2 SAMUEL 22
26 “With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
27 with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
28 You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
29 For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness.
30 For by you I can run against a troop and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. – 2 Samuel 22:26-31
2 SAMUEL 22 THE HUMBLE ARE SAVED & THE HAUGHTY RUINED
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
The Lord never changes his character, he is constantly reliable
To those who are forgiving and gracious, he shows his compassion
To the irreproachable, he shows his righteousness and holiness
To the wicked and crooked men, he brings them punishment
To those who are meek and subservient to him, he brings them counsel
To the haughty and proud, they suffer the consequence of their arrogance.
This psalm written by David is almost identical to Psalm 18. Jesus also repeats the importance of a true relationship with God in the Sermon on the Mount. Because God is our Father, he expects a relationship with us by following these principles of love. Matthew 7 repeats this law of love in which one will be measured by how we measure one another. Morgan comments on this: “In these words we have revealed the principles of the relationship between God and man. God is to man what man is to God.”
These following verses shows us the character of God and what he expects from his own people. Just like David shows us in Psalm 1 the blessed and the wicked men and how God deals with them differently. The Lord blesses those who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked but those who are evil, cannot stand the judgment or the congregation of the righteous because the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the wicked will perish. In other words, if we sow righteousness, we will reap the fruits of the Spirit, but if we sow evil, we will harvest sin.
Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, and 1 Peter 5:5 reiterates the principle spoken of here. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. David Guzik comments “There is something in true humility that prompts the grace and mercy of God and there is something in pride and haughtiness that prompts His resistance and displeasure.”
Humble people do not think highly of themselves unlike the proud ones. True humility means that you know your place and that you acknowledge that God is your Maker and in control of all things. Pride is the opposite of humility. The haughty person thinks very highly of himself that he is blinded to see that someone is higher than him who sees all things and knows all things.
REFLECTION
- How can we be humbler and let go of pride as Christians?
