SOAP Isaiah 22: Pride and Our Heart
- Amy L.
- Mar 5, 2024
- 2 min read
Pride and Our Heart
ISAIAH 22
“What are you doing here and who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here, hewing you grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock?”
“Beware, the Lord is about to take a firm hold of you and hurl you away, you mighty man.”
Isaiah 22: 16-17 NIV
This is a big, scary charge leveled against Shebna (a royal steward). This is a specific prophecy, against a specific person and it continues on through verse 23, foretelling his successor.
“I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father.”
Isaiah 22: 23 NIV
While the specific details of this charge are not really applicable to us, the warning against pride is very clear. Shebna had become a shame of his master’s house and would die in another country for it.
I would like to think I am not prideful. But I would be doing myself a great disservice if I did not recognize that I most certainly become prideful at times. Not proud of that fact, but at times I know I get way to caught up in myself and do not turn to the one who holds it all. We may not be doing things as drastic or costly as Shebna was, or outright abusing our authority. But we serve a God who sees straight into our hearts and knows our motives; and our God opposes the proud. I know for a fact I am prideful at times in thinking I can somehow do better, know more and have better plans than God. How misguided is that? God is in control of everything.
“Pride lands you flat on your face; humility prepares you for honors.”
Proverbs 29:23 MSG
A wicked man was removed from office and a man after God’s own heart was put in his place. I need to remember that pride mentality I find myself in is not from God. That is of the flesh and I need to strive to turn to the Lord in repentance in my time of need. Be on my knees quietly seeking help from the Lord.
Pride in ourselves, achievements and having a spirit of self-sufficiency leads us down a dangerous road.God will not tolerate it. Pride will always be an obstacle to our spiritual progress. We need a humble, submissive spirit with the Lord.
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:39
Prayer: Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. Thank you for correcting me when I get too caught up in myself and my own ways. Help me to always look to you for guidance. I want to trust you completely. Not ever think I can somehow do better than the God of the universe. Help me to be faithful and obedient as you direct me to do your will and not my own. Give me the courage to conform to your will alone. In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.
Yes, pride…not always as obvious in the day to day as it was when we look at Shebna. This verse stuck out to me today, ”Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago.” Isaiah 22:11 NLT
In thinking about my prideful atruggles…it continues to be difficult to ask for help and annoyingly still hard to recognize when I need it. In clearer moments I can see that Jesus is always providing for me. He provides the help often before I even need it. He makes it easy for me to ask…