“But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” (2 Chronicles 26:16)Pride corrupts the heart. This scripture tells the story of Uzziah who became King of Judah at the age of sixteen. In his youth, Uzziah sought the Lord. “He did right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God prospered him.” (2 Chronicles 26:4-5) When he was young and weak, he gladly sought the Lord but when he grew up and became strong he forgot the Lord who had sustained him and given him victory in battle. Instead of giving thanks to the Lord he accepted the adulation of others for what he had done as if he alone had accomplished those things. In forgetting God he lost his fear of the Lord. Without the fear of the Lord his proud heart lead him to act corruptly against God and against His Word. Uzziah entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense before God, something he was forbidden to do according to the ordinances given by God through Moses. The priests of the Lord opposed the king and warned him that it was not for him to burn incense before the Lord. This enraged Uzziah. His proud heart was greatly offended by their challenge to his actions. As the priest stood to rebuke Uzziah, God intervened and judged him for his actions. “Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him.” (2 Chronicles 26:20)
Pride corrupts our heart and leads us into a life that is a direct affront to God. The sin of pride is one of the few sins that actually predates the human race. In a lamentation over the King of Tyre, which is often interpreted to refer to the devil, God declares, “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.” (Ezekiel 28:17) Further, God says of the devil, “But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” (Isaiah 14:13-14) When we participate in the sin of pride we are joining ourselves with the work of our enemy.
Pride sets us at odds with the Lord. Peter reminds us that, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) In the original Greek, this verse literally says that “God ranges Himself in battle before the proud.” God sets Himself and His kingdom in full battle array against the proud. God intends to make war with the proud, and it’s a war that God is certain to win. When we give place to pride, we separate ourselves from the grace of God and invite the opposition of God into our lives, and not just our lives, but often the lives of those we love are also affected by the consequences of our pride. Pride is not just a character flaw it is a sin. We cannot afford to tolerate pride in our lives but must root it out, by the grace of God, and learn to walk in humble submission to His will.
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:18-19)More to come… David Robison
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