Internal Strife August 18, 2015

Proverbs 16:18      Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.

Proverbs 11:2     When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Obadiah 1:3     The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?'

Proverbs 17:19     Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.

Proverbs 18:12     Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

David, king of ancient Israel, found himself in the midst of a confused national situation. His kingdom was torn by internal strife. Slave hated master; master hated slave. People blamed the government, and government blamed the people. David looked about him and saw that every man thought himself perfect. Each individual placed blame upon other individuals. David knew that if sinful pride continued to increase, his nation would collapse spiritually. He knew that economic depression, moral disintegration, or military defeat inevitably follow spiritual decline. So David turned to God, and it was revealed to him by the Spirit of God that the spiritual tide of his nation could rise no higher than the spiritual level of his own heart. So he fell on his knees in utter humility and prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23,24).

Prayer for the day

Lord, deliver me from the sin of pride, and fill me with continuing humility as I go about the tasks before me this day.