Passionately Resist Pride

"Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me" [Psa 36:11]

David cries out to God for purity, that pride would not get a foot hold, and that the wicked wouldn’t remove Him. Why? Because He is in the presence of The LORD, filled with Living Water, fat and flourishing and filled with light and joy [Psa 36:8-9]. He is “abundantly satisfied with the fatness of [The LORD’s] house” and He doesn’t want to leave. He is enjoying his greatest desire. For in Psalms 27:4 we see he says, “one thing have I desired of The LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of The LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of The LORD and to inquire in His temple.”

David so earnestly desires to be in The LORD’s presence, to gaze upon His glorious beauty and to pray to Him. He says in another Psalm, “whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” [Psa 73:25] David knew well that “…in [The LORD’s] presence is fulness of joy; at [His] right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Pride and sin are two things that can keep us from the wonderful fellowship of Christ. Pride is what led to Adam and Eve being evicted from Eden: they wanted to do things on their own, they wanted their own personal knowledge of good and evil so that they could make decisions for themselves, instead of relying upon The LORD for guidance in all things – instead of living by every word proceeding from His mouth – instead of abiding in pure and simple devotion to Christ. And so David prays against pride, that it not gain a foothold.

CONCLUSION

Let us pray against and fight pride daily so that we might be near to The LORD and behold more of His glory and excellency. That we would be “rooted and grounded in love,” comprehending with all the saints “what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which is surpassing knowledge, that [we] might be filled with all the fullness of God.” [Eph 3:17-19]

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with Him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." [Isa 57:15]