I’m So Proud of My Humility (2 Samuel 7:18)

 I’m So Proud of My Humility

Humility is a strange thing. Just about the time you mention it, it disappears. Just about the time you notice it, it hides. Just about the moment you take pride in it, well, it no longer exists.

David the King of Israel, at the end of his life, after all His accomplishments, still operated from a root of humility. And I think that is the difference: the root. If you are proud in your root, you can pretend to be humble, but really, you’re not. And those who are discerning will know it before you do.

David wants to do one more big, noble thing in his life. He wants to build a temple for the Lord. He already has defeated his enemies. He has secured the kingdom. But the worship of God still takes place in a makeshift dwelling. David says, “I’ll build a temple.” But God said, “no.” In place of permission, God makes a promise, called the Davidic Covenant, in which God promises that David’s throne will endure. A root of pride would have said, perhaps secretly, “I deserve it.” But here is what David said:

“Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?” (2 Samuel 7:18 ESV)

Are we more surprised when God sends favor into our lives, or affliction? The humble person would be more surprised at the favor. Are you more surprised when God expands your borders, or increases your income? Or when He shrinks your holdings and allows you to experience a pay cut? The humble person would be more surprised at the former; not the latter. 

The humble person has a God-sized appreciation of grace. And the humble person realizes that he/she stands in need of that grace on a daily basis. The proud person proudly stands on their own two feet, and says, “Look what I have done?” For the proud, it’s a meritocracy, and those who don’t have what they have clearly don’t deserve it.

The humble person knows what he deserves. He is more aware of his sins than he is aware of his neighbor’s sin, or the sins of his in-laws, or the sins of the president. He knows the strength of his weakness, and the weakness of his strength. He knows the limits of his faithfulness, and how often his good intentions die on the vine. He knows what he deserves, and he is eternally thankful that God does not give him what he deserves. Instead, God gave Jesus.

Where do you get this root of humility? It’s comes through conversion, by regeneration. That is, it comes as God works in your life, and convinces you that your world really revolves around Him.

Who Can Kill the King, and Get Away with it? (1 Sam 26:9)

 Who Can Kill the King, and Get Away with it? (1 Sam 26:9)

This is my paraphrase of David’s question: "who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?” He had the opportunity. He was the righteous one, and the king was evil. He himself had also been anointed for the throne. But he stops himself twice (1 Samuel 24,26), and refuses to put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed.

The answer seems obvious to the question,Who can kill the king, and get away with it? The answer seems to be, should be, “No one.” 

But the Bible is a surprising Book, and so I have to wonder, is there any escape from the guilt attached to killing the king? 

In the broader, Biblical context, Jesus is the King before whom all must bow. To reject this King is to be alienated from the Kingdom. To ignore this King is to be rejected by God - “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” To raise your hand against this King - what then? Certain death?

Judas handed Jesus over. He was in the grip of the devil. Jesus said it would have been better if he had never been born. But what if, .. what if instead of taking his own life, Judas had repented? Would he have found forgiveness? Could Jesus blood, shed on the cross, cover this sin?

And what about Pilate, who proclaimed Jesus’ guiltlessness, and yet handed Him over to be crucified? What if, in retrospect, Pilate repented and sought God’s mercy through faith in this very same Jesus? Could even his sin find atonement?

And what of the chief priest, who shouted out “Crucify him; Crucify him”? Could he have come to a humbling change of heart? Could even he be redeemed? 

There is some language in the Bible about “the unforgivable sin.” Interpretations abound, but it seems to me that the one unforgivable sin is failing to believe in Jesus. It involves refusing the urging of the Spirit of God to turn and bow before Jesus. And so, if anyone, whether it be Judas or Pilate or an evil chief priest, if anyone repents and believes, they can be saved. So it seems that yes, you can kill the king and get away with it, because King Jesus died to make atonement for sinners like that, and sinners like me, and such an atonement offers forgiveness for even the most heinous of sins. 

And this, then, goes to prove, once again, that anyone can be saved from their sins, if they would but come to Jesus.