Posted on 11/15/2022 6:22:57 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he” (Proverbs 16:18-20).
18 is three sixes, and appropriate for pride—Satan’s sin. Antichrist is the man of three sixes, and he is the man of pride. This is an oft-quoted verse. It is usually misquoted as “Pride goeth before a fall,” but it is “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
We have a biblical example of this: “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense” (2 Chronicles 26:16).
Uzziah the king stepped into the office of a priest, which was forbidden to all but the Levites. But because he was king, he thought he was above the Law and God struck him down with leprosy. He transgressed against the Lord his God and went into the temple to burn incense. He became proud and as a result he overstepped his boundaries.
This is another way of saying what the Bible says in the New Testament, “Condescend to men of low estate.” In other words, don’t hang around proud folks. Don’t hang around folks that have their mind and eyes set on high things of this world. That is, “Come down from your high horse.”
We are better to be around poor, humble folks that are trying to live for God, then we are to be around high-minded, snobby people that are more interested in earthly success than heavenly joy.
“Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.” Obviously you might make money now hanging around with the crowd, but sooner or later you are going to lose it. You might think you are going to divide the spoil with the proud now. Haman thought he was going to get it all, Ahab finally got possession of Naboth’s vineyard but he didn’t get to keep it very long. Belshazzar had the whole wealth of the Babylonians in his hand, he lost it in one night. He got so proud that he was having a party and drinking liquor out of the golden cups of the temple, but God wrote on the wall that his time was up—and it was.
“He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good,” that’s just good common sense, isn’t it? If you handle matters of life wisely, the finances, dealing with the children, dealing with other people, dealing with business matters, matters of social concern—if a man handles them wisely, shall find good. It is another of you reap what you sow.
“. . . and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he,” the reason that a lot of Christians are not happy is that they just haven’t learned to trust the Lord for the thinks of life. There is a lot of business in Christianity, today, about goal-setting. I realize that we ought to strive for perfection. Paul said he pressed toward the mark. He had a goal of pleasing God. But we have to be careful about setting goals in this life. Too often we are pushing our wills instead of simply accepting God’s will.
There is a lot of goal-oriented Christian endeavors. Now, we believe that “where there is no vision, the people perish,” so we ought to desire to see our city saved and have other lofty goals in our service for God. We ought to live the best life that we can, being an example for others to want to live for God. When we set goals, though, without God’s leadership we often find ourselves resorting to carnal devices in order to reach those goals. We’ll be much happier if we just trust in the Lord.
If you want to set a goal, Hebrews 12 gives a worthy model: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Set a goal to be more like Jesus. Try to apprehend Him, and the power of His suffering.
Another great goal would be, “Lord, help me to win all the people as I can to You this year,” and if you win one—and you are fully yielded to the Holy Spirit, then you have met your goal.
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