A humble spirit, lowliness, subjection and obedience go together; so do pride, a haughty spirit, self-will and sin. Sinful man is naturally proud. He thinks that what he has is to his own credit and does not see himself as needing mercy or grace. However, the proud heart wants to be like God and independent of God.
No man is truly humble until he sees and judges himself as he is before God. He must learn as Job, “I abhor myself,” and as the man in Romans 7, “In me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” God resists the proud, for “every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 16:55Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. (Proverbs 16:5)).
When self is judged, a man recognizes the low place as his due place and any exaltation is of God’s grace and not his own merits. He looks away from self to find joy and confidence in God alone. As another has said, “True humility does not so much consist in thinking badly of ourselves as in not thinking of ourselves at all. I am too bad to be worth thinking about. What I want is to forget myself and to look at God who is indeed worthy of all my thoughts.”
Our Lord Jesus, the perfect man, humbled Himself and took the low place, a place of rest and obedience. He calls us to come to Him there. “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. . . . Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:28-2928Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28‑29)).
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