Pride - Part 1

(Pride - Part 1 | Part 2)

Pride! God has declared Himself to be a jealous God who will not tolerate our worship of any other gods. Yet prideful man continues to arrogantly exalt himself rebelliously taking credit for what God has done. Pride has been defined as "the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man." Is it any wonder that many biblical authorities consider it to be the ultimate sin?

It all began with Satan! In Ezekiel's prophecy against the king of Tyre, the Lord is really speaking to Satan, His anointed angel.

The Scripture: Ezekiel 28:12

"The word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says; 'You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.’”

1. How is the king of Tyre (Satan) described?

The Scripture: Ezekiel 28:14-15

"You were anointed as a guardian cherub for so I ordained you... You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you."

2. Who was Satan?

The Scripture: Ezekiel 28:17

"Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth."

3. What happened to him?

4. What did God do to him?

The Scripture: Ezekiel 28:2

"In the pride of your heart you say, 'I am a god.’"

5. In the pride of his heart, what did he say?

The Scripture: Isaiah 14:13-14

"You said in your heart, 'I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit."

6. What was his boast?

7. What happened to him instead?

Satan is not the only creature brought low because of his pride. The Bible has much to say on this subject.

The Scripture: Proverbs 16:18

"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

8. What is the ultimate fate of the proud?

The Bible warns time and time again against a proud heart.

The Scripture: Proverbs: 29:23

"A man's pride brings him low."

9. What does pride do to us?

The Scripture: Daniel 4:37

"Those who walk in pride He is able to humble."

10. What can God do to the proud?

God makes His attitude toward the proud clear. What is God's attitude in each of the following scriptures?

God Will Not Endure The Proud

The Scripture: Psalm 101:5

"Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure."

11. What is God’s attitude toward the haughty?

He Detests Them

The Scripture: Proverbs 16:5

"The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished."

12. What is God's attitude toward the proud?

13. What will happen to them?

God Opposes Them

The Scripture: James 4:6

"God opposes the proud."

14. What else?

God Repays Them

A wise woman once said, "Never pray for justice; none of us could stand if we received justice; rather ask for mercy." Pity the person who receives justice and is paid back in full.

The Scripture: Psalm 31:23

"Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full."

15. What does the Lord do to the proud?

God Scatters Them

The Scripture: Luke 1:51

"He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts."

16. What does God do to the proud?

We need look no further than the story of the Tower of Babel to have evidence of this.

The Scripture: Genesis 11:1-4

"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, 'Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly'. Then they said, 'Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.’"

17. What did the people decide to do?

18. Why?

The Scripture: Genesis 11:5-8

"But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower. He said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.' So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.”

19. What did the Lord do?

20. What was the result?

The many times the Israelites were exiled for their sins is further evidence of the Lord's scattering them.

Let's continue to look at God's attitude toward the proud.

God Will Not Come Close To the Proud

The Scripture: Psalm 138:6

"The proud He knows from afar."

21. How does the Lord know the proud?

Pride is perhaps our greatest obstacle in having a close relationship with the Lord.

Pride Is Ugly

The Scripture: Proverbs 13:10

"Pride only breeds quarrels."

22. What does pride do?

The psalmist goes so far as to blame pride as the reason the wicked do not seek God.

The Scripture: Psalm 10:4

"In all his thoughts there is no room for God."

23. Of what does the psalmist accuse the wicked?

In this section of our study we have looked at the origins of pride, and its ugliness. In the second half we will look at pride's opposite, humility.