The Honor of Humility – Part 2
Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of
wisdom; and before honour is humility.
Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is
haughty, and before honour is humility.
Proverbs 22:4 By humility and the fear of the LORD are
riches, and honour, and life.
Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride shall bring him low: but
honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
I. The Promise
·
Matthew
18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same
is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
·
Matthew
23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall
humble himself shall be exalted.
·
James 4:6 But he
giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth
grace unto the humble.
·
James
4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
·
1 Peter
5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you in due time:
II. The Process
A. Humility starts as an
Inward Recognition
·
Acts
20:19 Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and
temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
·
Romans
12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among
you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think
soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
·
Colossians
3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
B. Humility becomes and Outward
Revelation
·
1 Peter
5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you
be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the
proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
III. The Price
·
2
Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above
measure.
Thorns produce heaviness and humility.
Let me illustrate the price that many will have to pay to
produce humility in their life:
Turn to II Samuel 15:30, we find David is going
through a time of extreme heaviness due to the THORNS that God is allowing in
his life.
David is walking up the hill – weeping, head covered,
barefooted – and everyone with him was weeping as well.
1. He
had been run out of town by his own son, Absalom. (15:13-17)
2. He
had just been informed that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom.
(15:31)
NOTE: Ahithophel
was one of David’s closest friends and counsellors – see verse 12 (Grandfather
of Tamar)
This is what David was talking about in Psalms 55:12-15 “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I
could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself
against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide,
and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the
house of God in company.”
This is what is happening to David in II Sam. 15. He is in great heaviness and sorrow and pain. He is
being THORNED.
Then we get to Chapter
16 and the pain, and the heartbreak, and the thorns keep on coming.
He is met by Ziba – the servant of Mephibosheth. He brought
bread and raisings and summer fruits.
David asked him where his master was, and was told that he
had stayed behind in Jerusalem because he hoped that the throne would be
restored to him as a son of Saul.
This was the crippled man that David had spared and brought
in to his own house to eat at his table as one of his own sons. Now he has
turned on David and took sides against him with Absalom in hopes of somehow
becoming king!
Then --- as he continues on in VERSE 5, a man of the house
of Saul whose name was Shimei began to curse David.
The Bible says he cursed, he cast stones at David, and all
his servants and called him a bloody man and a son of Belial.
Who was he anyway?
·
II Sam.
19:16, 17 tells us that he was a Benjamite man that had 1,000 Benjamites
following him. He was a man of tremendous influence and power.
But why did Shimei
hate David? We have no record of him ever meeting David, talking with
David or crossing paths with David until this incident in II Sam. 16.
Have you ever stopped to wonder why Shimei hated David so
bad?
Why was he so angry, that he would curse and throw rocks at
David and his mighty men? (vs. 6)
This man was so mad he didn’t care if he lived or died!
Our text tells us that he was a man of the family of the
house of Saul.
Now we know that Saul hated David, and we know why. But why
did Shimei hate David enough to go stark raving mad?
·
Turn to I
Samuel 22:6-8
Here, Saul brainwashes the Benjamites (his tribe) against
David. He lies to them. He turns them against David.
We don’t know if Shimei was there or not, but if he wasn’t,
he surely heard about it.
1.
The fact was that David LOVED Saul.
2.
The fact was that David had been Saul’s armor
bearer.
3.
The fact was that David had already been
anointed as the next king.
4.
The fact was that Saul had tried on two separate
occasions to kill David with a javelin.
5.
The fact was that two chapters over, David
spared Saul’s life. (I Sam. 24:4, 5)
6.
The fact was that David told Saul in verse 13
that he had no desire to harm him.
7.
He referred to himself as a dead dog and a flea
in verse 14
But Shimei had no doubt heard all these horrible lies about
David.
His heart had been polluted; his mind had been poisoned. His
feelings toward David were based on lies.
He had heard so many bad things about David, and been
influenced so incorrectly about David, that he HATES HIS GUTS!
So here he is, a man with 1,000 Benjamites at his disposal,
and he is so angry that he is throwing rocks and cursing David and his mighty
men.
Would you agree with me that David is being “thorned”?
What as the result of these thorns? What was the product of
all these thorns?
IT PRODUCED HUMILITY in the heart and mind of David.
Notice his response in verse 11 – let him alone. Let him
curse. For the Lord hath bidden him.
I want to close with this observation. In verse 9, Abishai
said to David, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go
over, I pray thee, and take off his head.”
David looked at Abishai and said, “Maybe so, but I too am a
dead dog. And a flea. How can a dead dog get angry and upset at another dead
dog.” (I Sam. 24:14)
