Psalm 119: Focus On God's Word Pt. 62 God Is Against Obstinate Pride

Psalm 119:17-20  GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 18)  Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. 19)  I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. 20)  My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. 

In our last post we looked at the issue of pride and how those who are filled with arrogance, self conceit and pride, err or stray from the scriptures. We looked at the negative influence of moral pride and spiritual pride. 

The obstinacy of hardened pride

Psalm 119:21  Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. 

Jeremiah gave good counsel from God to his nation and he implored them not to be proud by refusing to hear and heed what God said to them (Jeremiah 8:15-17). He cried out that his soul would weep over their pride because he saw what God would do in judging their hardened hearts. 

Pride in the heart produces irreverence for God.

Psalm 10:4  The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. 

Obstinate pride from a hardened heart is a willful sin against God. Such ones neglect and disregard God's Word and His Person. 

The proud, wicked ones are filled with self conceit and they will not seek after God, just as Pharaoh stubbornly refused to submit to God's authority and power (Exodus 1-15). 

"God is not in my thoughts" say the proud of heart. "I will never seek Him, for I do not need Him" they say. 

The obstinate, willful proud ones never give any thought as to what might please God or what displeases Him.

Yet, it is appointed unto man once to die and then the proud in heart shall stand before the God they despised and receive eternal condemnation. 

God is set in array to war against pride. 

James 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Worse, the obstinate, proud ones oppose God with all their vigor. Therefore, God resists the proud and fights against their evil intentions. The word "resist" means setting up for war against pride. 

The word "proud" means setting yourself up above others with an attitude of haughty superiority. This word contains the idea that a proud person lifts himself above God. 

A proud heart despises God's commandments. 

2 Samuel 12:9  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 

Nathan was sent by Jehovah to confront King David's sins with Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. Now, King David was a man after God's own heart, and if he struggled with pride, you can be sure that we will. 

Nathan singled out one horrible aspect of human pride. It causes a person to despise the commandments of God. King David committed adultery and conspired with his commanders to murder Uriah in battle. 

Nathan communicated that every sin that is committed is a slap against the holy law of God. It is the obstinate proud one saying "I do not care what God says in His law." 

The obstinate and proud violate God's standard. 

Proverbs 13:13  Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded. 

God will ultimately destroy all people who despise His word and transgress His commands. However, He will reward those who know Him and fear His word. 

When contending with the Devil for the body of Moses, Michael refused to engage in angry, contentious speech (See Jude 1:9). 

The word "railing" means  judgment or blasphemy,” or evil-speaking. 

Angels do not avenge themselves by railing at the enemy or his demons, when they have to contend with them. 

Michael did not rail against Satan even when he fought with the devil, the prince of evil spirits. This was out of his reverence for God. 

Pride against those who are set in authority over us is bad enough, but pride against God is worst of all, because He is Highest over all. 

The proud want to rule over those who fear God. 

Isaiah 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

Isaiah provided a picture of the worst state of pride. First, he described people being oppressed by neighbors, those whom they trusted. Second, youth will act proudly against older people. They will mock them, scorn them and treat them with contempt. 

Third, he described the most vile, despicable people (base) who act with pride toward those who have pure hearts and a reverential fear of God. 

Jehovah is absolute in His jurisdiction and authority. 

Isaiah 45:5,6  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6)  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

The prophet extolls the glory of God as Creator and Sustainer of all things. There is no other "god" for only Jehovah wields power so obsolete and prevailing that He spoke a word and light existed. He spoke another word and the sun, moon and stars were created.  

Isaiah 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. 

Jehovah our Creator formed the light and darkness. He makes all nature to be at peace and He can unleash the storms which disrupt the peace. No one resists His power because it is absolute, and this is why the sin of pride against God is flagrant and egregious. 

The proud who strive against God are doomed to failure. 

Isaiah 45:9  Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 

Since all these things Isaiah spoke of are irrefutably true, how foolish is the proud person who strives against his Maker. It is like a lump of clay in the potter's hand questioning why the potter made it like it is. 

The picture here is that the clay of the potter must be made pliable, impurities screened out before the potter can make a useful vessel of it. 

Is the clay pot able to question why the potter made it in that particular shape? It is a rhetorical question that demands an answer of "No" (See Isaiah 29:16).

Thoughts to Ponder...

Paul gave us a clear picture of a proud person. Those who are willfully proud "reply against God." 

The idea is that they contradict God with their speech. 

Some insist that space, time and matter just somehow happened as a result of some random processes and happy coincidences. 

Some insist that God does not exist, therefore, man is morally free to do whatever he wants to do. 

Romans 9:20,21  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21)  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 

Paul used three different questions. 

Who is man that he replies or speaks against God? Psalm 8 answers this question by reminding us of our status before God. 

Is a created object going to complain to the potter who made it? The answer is "No." The pot has no power, no mind, no strength to do anything. Rather, it can only fulfill the function that the potter intended it to perform. 

Thus, the proud and obstinate are like the fool who says in his heart there is no God.

I pray that the Lord will help us see just how evil and hurtful the sin of pride is. I pray that He will help us root it out of our hearts, so that we might draw closer to Him. 

We must have pride purged out of our hearts so that we may live in humble dependency upon God. This is the place of blessing for us. 

Bob