The Proud and the Humble

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

THE PROUD AND THE HUMBLE

Judges 16:21-31

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands." 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain." 25 While they were in high spirits, they shouted, "Bring out Samson to entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. When they stood him among the pillars, 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, "Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them." 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes." 29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. 31 Then his brothers and his father's whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.

NIV

So the Philistines praised their dead god, not because they overpowered Samson, but because a woman used her womanly prowess to get him to tell her the truth of his strength. In their pride, they made a mistake that would cost them their lives. It wasn’t good enough to praise their little useless god, but they had to celebrate and have Samson brought to them so they could watch his subjectiveness. But that is not what happened, for God did not forget Samson, and he strengthened Samson one more time so he brought the house down, so to speak. Solomon, known as the wisest man, said, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall”. We see this played in all the rulers of the Philistines, plus a crowd of men and women who filled the temple, as well as thousands more on the roof, which must have overlooked an open-air portion, or courtyard, of the temple. They were so proud of defeating Samson, they did not know what was about to happen. Pride is an awful thing to hold within the heart, which will do more damage to the prideful than to anyone else. Humbleness is opposite to pridefulness, and we are told by Jesus to take his yoke upon us and to learn from him, for he is gentle and humble in heart. The apostle James tells us to humble ourselves before the Lord; it is He who will lift us up. When we try to lift ourselves up, proclaiming our accomplishments, whether they be success in either the world or in ministry, our educational level, our titles, or whatever we think makes us better or of higher standings then others, pride not only is lurking at our hearts, but is has taken over and we are simply destroying ourselves from within. Even if we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that pridefulness causes a division within our hearts, and we simply cannot serve both God and self. Because we profess our service to God and desire to serve the Lord with our whole being, we should be servants to others, as Jesus said he did not come to be served but to serve. We believe it is impossible to serve both God and people without first having a humble heart. Samson humbled himself before God and was given his strength one last time. We should not humble ourselves just to get strength from the Lord or to be lifted up, but simply because we should be humble.