strength we can be victorious over sin (the darkness) and we can walk in the light (Christ, truth, righteousness, the Word of God). For God’s way is perfect, and the way of righteousness is the only way to eternal life with God. For he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13] 

Seek the Lord  

An Original Work / July 20, 2012

Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.

Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,

And your soul will delight in richest of fare.

Give ear to Me, and you will live.

I have made an eternal covenant with you.

Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him. 

Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.

Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.

Freely, God pardons him.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,”

declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.

It will not return to Me unfulfilled.

My word will accomplish all that I desire,

And achieve the goal I intend.

You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.

The mountains will burst into song… before you, 

And all of the trees clap their hands.”

https://vimeo.com/379408296