Scorn for the Scornful, Grace for the Humble

"Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble. (Proverbs 3:34)"
The Scriptures emphasize the Lord's commitment to pour out grace upon those who walk in humility, while opposing the path of those who walk in pride. "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'…Be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'… Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar" (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; and Psalm 138:6). In our present verse we have another pointed example. "Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble."

It is an absolute certainty that the Lord will scorn the scornful. "Surely He scorns the scornful." The scornful person shows arrogant disregard for the Lord and His righteous ways. He is a mocker of godliness and a boaster in wickedness. The Lord will assuredly scorn such people. He will treat them with a holy disdain. He will reject their path with holy contempt.

For so many of us who have a heart for the Lord, walking scornfully before the Lord is not a likely attitude. However, somewhat related attitudes may become a part of our walk (even inadvertently). Pride and haughtiness are two of the most common, and most deadly. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). These companion evils could both be summarized as self-exaltation. Such an approach to life always results in devastating downfalls. These attitudes and their consequences are most fully illustrated by the history of the devil himself. Before he became the ultimate rebel against God, he was a magnificent, privileged angelic being. "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God …You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you" (Ezekiel 28:14-15). This iniquity that developed was self-exaltation. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!…For you have said in your heart:…I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:12-14). This haughty exalting of self brought a disastrous fall, which will end up forever in hell itself.

May we choose daily to walk with God's humble saints, refusing to join the ranks of the proud, with their self-advancing schemes. "Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud" (Proverbs 16:19).
"Lord God Most High, I repent of the times that I have exalted myself in word or deed or attitude. I renounce the prideful path of self-advancing humanity. I want to identify with Your humble saints, looking to You to shape and use our lives through Your abounding grace, Amen."

Humility and the Fear of the Lord

"By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches and honor and life…with the humble is wisdom…The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 22:4; 11:2; and 9:10)"
Many of our previous meditations have clearly demonstrated that walking in humility is the pathway for living by the grace of God. "God…gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). In our present verses, we see that humility and the fear of the Lord are related.

Humility and the fear of the Lord result in the same blessings. "By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches and honor and life." The closing trio ("riches and honor and life") are an Old Testament description of a life that is fully blessed by God. The New Testament counterpart would be fullness of spiritual life. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Humility and the fear of the Lord also result in wisdom. "With the humble is wisdom… The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."

Humility is the candid acknowledgment of our absolute need for the Lord to work thoroughly in our lives day by day. The fear of the Lord is respect and reverence toward our great God. It is not a fear involving terror or apprehension. Rather, it is based upon profound admiration and dependent devotion.

Those who humbly fear the Lord (by placing their admiration and devotion in Him) also embrace His perspectives and values. They develop a hatred for the things that He hates. "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate" (Proverbs 8:13). Correspondingly, those who have respect and reverence for the Lord develop a love for all that He loves. The Lord loves for His people to walk in righteousness and justice. "The LORD loves the righteous…the LORD loves justice" (Psalm 146:8 and 37:28). The Lord loves Israel, His chosen nation. "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples" (Deuteronomy 7:7). The Lord loves His church, the children of God. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1). The Lord loves the world, those who need to know Him. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
"Lord God Almighty, I humbly bow before You, acknowledging my absolute need for You to work thoroughly in my life day by day. I want to walk in the fear of the Lord, placing my admiration and devotion in You. I want to hate all that You hate and love all that You love, in Jesus' name, Amen."

Pride and Shame or Humility and Wisdom

"When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom…The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools. (Proverbs 11:2 and 3:35)"
In order to live by the grace of God, we must be willing to walk in humility, instead of in pride. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). We must be willing to acknowledge our daily, desperate need for God. Any other approach to life is based upon pride (which is a foolish, inaccurate assumption that we are adequate to produce a life on our own). Those who walk in pride end up with shame. Those who walk in humility end up with wisdom.

The Scriptures describe those who foolishly walk in pride, as well as declaring the shame that they experience. "When pride comes, then comes shame…shame shall be the legacy of fools." One example would be the wicked way that many privileged and powerful people persecute the downtrodden and the vulnerable. They are demonstrating their pride. "The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised" (Psalm 10:2). Their shame is that they can become entangled in the very schemes that they have contrived. Another example is seen in those who arrogantly oppose the people of God. "This they shall have for their pride, because they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of the LORD of hosts" (Zephaniah 2:10). Their shame was announced as a barrenness so severe as to be likened unto the end of Sodom and Gomorrah. "'Therefore, as I live,' says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—overrun with weeds and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation'" (Zephaniah 2:9).

In contrast to the shame that comes to the prideful, is the wisdom (and resulting glory, or honor) that comes to the humble. "With the humble is wisdom… The wise shall inherit glory." Those who walk humbly before the Lord find the godly wisdom available in the Lord's infallible word. "The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7). This wisdom from God brings honor to the humble ones who live by it. "A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor" (Proverbs 29:23). Again, this honor for the humble is in striking contrast to the wretched and ignoble end that pride engenders.
"Dear Lord of Glory, how fitting that those who pridefully oppose You will be brought low and will end up in shame. I do not want to be numbered among them. I desire to walk in humility, to eagerly acknowledge my desperate need for You every day in every way, and to be compassionate toward the needy. I desire to bless Your people, to humbly seek the wisdom of Your word, and to be a vessel of honor unto You, through Christ Jesus, my Lord, Amen."

“Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen.” Zechariah 11:2

When in the forest there is heard the crash of a falling oak, it is a sign that the woodman is abroad, and every tree in the whole company may tremble lest to-morrow the sharp edge of the axe should find it out. We are all like trees marked for the axe, and the fall of one should remind us that for every one, whether great as the cedar, or humble as the fir, the appointed hour is stealing on apace. I trust we do not, by often hearing of death, become callous to it. May we never be like the birds in the steeple, which build their nests when the bells are tolling, and sleep quietly when the solemn funeral peals are startling the air. May we regard death as the most weighty of all events, and be sobered by its approach. It ill behoves us to sport while our eternal destiny hangs on a thread. The sword is out of its scabbard—let us not trifle; it is furbished, and the edge is sharp—let us not play with it. He who does not prepare for death is more than an ordinary fool, he is a madman. When the voice of God is heard among the trees of the garden, let fig tree and sycamore, and elm and cedar, alike hear the sound thereof.

Be ready, servant of Christ, for thy Master comes on a sudden, when an ungodly world least expects him. See to it that thou be faithful in his work, for the grave shall soon be digged for thee. Be ready, parents, see that your children are brought up in the fear of God, for they must soon be orphans; be ready, men of business, take care that your affairs are correct, and that you serve God with all your hearts, for the days of your terrestrial service will soon be ended, and you will be called to give account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil. May we all prepare for the tribunal of the great King with a care which shall be rewarded with the gracious commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant”

“The myrtle trees that were in the bottom.” Zechariah 1:8

The vision in this chapter describes the condition of Israel in Zechariah’s day; but being interpreted in its aspect towards us, it describes the Church of God as we find it now in the world. The Church is compared to a myrtle grove flourishing in a valley. It is hidden, unobserved, secreted; courting no honour and attracting no observation from the careless gazer. The Church, like her head, has a glory, but it is concealed from carnal eyes, for the time of her breaking forth in all her splendour is not yet come. The idea of tranquil security is also suggested to us: for the myrtle grove in the valley is still and calm, while the storm sweeps over the mountain summits. Tempests spend their force upon the craggy peaks of the Alps, but down yonder where flows the stream which maketh glad the city of our God, the myrtles flourish by the still waters, all unshaken by the impetuous wind. How great is the inward tranquility of God’s Church! Even when opposed and persecuted, she has a peace which the world gives not, and which, therefore, it cannot take away: the peace of God which passeth all understanding keeps the hearts and minds of God’s people. Does not the metaphor forcibly picture the peaceful, perpetual growth of the saints? The myrtle sheds not her leaves, she is always green; and the Church in her worst time still hath a blessed verdure of grace about her; nay, she has sometimes exhibited most verdure when her winter has been sharpest. She has prospered most when her adversities have been most severe. Hence the text hints at victory. The myrtle is the emblem of peace, and a significant token of triumph. The brows of conquerors were bound with myrtle and with laurel; and is not the Church ever victorious? Is not every Christian more than a conqueror through him that loved him? Living in peace, do not the saints fall asleep in the arms of victory?

“Who of God is made unto us wisdom.” 1 Corinthians 1:30

Man’s intellect seeks after rest, and by nature seeks it apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Men of education are apt, even when converted, to look upon the simplicities of the cross of Christ with an eye too little reverent and loving. They are snared in the old net in which the Grecians were taken, and have a hankering to mix philosophy with revelation. The temptation with a man of refined thought and high education is to depart from the simple truth of Christ crucified, and to invent, as the term is, a more intellectual doctrine. This led the early Christian churches into Gnosticism, and bewitched them with all sorts of heresies. This is the root of Neology, and the other fine things which in days gone by were so fashionable in Germany, and are now so ensnaring to certain classes of divines. Whoever you are, good reader, and whatever your education may be, if you be the Lord's, be assured you will find no rest in philosophizing divinity. You may receive this dogma of one great thinker, or that dream of another profound reasoner, but what the chaff is to the wheat, that will these be to the pure word of God. All that reason, when best guided, can find out is but the A B C of truth, and even that lacks certainty, while in Christ Jesus there is treasured up all the fulness of wisdom and knowledge. All attempts on the part of Christians to be content with systems such as Unitarian and Broad-church thinkers would approve of, must fail; true heirs of heaven must come back to the grandly simple reality which makes the ploughboy’s eye flash with joy, and gladens the pious pauper’s heart—“Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.” Jesus satisfies the most elevated intellect when he is believingly received, but apart from him the mind of the regenerate discovers no rest. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” “A good understanding have all they that do his commandments.”

“Just, and the justifier of him which believeth.” Romans 3:26

Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Conscience accuses no longer. Judgment now decides for the sinner instead of against him. Memory looks back upon past sins, with deep sorrow for the sin, but yet with no dread of any penalty to come; for Christ has paid the debt of his people to the last jot and tittle, and received the divine receipt; and unless God can be so unjust as to demand double payment for one debt, no soul for whom Jesus died as a substitute can ever be cast into hell. It seems to be one of the very principles of our enlightened nature to believe that God is just; we feel that it must be so, and this gives us our terror at first; but is it not marvellous that this very same belief that God is just, becomes afterwards the pillar of our confidence and peace! If God be just, I, a sinner, alone and without a substitute, must be punished; but Jesus stands in my stead and is punished for me; and now, if God be just, I, a sinner, standing in Christ, can never be punished. God must change his nature before one soul, for whom Jesus was a substitute, can ever by any possibility suffer the lash of the law. Therefore, Jesus having taken the place of the believer—having rendered a full equivalent to divine wrath for all that his people ought to have suffered as the result of sin, the believer can shout with glorious triumph, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Not God, for he hath justified; not Christ, for he hath died, “yea rather hath risen again.” My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, he is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of hope rides like a queen.

“I sleep, but my heart waketh.” Song of Solomon 5:2

Paradoxes abound in Christian experience, and here is one—the spouse was asleep, and yet she was awake. He only can read the believer’s riddle who has ploughed with the heifer of his experience. The two points in this evening’s text are—a mournful sleepiness and a hopeful wakefulness. I sleep. Through sin that dwelleth in us we may become lax in holy duties, slothful in religious exercises, dull in spiritual joys, and altogether supine and careless. This is a shameful state for one in whom the quickening Spirit dwells; and it is dangerous to the highest degree. Even wise virgins sometimes slumber, but it is high time for all to shake off the bands of sloth. It is to be feared that many believers lose their strength as Samson lost his locks, while sleeping on the lap of carnal security. With a perishing world around us, to sleep is cruel; with eternity so near at hand, it is madness. Yet we are none of us so much awake as we should be; a few thunder-claps would do us all good, and it may be, unless we soon bestir ourselves, we shall have them in the form of war, or pestilence, or personal bereavements and losses. O that we may leave for ever the couch of fleshly ease, and go forth with flaming torches to meet the coming Bridegroom! My heart waketh. This is a happy sign. Life is not extinct, though sadly smothered. When our renewed heart struggles against our natural heaviness, we should be grateful to sovereign grace for keeping a little vitality within the body of this death. Jesus will hear our hearts, will help our hearts, will visit our hearts; for the voice of the wakeful heart is really the voice of our Beloved, saying, “Open to me.” Holy zeal will surely unbar the door.

“Oh lovely attitude! He stands
With melting heart and laden hands;
My soul forsakes her every sin;
And lets the heavenly stranger in.”

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe.” Mark 9:23

A certain man had a demoniac son, who was afflicted with a dumb spirit. The father, having seen the futility of the endeavours of the disciples to heal his child, had little or no faith in Christ, and therefore, when he was bidden to bring his son to him, he said to Jesus, “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” Now there was an “if” in the question, but the poor trembling father had put the “if” in the wrong place: Jesus Christ, therefore, without commanding him to retract the “if,” kindly puts it in its legitimate position. “Nay, verily,” he seemed to say, “there should be no ‘if’ about my power, nor concerning my willingness, the ‘if’ lies somewhere else.” “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” The man’s trust was strengthened, he offered a humble prayer for an increase of faith, and instantly Jesus spoke the word, and the devil was cast out, with an injunction never to return. There is a lesson here which we need to learn. We, like this man, often see that there is an “if” somewhere, but we are perpetually blundering by putting it in the wrong place. “If” Jesus can help me—“if” he can give me grace to overcome temptation—“if” he can give me pardon—“if” he can make me successful? Nay, “if” you can believe, he both can and will. You have misplaced your “if.” If you can confidently trust, even as all things are possible to Christ, so shall all things be possible to you. Faith standeth in God’s power, and is robed in God’s majesty; it weareth the royal apparel, and rideth on the King’s horse, for it is the grace which the King delighteth to honour. Girding itself with the glorious might of the all-working Spirit, it becomes, in the omnipotence of God, mighty to do, to dare, and to suffer. All things, without limit, are possible to him that believeth. My soul, canst thou believe thy Lord to-night?

“Accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:6

What a state of privilege! It includes our justification before God, but the term “acceptance” in the Greek means more than that. It signifies that we are the objects of divine complacence, nay, even of divine delight. How marvellous that we, worms, mortals, sinners, should be the objects of divine love! But it is only “in the beloved.” Some Christians seem to be accepted in their own experience, at least, that is their apprehension. When their spirit is lively, and their hopes bright, they think God accepts them, for they feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the earth! But when their souls cleave to the dust, they are the victims of the fear that they are no longer accepted. If they could but see that all their high joys do not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really depress them in their Father’s sight, but that they stand accepted in One who never alters, in One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, and how much more they would honour the Saviour! Rejoice then, believer, in this: thou art accepted “in the beloved.” Thou lookest within, and thou sayest, “There is nothing acceptable here!” But look at Christ, and see if there is not everything acceptable there. Thy sins trouble thee; but God has cast thy sins behind his back, and thou art accepted in the Righteous One. Thou hast to fight with corruption, and to wrestle with temptation, but thou art already accepted in him who has overcome the powers of evil. The devil tempts thee; be of good cheer, he cannot destroy thee, for thou art accepted in him who has broken Satan’s head. Know by full assurance thy glorious standing. Even glorified souls are not more accepted than thou art. They are only accepted in heaven “in the beloved,” and thou art even now accepted in Christ after the same manner.

“When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2

Most of us know what it is to be overwhelmed in heart; emptied as when a man wipeth a dish and turneth it upside down; submerged and thrown on our beam ends like a vessel mastered by the storm. Discoveries of inward corruption will do this, if the Lord permits the great deep of our depravity to become troubled and cast up mire and dirt. Disappointments and heart-breaks will do this when billow after billow rolls over us, and we are like a broken shell hurled to and fro by the surf. Blessed be God, at such seasons we are not without an all-sufficient solace, our God is the harbour of weather-beaten sails, the hospice of forlorn pilgrims. Higher than we are is he, his mercy higher than our sins, his love higher than our thoughts. It is pitiful to see men putting their trust in something lower than themselves; but our confidence is fixed upon an exceeding high and glorious Lord. A Rock he is since he changes not, and a high Rock, because the tempests which overwhelm us roll far beneath at his feet; he is not disturbed by them, but rules them at his will. If we get under the shelter of this lofty Rock we may defy the hurricane; all is calm under the lee of that towering cliff. Alas! such is the confusion in which the troubled mind is often cast, that we need piloting to this divine shelter. Hence the prayer of the text. O Lord, our God, by thy Holy Spirit, teach us the way of faith, lead us into thy rest. The wind blows us out to sea, the helm answers not to our puny hand; thou, thou alone canst steer us over the bar between yon sunken rocks, safe into the fair haven. How dependent we are upon thee—we need thee to bring us to thee. To be wisely directed and steered into safety and peace is thy gift, and thine alone. This night be pleased to deal well with thy servants.

“Let Israel rejoice in him.” Psalm 149:2

Be glad of heart, O believer, but take care that thy gladness has its spring in the Lord. Thou hast much cause for gladness in thy God, for thou canst sing with David, “God, my exceeding joy.” Be glad that the Lord reigneth, that Jehovah is King! Rejoice that he sits upon the throne, and ruleth all things! Every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the sunlight of our gladness. That he is wise should make us glad, knowing as we do our own foolishness. That he is mighty, should cause us to rejoice who tremble at our weakness. That he is everlasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know that we wither as the grass. That he is unchanging, should perpetually yield us a song, since we change every hour. That he is full of grace, that he is overflowing with it, and that this grace in covenant he has given to us; that it is ours to cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, ours to perfect us, ours to bring us to glory—all this should tend to make us glad in him. This gladness in God is as a deep river; we have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its clear sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater, and the current more impetuous in its joy. The Christian feels that he may delight himself not only in what God is, but also in all that God has done in the past. The Psalms show us that God’s people in olden times were wont to think much of God’s actions, and to have a song concerning each of them. So let God’s people now rehearse the deeds of the Lord! Let them tell of his mighty acts, and “sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.” Nor let them ever cease to sing, for as new mercies flow to them day by day, so should their gladness in the Lord’s loving acts in providence and in grace show itself in continued thanksgiving. Be glad ye children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord your God.

More on Josiah Humbling Himself before the Lord

"Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you have heard—because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD…"your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants." (2 Chronicles 34:26-27)"
King Josiah was a godly ruler, who purged the land of idolatrous activities. When the neglected word of God was discovered in the temple, he responded humbly as he heard it read. "Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes." He thereby escaped the judgment that was deserved by the rebellious people. Also, this appropriate wrath was postponed until after his reign.

These blessings of grace came because of Josiah's humble response to God's word. His heart was soft when he heard the word of the Lord: "Concerning the words which you have heard—because your heart was tender." The attitude of the heart toward the Scriptures is pivotal if a person is to experience God's grace at work in his life. A hardhearted response to the word of God does not receive the grace of God. The Israelites in Zechariah's day were a sad example of this. The Lord sent His word to them, "But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the LORD of hosts" (Zechariah 7:11-12).

Josiah's attitude was a vivid contrast. "You humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants." He did what James would later call God's people to do. "Receive with meekness the implanted word" (James 1:21). Josiah's humility was so evident. "You humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me." The result was that Josiah would enjoy the grace of God. His time of leadership would not have to go through the wrath that the people deserved from their previous rebellion and hardheartedness. "Your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants."
"Dear Lord, I confess that I have not always responded in humility before Your word. I thank You for Your forgiving grace. Yet, even more, I hunger for Your transforming grace. Shape my heart into a tender vessel that will meekly receive Your holy word, day by day, for Your honor and glory, Amen."

Josiah Humbling Himself before the Lord

"Then Hilkiah answered and said…"I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD"…Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes…[and said] "…great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD." (2 Chronicles 34:15, 19, and 21)"
When Nebuchadnezzar and Manasseh humbled themselves before the Lord, our great God poured out amazing grace upon these formerly godless and prideful kings. Of course, it is not necessary to first be rebellious in order to be humbled and to become a recipient of further grace from God. This truth is illustrated by Josiah humbling himself before the Lord.

Josiah began to reign in Jerusalem at a very young age. "Josiah was eight years old when he became king" (2 Chronicles 34:1). When he was yet in the teen years, he began to pursue the Lord. "For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David" (2 Chronicles 34:3a). His quest for God led him to serve the Lord faithfully and courageously by destroying the implements of idolatry in the land. "In the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down" (2 Chronicles 34:3b-4).

Later, he ordered the temple to be repaired. "Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the temple, he sent… [various leaders] …to repair the house of the LORD his God" (2 Chronicles 34:8). There, they found copies of God's word, which had been neglected for many years. "Then Hilkiah answered and said…'I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.'" Immediately, they took these precious writings to King Josiah. "Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes."

The Lord had instructed His leaders to rule by the truth of His word. "It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book…And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes" (Deuteronomy 17:18-19). Josiah was humbled with intense grief, knowing this had been neglected and that severe judgment was in order. "Great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD."
"O Lord God, my heart is torn when I think of the way Your word is neglected today. National leaders generally ignore it. Many church leaders compromise it. I have not given it appropriate attention. Let me be a Josiah in these wicked days, Amen."

Manasseh Humbling Himself before the Lord

"Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. (2 Chronicles 33:12-13)"
Manasseh's prideful rebellion against the Lord was astoundingly extensive. He was deeply engaged in abominable practices. He "caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists" (2 Chronicles 33:6). Nevertheless, when he humbled himself before the Lord, God poured out grace upon him.

When people humble themselves before God, phenomenal spiritual recovery can be experienced. The abominations Manasseh perpetrated would seem to leave no path of restoration for him. Yet, the Scriptures abound with declarations and testimonies of God's gracious response to those who humbly cry out to Him. The Lord invites such entreaties in the midst of great need. "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me" (Psalm 50:15). Even when the trouble would be captivity that resulted from rebellion, the Lord promised to hear and to deliver. "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive" (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

This is the gracious heart of our God toward genuine humility. No wonder that the Lord would pour out grace even upon a prideful rebel like Manasseh. "Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom." This was no casual entreaty. In the midst of his shameful agonies, he was overwhelmed with humility. He begged the Lord to rescue him. The Lord restored him. The wonderful result of this gracious work of God was the spiritual reality it planted in the heart of this former rebel. "Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God."
"O gracious Lord, I am so encouraged to see Your heart toward true humility. Too often, I have thought that I was beyond Your work of recovery in my life. Lord, there are areas in my life that need Your restoring touch. I humble myself before You now, entreating You to pour out Your grace in new measure and new power, Amen."

Manasseh Pridefully Rebelling against the Lord

"Manasseh…did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel…And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. Therefore the LORD brought upon them…the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. (2 Chronicles 33:1-2, 10-11)"
Manasseh was another king who walked in prideful rebellion against the Lord. "He did evil in the sight of the LORD." His pride was even more shocking than Nebuchadnezzar's (who ruled in Babylon), since Manasseh ruled in Jerusalem and had been raised by a godly father, King Hezekiah.

Manasseh was heavily influenced by the godless nations that dominated the land before God gave it to Israel. His evil was "according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel." The spiritual behavior of these Canaanite nations was abominable in God's sight. They indulged in licentious worship of idols on the hills and mountains. Manasseh "rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them" (2 Chronicles 33:3). Manasseh also brought idolatry into the very Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. "He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, 'In Jerusalem shall My name be forever'" (2 Chronicles 33:4).

The nations that preceded Israel in the land were even engaged in sacrificing their children and seeking demonic guidance. Shockingly, Manasseh also "caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists" (2 Chronicles 33:6). Actually, Manasseh brought more evil into the land than his abominable predecessors. "So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel" (2 Chronicles 33:9). Lovingly, the Lord reached out to this pridefully rebellious king. "And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen." The ultimate result of this persistent resistance was humiliating and painful captivity. "Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon."
"Heavenly Father, please guard me from the seductive influence of this godless world. I am already too familiar with the bondage that worldly indulgence brings. Please nurture to fullness every godly seed ever planted in my life, for Your glory, Amen."

Nebuchadnezzar Exemplifying God's Grace for Humility

"And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever…He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth…At the same time…I was restored to my kingdom…Now I…praise and extol and honor the King of heaven…and those who walk in pride He is able to abase. (Daniel 4:34-37)"
When Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself, he exemplified God's opposition to pride. "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?…a voice fell from heaven…'the kingdom has departed from you'" (Daniel 4:30-31). When he humbled himself, he exemplified God's grace for humility. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5).

Nebuchadnezzar had been driven into the fields to live as an animal. "That very hour the word was fulfilled…he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen…till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws" (Daniel 4:33). This season of God's opposition for Nebuchadnezzar's pride would end when he looked to the Lord above. "And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me." Now, with his mind enabled to think rightly, he began to give blessing and praise and honor to the Lord God Most High. "And I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever."

This represented a completely transformed perspective for the king. Previously, he was glorifying himself. Now, he glorified the Lord. Previously, he thought he had established himself upon his throne. Now, he saw the will of God behind his ascendancy to power. "He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth." The Lord then granted grace to this humbled king, who had formerly walked in rebellious pride. "At the same time…I was restored to my kingdom." Seated again in authority, he gave honor to the King of heaven (instead of to the king of Babylon). "Now I… praise and extol and honor the King of heaven." Then, he added a remark that reveals the new conviction he received during his humbling. "And those who walk in pride He is able to abase."
"Lord God Most High, I confess that I have had moments of success which I wrongly assumed were of my doing. Thank You for the grace You have always given when I humbly turned to honor You again. Lord, help me to keep my eyes consistently toward heaven that I might think rightly and give You all glory and praise day by day, Amen."