Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 2:3, “Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.”
Hannah can now rebuke Peninnah for her prideful behavior. However, note how she does it. She does not go over to Peninnah and “give her a piece of her mind”. No, instead, she praises the Lord for being the One who stops Peninnah’s mouth. Note that God knows the motivation and intentions of the proud. It is a very dangerous place to be when we become prideful. This is the very sin that caused Lucifer, the devil, to be cast down. It was his downfall. Isaiah 14:12-15 tells us, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” The sin of pride is one that can creep up on us very easily if we are not vigilant. It creeps into our attitude and comes forth in our speech and the way we treat others. It shows itself when we begin to believe that we are something, when in reality we are nothing. Galatians 6:3 warns, “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Romans 12:3 clearly says, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” As God’s children, we must not forget, when we are dealing with others, that we were once without Christ, and we are saved by His grace, not be anything we have done (Titus 3:4-5). Sadly, far too many of us Christians, as we gain more knowledge of God’s Word, become prideful. Memorizing a few Bible verses does not make us better than another Christian who has not committed as many to memory, and it does not make us better than someone who does not know Christ, for we too were once lost and without Him. The Apostle Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians 8:1-3, “Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.” We must be careful that we not fall into the trap of presenting Christ or the Gospel in a prideful way, which usually results in us sharing Christ’s message in a mean-spirited manner, and a tone of self-righteousness. This is the reason many unsaved people turn away from Christ when we tell them about Him, rather than turn to Him. God’s Word tells us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). If a person is offended by the truth, we cannot help that. However, if they are offended because of our prideful attitude in presenting it, then it becomes our problem and we will have to give an account for it. We must be careful that we not allow our pride to get the best of us as God allows us to advance in our careers, or blesses us materially. We must remain humble when God begins to use us to minister to others and be a blessing amongst the brethren. Like Jesus, we must remain humble. When we feel our pride begin to bubble up inside of us, or someone points out that we are being prideful, rather than take offense (because our pride was hurt), we must immediately repent and confess it. The last place we want to find ourselves is in the position described for us in 1 Peter 5:5 and James 4:6, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Even though many of us know Proverbs 16:18, we do a poor job at avoiding it and its consequences. The verses read, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” We must never forget that God measures all that we do when we are being used by Him or when we are dealing with others. God does not only judge our actions, but He judges the motivation and intentions behind those actions. Peninnah was prideful in her taunts toward Hannah, but God ultimately humbled her by lifting up Hannah. May we strive to be more like Hannah and less like Peninnah for the sake of not being resisted by our God.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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