Proverbs 11:2 "Pride"

Pride in Nebuchadnezzar and the Book of Daniel

Just by some words of introduction and review, it was about a year ago that we were studying the book of Daniel. Many of you were here, and you remember that. And besides Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, someone of prominence in the book is King Nebuchadnezzar, which is interesting because he was, in fact, a pagan king, but God blessed him with common grace in great measure.

In fact, the vision that God gave him of the statue, remember the multi-metal statue, he was the head of gold, and he was even referred to by Daniel as the king of kings, which is something to say. And God gave him one of the greatest kingdoms in history.

Yet, as all too often happens, he forgot that all that he had came from God. And we read in Daniel 4, verses 29 to 30, 12 months later, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. The king reflected and said, Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built?

Notice the words. I myself has built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty. Classic words from the prideful soul of man. But God dealt swiftly with the king for his arrogance and pride because, as we continue to read, while the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven saying, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared.

Sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes.

Interesting. Notice the affirmation that God is the only true sovereign and everything that man has is a gift from God. And Nebuchadnezzar, who was given the greatest acclamation on earth, the greatest kingdom on earth at the time, and yet what did he see?

He said, well, I did it, my hands. This is mine. And as quickly as God had given it to him, he took it away from him. That's by way of introduction. We're working our way systematically through the book of Proverbs, and we're pausing at the theme of each proverb.

We're going systematically, and when we come to each next proverb, we explore other verses with the same subject matter. So this morning we're addressing the topic of pride, and our opening text is Proverbs 11 .2, which simply says, when pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.

Defining Pride as Trusting in Self

So first we need to define what pride is. And interestingly enough, perhaps the best definition of pride is found in Proverbs 3 .5, and yet it doesn't even mention the word pride. But look at what it says.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. The prideful man is the one who trusts in himself. In verse 5, you can see very clearly how trusting in the Lord, putting your undying faith in him, and not leaning, as opposed to leaning on your own understanding, are in direct opposition to each other.

And that's actually the definition of pride, is when you're leaning on yourself, your own understanding, as though you know better what you need rather than God. Proverbs 28 .26 further expands on that.

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered. So the prideful man is the one who looks at his own accomplishments and glories in what he has done. He attributes the gifts of God to his own works.

There's no question that there are men and women in this world that God has gifted greatly in many different ways. Some have the ability to speak, some have the ability to teach. Some are great handymen, the works of their hands.

You look at some of these great works of art, you say, you know, how can I do it? I mean, as an artist, I can draw stick figures. Not very well. And yet I look at some people and they take a brush. I think of Joni Erikson Tata, who with a paintbrush in her teeth paints beautiful pictures.

And I can't even take a picture. But God gives great gifts and great abilities to mankind. And often we don't realize that even the ability that we have to accomplish these things, those are gifts from God.

And the proud man places his abilities, his intellect, and that's the standard by which he measures everybody else. Because I'm the measure of all things. Isn't that the ultimate of pride? What I think is true, what I think is false.

Basically what we're saying is the heart is focused on the self. And the proud man's actions flow from his arrogant heart. Everything comes from the heart. We know that Proverbs earlier in Chapter 3 says, guard your heart for from it flow the issues of life.

So who you are inside. Remember when Proverbs talks about the heart, it's talking about who you are. It's not talking about the muscle. It's talking about who you are on the inside. Proverbs 21, 24, proud, haughty, scoffer are his names, who acts with insolent pride.

Interesting to see just how much Proverbs has to say about pride, which we understand since it is the book which gives wisdom. It's difficult for a proud man to conceal the loftiness and arrogance in his eyes.

The proud man doesn't have to be loud and boisterous, although many times they are, but he doesn't have to be loud and boisterous. In fact, often he's very subtle. And we see that in Proverbs 30, verse 13.

There is a kind. Oh, how lofty are his eyes, and his eyelids are raised in arrogance. I love the descriptions that we see in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs just nails it. A proud person doesn't always just come out and exalt himself with words.

He can do it just with facial expressions and with the looks in his eyes. I feel this way when we have our deacons meetings sometimes. But no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I was talking about myself.

I've been leaving the deacons alone for a while, so I figured it was time to give them a little shot. No, pride is a sin that is not easily hidden because of the arrogance that comes behind it. Sooner or later, his pride will be revealed, even though he may try to cover it up.

And then Paul weighs in on this subject. Very clearly as well in Galatians 5 .26, he says, let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. The proud man always is the one who always has a better way in his own thinking.

And basically, you don't know what you're talking about. Now, he may not use those exact words, but he can convey that even with actions and with the swift look and the look in his eyes. Proverbs actually has a test to show the character of a man.

And this is a very interesting test. Look at this verse, Proverbs 27 .21. The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, and a man is tested by the praise according to him. See what it's saying?

It's an interesting test. How does a man handle praise? According to Proverbs, it's a sure-fire test. Notice what it says. Just like you would test silver, how you can test gold for the purity of it.

As sure as those are true tests, so is the test. Give a man some praise. Give him a pat on the back. Give him what we used to call attaboys, attaboy. And how does he handle it? Is he truly humble about it, or is he prideful about it?

Oh, it was nothing. So now we're going to look at some of the descriptions of pride from the Book of Proverbs. Pride is characterized by self-importance. Proverbs 26 .12. You see a man wise in his own eyes.

There is more hope for a fool than for him. This is one of the most interesting descriptions of any characteristic, let alone just pride, that you find in the Book of Proverbs, and I'll show you why. Why is this so interesting description?

Because if you're a prideful man, in other words, you're wise in your own eyes, there's more hope for a fool. Why do I find that so interesting? Because according to Proverbs, the fool's end is destruction.

That means the proud man has less hope than destruction. Does it make the point? Proverbs has a way of just really very concisely making its point. Pride is characterized by self-deception. Proverbs 28 .11.

The rich man is wise in his own eyes, but the poor who has understanding sees through him. Again, self-deception. He's wise in his own eyes. In other words, he really believes that he's as good as he says he is.

We used to, in the police department, we used to have a saying for guys who became proud. We'd say he's believing his own press releases. Press releases are made intentionally to make you look good. And so the CO, when he would report on an arrest that you had made or whatever, make you look good.

And then the problem is some guys start to believe, sometimes fictitious. We know the press would never do that, though. Proverbs 12 .15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

Look at how many Proverbs there are. 28 .26. He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered. There you have the antithesis, always the antithesis. Wisdom, foolishness.

And remember, just so that we don't forget, foolishness in the Book of Proverbs is a moral judgment. It's not an intellectual judgment. It's not talking about your intellectual ability. Some of the smartest people who have ever walked the face of this earth are fools.

Pride is characterized by self-deception. The proud man is convinced he's right, so right that he refuses to listen to anyone. Don't you find pride arrogant? You know, pride aggravating? Really aggravating?

In everyone else. I did steal it from you, John. I'll give you credit. We don't see ourselves because the nature of pride is that it is self-deceptive. You actually start believing that you're as good as you say you are.

Pride as Self-Promotion and Self-Importance

Pride is also described by self-promotion. The proud man is not satisfied just himself knowing how good and wonderful he is. He wants you to know how good and wonderful he is. And whether he is truly good and wonderful or simply deluding himself, self-promotion is always condemned by Scripture.

Proverbs 25, 14. Like clouds and wind without rain, it's a man who boasts of his gifts falsely. When I was writing this, the first time I went through Proverbs, we had just had one of those, warning of one of those summer storms, and we were out in the backyard, and all of a sudden the dark clouds came in and got pitch black.

Everything turned almost like an eclipse. It was so dark. And the wind whipped up, and the trees, and we had a backyard full of oak trees, and they were swaying back and forth and creaking. You were wondering if they were even going to fall down.

And then very quickly, just as it came, it went. Not even a drop of rain. And I saw this like clouds and wind without rain. That's what it reminded me of. That storm came. Everybody was running, grabbed the chairs, battened down the hatches.

Nothing. That's the description of a proud man, self-promotion. The proud man speaks a lot but can't back up his words with action. But what if he can? What if he's really good? Proverbs addresses that as well.

Let another praise you, not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips. A proudful man always winds up turning sour in his stomach. Look at this. I love this proverb. Proverbs 25, 27. It's not good to eat much honey, nor is it a glory to search out one's own glory.

Self-promotion is like eating honey. Tastes good at first, but then it turns into... I love honey. We always have a jar of honey in our cabinet. And every once in a while, I'll go in to get my teabag out, and there's that jar of honey.

So I'll take it out. I'll take a spoon and go ahead and put it in my mouth. And oh, it tastes so good. Melting in your mouth, that sweetness, that flavor. Got to take another one. So I take another one.

But by the end of that second one, I don't even want to look at honey because it is so sweet, so rich. That's what pride is. Pride may taste good to begin with, but it always ends up turning in your stomach.

So let another praise you, not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips. Pride's destiny. Before I get into the rest of this, I was just reminded of a story about a man. This man was the chief of detectives in the Suffolk County Police Department.

It's many years ago, so he's long in the grave now. But this man was so prideful that the PBA had won a contract, that you finally were getting paid overtime. When I became a police officer, there's no such thing as paid overtime.

If you were a detective, you were expected to work overtime, and yeah, we'll give you the time back. But you could never take it because they'd never approve it. So that's just the way it was. It was long before.

PBAs weren't unions back then. They were just associations. And finally, through collective bargaining, the PBA won that if you worked overtime, you deserved time and a half for pay. Well, the chief of detectives decided he didn't like that ruling.

So he says, no, I'm not paying it. Just out of pay. PBA said, but you have to. It's a bargaining agreement. He says, I don't care. I'm not paying it. And he didn't. And that went on, and then the court battles and everything else.

And it went on. And three years later, he lost in the courts. And all the detectives who were working for those three years got all their back pay. But the kicker was we got it at the pay level that we were when the court case was won.

So we'd had several pay raises, promotions. So if you were a detective back then and now you're a supervisor, you got all your back pay at the top rate. So it came right back. All I think of is he who rolls the stone, digs a hole, falls in his pit.

He who pushes the stone, it rolls back on him. And that's what pride can do. He thought that he was more powerful than he actually was. Pride's destiny. Pride is an abomination before God. Proverbs 16, 5, Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.

Assuredly, he will not go unpunished. There are certain sins that are especially abhorrent to God, and he calls them abominations. These things are utterly detestable to him. And pride fits right into that category.

Pride is an abomination before God. Proverbs 8, 13,. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth I hate. It's interesting to see things God hates.

And one of the things that he hates, calls an abomination, is pride. Proverbs 21, 4, Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked is sin. And pride, therefore, is what we could classify as a heinous sin.

And pride leads to shame. Here we see what I like to call the practicality of the book of Proverbs. We see that even in this life, pride has consequences. The prideful man will almost always inevitably come to shame.

Our opening text for this morning, When pride comes, then comes dishonor. But with the humble is wisdom. Pride will set you up for shame. And it has to, just based on its characteristics. Why? Because pride is focused on the self.

Self-important, self-promotion, self-deceptive. So with those characteristics, it has to set you up for shame. The proud person is one who thinks more highly of himself than he ought to think. There's the setup.

In your own eyes, you think you're better than you really are. In Luke chapter 14, Jesus quotes from Proverbs 25. And I know you're all familiar with this. Do not claim honor in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of great men.

For it is better that it be said of you, Come up here, than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen. Just think of how you're invited to some nice extravaganza, and you pick a seat right up near the guest of honor.

And then the maitre d' comes over, taps you on the shoulder and says, Excuse me, this seat isn't for you. And he sets you back by the kitchen. It's better to go and take the seat back by the kitchen. He says, Oh no, that's not for you.

Come up here. Much better. Imagine the embarrassment to be told, By the way, you can't sit there. Pride will set you up. Then comes the fall. When pride comes, destruction follows. Proverbs 16, 18, Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

And then just look, I put a few, there's even more than this. Proverbs 18, 12, Before destruction, the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor. Proverbs 29, 23, A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.

Pride has been at the heart of great destruction and great devastation. I just took a few instances based upon the scripture. Pride was the sin of Satan. He wanted to be like God. It was the sin of Adam and Eve.

They, too, wanted to be like God. It was the sin of Pharaoh, thinking that he was as great as, there was a man who truly believed his own press releases. It was the sin of Nebuchadnezzar, which we read about earlier.

However, it's a sin everyone struggles with. At some point, we all struggle with some sort of pride. Pride's defeat. Can pride be defeated is the question. Yes, through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Yes, through the power of the Holy Spirit, who indwells each and every one of us as believers. Jesus said in Matthew 11, 29 and 30, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your soul.

For my yoke is easy and my load is light. Isn't it interesting that the one characteristic that the Lord himself applied to himself was that he was gentle or meek and lowly in heart. He did not try to take anything for himself that was not given to him.

And we're talking in a human sense. So how can we conquer pride in our daily lives? First, start thinking biblically. Because as we know, sin begins in the mind. Romans 12, 3,. For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

Paul says it so clearly. Don't think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. There is the source of pride. As soon as we start thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to, sound judgment goes out the window, and pride in the self is exalted.

How do we do that? Read the word of God. 1 Corinthians 1. In fact, this portion of scripture is one that we should read on a regular basis, especially us guys. For consider your calling, brethren. There are not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. And the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen the things that are not, that he might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God.

Starting to feel good about yourself? Read 1 Corinthians 1. It'll snap you back into a realization. God takes the weak, the base, the ignoble, the base things of the world and translates them into soldiers in his army, his own sons.

We are joiners with Christ so that no man should boast. If we boast of anything, we boast about the Lord. Second way to conquer pride, stop talking so much. We all have a habit of talking too much. Remember the old song from the 50s?

You talk too much, you worry me to death. So if you've been foolish, Proverbs 30, 20, 32, if you have been foolish in exalting yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth. Remember, that's the same response that Job had.

Remember when the Lord came to Job in a whirlwind and said, Who are you? And what did he say? I put my hand on my mouth. We all should do that more often. Guard your mouth. Too much talking will always lead to trouble.

In fact, that's one of the keys. I know I've mentioned this before as an interrogator. When we have a suspect for a crime, the sure way of getting a confession is just let him talk. Many of these criminals who confess their crimes, if they just kept their mouth shut, they might not even get to jail.

I mean, of course, then they've got to deal with God eventually. But guard your mouth. Too much talking always leads to trouble. Third, be careful who you associate with. Proverbs 16, 19,. It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.

And remember Paul's words, 1 Corinthians 15, 33,. Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. Take a white sport coat, put it in a mud puddle. Mud puddle doesn't get any cleaner, but the sport coat gets dirty.

That's one of the facts of life. Bad company corrupts good morals. Fourth, put your boasting where it belongs. Is it our right to boast? In the Lord. Galatians 6, 14,. But may it never be said that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

And then in 1 Corinthians 15, 33,. Just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Fifth, look to the example of Jesus Christ. Christ not only lived and died for us to free us from our sin, but he also came in as an example.

Philippians 2, 3,. Do nothing from selfishness or empty deceit, but with humility of mind. Let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Have this attitude in you, in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Sometimes that's translated, have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. He also came as an example for us. Continuing in verse 6,.

Who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Just think about those few verses just for a second. Think of what it must have been like for Christ, the eternal Son of God, to take upon himself human flesh and submit to sinful human authority. Here's our example.

Humility, Exaltation, and the Way to Defeat Pride

6. True exaltation comes from true humility. Proverbs 15, 33. The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility. Proverbs 22, 4. The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life.

Philippians 2, 9 -11. Just continuing upon where we were just reading before in Philippians 2. After he humbled himself, verse 9 picks up. Therefore God highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So when pride comes, turn your eyes to Jesus. Any thoughts or questions? Go ahead, John. And that's one of the big keys also, is that you have to be, your humility has to be genuine, not false humility, which is pretty identifiable as well.

When somebody says, oh, no, well, yeah. No, take it easy. On the same vein here, though, it's also not wrong to accept praise for something you have done as long as you acknowledge that ultimately God is the author of it.

For example, like if you're a craftsman and somebody comes up and says, oh, and they make a cabinet. Oh, that's a beautiful cabinet. Don't go, oh, it was nothing. That's false humility, you know. Yes, you know, thank you.

I appreciate your comments. You know, God was gracious to give me some ability in this matter. Something that I've strived to do in my preaching when people come up and greet me at the end, they say, oh, that was a wonderful message, Pastor.

I always try to say thank you because they do mean it as a compliment. But then I say, but praise be to God, you know. Just deflect the praise back to him. It's so easy, so easy, especially if you have a lot of people giving you praise for a certain accomplishment.

So there was a coach in Smithtown High School. This goes years ago. He was a wrestling coach. And he used to instruct his wrestlers. He said, when you win a match, he says, I want you to come off the mat, not boasting, not raising your hands, but come off the mat and do your celebration on the sidelines with your teammates.

Don't rub it in the person's face. He said, if you lose a match, I want you to come off the same way that you would if you had won. Then you can sit down and be consoled by your teammates. But don't rub it in the other person's nose and don't try to garner sympathy because you lost.

He says, when you come off the mat, I shouldn't be able to tell whether you won or lost. He said, plenty of time for celebration out of victory. There's also plenty of time to be consoled for your loss.

I thought that was pretty good. Any other thoughts? Pride, it is insidious. And it affects each and every one of us.