Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence, and do not claim a place among his great men; it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,” than for him to humiliate you before his nobles. – Proverbs 25:6-7

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 8, 2016): Proverbs 25

Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) instructed his students that “the most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.” Humility is often a foreign concept to us. We struggle continually against the world to get what it is that we think that we deserve. I know that I struggle. I want to be known as good at something. There are enough forces in this world that fight against us, striving to keep us down. So many people who want tell us that we are worthless. Sometimes it seems like we just have to fight, trying to keep our personal self-image above water. We fight for position. We struggle to be recognized. And the instructions of humility are lost on us. They are for someone else, not us. All this world understands is power.

Faith seems to believe that there is a different way – the way of humility. In those moments when you think that you are powerless, recognize that being powerless might be more of an illusion than the positions of recognition for which we struggle. Influence is a strange animal. It is, in a sense, nocturnal; it is present when we least expect it. And at that moment when you are raised up by someone else into a position of power and influence, you just might realize that influence has never been absent from your life. Satan knows how to put us down when we strive for more. Then he has the power to devastate us. But when we are dominated by a sense of humility, all of his tools are useless against us.

Not surprising the Bible seems to caution us against pride in favor of humility repeatedly. It is found in this proverb. It is present in the story of Haman in Esther, who expects to be exalted, but instead finds his defeat in the exaltation of his enemy Mordecai. It is even in the teachings of Jesus as he speaks to the guests at the Pharisee's house. “⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:7-11 NIV).

The message seems clear. If you exalt yourself, the only thing that can happen is that you could humbled – and this will likely happen at some point. But, if you humble yourself, then you will be exalted. Humility is a weapon that even Satan has no idea how to combat. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 26