Stooping Down to See the Heavens and Earth

Reading in Ps 113.6 this morning. The KJV translates the passage: "Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth." I like to think of it as God "stooping down" to see what he has created, implying as we certainly believe, that God is far greater than we can even comprehend.

Spurgeon points out that, if God stoops down to see the heaven and earth, what does it further say about him, that he watches even the humblest of his servants: What, then, must be his condescension, seeing that he observes the humblest of his servants upon earth, and makes them sing for joy like Mary when she said, “Thou hast regarded the low estate of thine handmaiden.”

He That is of God...

...heareth God's words (John 8.47, KJV). Christ to the unbelieving Jews. The second half of the sentence is: "Ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." Christ was never one to hold back truth when it needed to be spoken, as it did here. His most direct comments were always made to those who were the most self-righteous; one assumes because others knew they were sinners, the legalists, not so much.

This is why we should always be evaluating our own theology and motives. Who knows that self-righteousness hasn't crept in when we weren't looking. Humility is the key. The humility to reexamine ourselves and ask, "have I wandered away from the truth?" "Am I more interested in my own theological scheme than I am in ferreting out the truth?" "Can I be wrong here?"

This lays a healthy foundation for, as Millard Erickson once put it, holding our theology with humility because we may be wrong, as the unbelieving Jews were wrong here.

Wisdom and Self

Never be wise in your own sight, says Paul in Romans 13.16. What do you suppose he means by that? It's kind of like humility, I suppose, if you're thinking that you're humble, you're not. Ironically, enough, just before this statement Paul says: Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Perhaps humility and wisdom are linked in that way. Think you have it? Think you're wise? Think you're humble? You're not.

Wisdom, like humility, is other-directed; outward-directed. Dedicated to the aid of those whom God puts in one's path.

What Humility Is

Zephaniah defines humility practically for us in Zeph 2.3, according to him, the one who is humble will:

1. Seek the Lord.

2. Do his just commands.

3. Seek righteousness.

4. Seek humility.

John Calvin says: This phrase does not imply doubt of the deliverance of the godly, but expresses the difficulty of it, as well that the ungodly may see the certainty of their doom, as also that the faithful may value the more the grace of God in their case (1 Peter 4:17-19).

The EBC is more succinct: Only the “humble of the land” are exhorted because nothing can be done with the rest.

Humility and How the Remnant did not Attain It

Jeremiah 44.10 this morning. Despite Jeremiah's faithfully proclaiming the word of the Lord to those left in the land by the Babylonian army, they would not listen to his message and fled to Egypt for safety and then took up their practice of sacrificing to the queen of heaven, vowing that they would continue to do so! As Jeremiah describes their situation he gets to the crux of the problem. Even though God had brought all of this calamity on Judah, they did not humble themselves. They did not fear God. They did not walk in his ways and according to his statutes.

From this we can easily see that God's aim for God's people is to fear him, to walk in his commandments, and to walk in humility before him. So...how are you doing?

Greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven

Greatness in the kingdom of heaven is inextricably linked with humility (Matt 18.4)

"You Humble Now, Holmes."

A line from the movie, Tin Cup, where Cheech Marin is acting as Kevin Costner's caddie at the U. S. Open. Before his first round, Costner says, "Lord keep me humble." You see him hitting balls all over the place, then in the next scene they are at the finish and Marin is counting up Costner's scorecard. He says, "82. You humble now, Holmes."

The line came to mind as I was reading 1 Cor 4.7, this morning. While Paul was speaking in the context of the church, it is a truth which can be applied to all things. You are a talented basketball player? Who gave you all that talent? Did you give it to yourself? A concert pianist? Where did you get that talent and the opportunity to bring it alive? An architect? A politician? A banker? Wealthy? Beautiful? When one thinks about it, so much of our lives are not our own choices. We'd like to think that we "picked ourselves up by our own boot straps," but the truth is, did we give ourselves our own will?

It's a very humbling truth from Paul, here.