“For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” – Isaiah 48:11 (NIV)
Charles Spurgeon once said, “There is nothing the human heart falls into as easily as pride, and yet there is no sin that is more frequently, more emphatically, and more eloquently condemned in Scripture.” *
Pride and vanity in all aspects of life are hateful in the sight of God. Nothing is more destructive to our situation as lost and dying sinners, and nothing is more certain to find the crosshairs of the Lord’s wrath.
Case in point: King Herod.
“On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.” – Acts 12:21-24 (NLT)
The graphic imagery of Herod’s death clearly illustrates just how much God hates pride. Herod was a sinful man, but moreover he was a prideful, sinful man. God didn’t just simply strike him dead with a bolt of lightning. No, that would’ve been too merciful. The Lord used worms to deliver Herod’s gruesome death, as they ate through his body from the inside-out.
Spurgeon had more to say about the futility of pride.
“Pride is foolish. It brings no profit with it. There is no wisdom in self-exaltation. Other sins might have some excuse, for people might seem to gain by them. People might make excuses and find temporary worldly benefit in greed, pleasure, and lust, but the person who is proud sells his soul cheaply. He opens wide the floodgates of his heart to let people see how deep the flood within his soul is, but then suddenly it flows out and all is gone; nothing is left. For one puff of empty wind, one word of sweet applause – the soul is gone, and not a drop left.
“In almost every other sin, we gather up the ashes when the fire is gone, but here, what is left? The covetous person has his shining gold, but what does the proud person have? He has less than he would have had without his pride, and he has gained no advantage whatsoever. Pride does not win any crowns. No one, not even the lowest people on earth, honor it. All people look down on the proud person and consider him less than themselves.”
As we go about our day today, let us do so with humility and grace. When we are tempted to take credit for the Lord’s work through us, let us be reminded of the example the Lord made out of Herod.
He will not allow himself to be defamed; He will not yield His glory to another. Amen.
(*Excerpts from “Faithful to Christ” by Charles Spurgeon*)
Former Blackout Artist 