Valley Princess

Learning to Love: Day 23

Pride

Amos preached in Israel
But none of them repented.
When Jonah preached in Ninevah
Of judgement, God relented
The punishment to come.
The Gentile Adad-nirari1
Was cleansed by donning ashes,
But Uzziah of the chosen ones
Was given leprous rashes
And banned from the Lord's sight.
The Assyrian's humility
Caused angels to rejoice,
Revealing God's great mysteries,
But the prophet's own parched voice
Cried to God in anger.
Its absence raised a sheep herder
To the royal court's side.
Its presence swallowed Jonah.
What I speak of here is pride
And child of God, you're not immune.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
    and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry…(1 Samuel 15:23).

 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish (Matthew 18:12-14).

Day 23

…I abhor the pride of Jacob…(Amos 6:8).

2 Chronicles 26:16-21 records the life of Uzziah, king of Judah, who dared to enter the Temple and burn incense to God, which was only for the priests to do. Consequently, God declared him unclean by striking him with leprosy and making him and outcast to both the Temple and society. He had to rule as a shut-in or pass the throne to his son. Conversely, the king of Assyria humbled himself before the whole city as an example of repentance. By wearing ashes, a sign of mourning, he may have dirtied his body, but in God’s eyes his heart was made clean.

    Let’s consider the sin of Sodom. They were destroyed for homosexuality, right? No. God tells us through the prophet Ezekiel, “ Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy” (16:49). Then he goes on to tell Israel, God’s chosen people, “Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered?..” (vs. 56-57). Isreal considered itself more righteous than that old stinky Sodom, and yet God says,
    “As I live, declares the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done (vs. 48).1

    David Buehring, in his book, A Discipleship Journey, defines humility as being true to who God made you and not trying to be somebody else (237). You do not elevate yourself beyond your value or ability, but you do not self-deprecate. Uzziah thought he was more important than he really was, but the king of Assyria humbled himself, hoping God would esteem him. During my postpartum depression, when I was self-deprecating, I did not have hope. All I saw was condemnation. And when I refused to forgive myself, I was declaring myself more discerning than God, though I did not think of it that way at the time. But this was not from God any more than Uzziah’s elevated aspirations were from God. Humility seems to be seeing ourselves as God sees us, and anything more or less is a disservice to God, ourselves, and others.

    1. Ezekiel was poetically referring to the northern kingdom of Israel in comparison to the southern kingdom Judah. I do believe, however, the ancient historical Sodom was guilty of the same sin. They lived in a land with prosperity and ease, a valley “well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord” (Gen. 13:10). They refused to give hospitality to the angels in disguise as poor and needy, and actively sought them out with violent intentions. I am not saying homosexuality is acceptable for a believer. What I am saying is that it was not the source of why they were destroyed. The homosexuality was just one faceted symptom of a greater systemic problem, which Ezekiel identified was pride.

    If you enjoyed this material, please leave a like or comment on my blog, share, and you can purchase my book, Learning to Love: A Collection of Poetry and 40 Daily Devotions, on Amazon. Until next time, God bless.

    Sources

    The Bible. English Standard Version, Crossway, 2001.

    Buehring, David. A Discipleship Journey. Higher Life Publishing, 2004.

    Madrigal, Marc. “Adad-Nirari III: Jonah’s Assyrian King?” Evangelical Focus, https:/evangelicalfocus.com/archaeological-perspectives/3168/adad-nirari-iii-jonah-assyrian-king-old-testament. Accessed October 2020.

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    Valley Princess
    Sara DuVall is a wife and homeschool mom. She lives in the Tennessee Valley of North Alabama with her husband and four children. Originally from the Florida Gulf Coast, she was raised in the church and worked for the church for some time. Sara has a MA in English literature and certificate in technical communication, having work experience in the field of technical communication and technical editing. Her BA is in cultural anthropology and English writing. Sara has been writing poetry since she was about 13 years old. Inspired by a poem written by her great-grandmother, Sara has studied and enjoyed the art of poetry ever since. She is a published short story author in Northwest Florida State College’s Blackwater Review (2006 and 2007). She is also an award-winning short story author at the University of West Florida (2009). She published her first book, Learning to Love: a Collection of Poetry and 40 Daily Devotions, in 2021. The daughter of a choir director and college music teacher with an MA in voice, Sara was regularly exposed to music from an early age. Although she is a far cry from the vocal qualifications of her mother, and although she is not nearly as proficient a pianist as she should be from her tutelage, Sara has maintained her musical background by expressing herself through acoustic and classical guitar and the Native American style flute, composing many of her own songs. Besides writing and music, one of Sara’s favorite work experiences was as assistant curator of the Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida where she got to accession people’s old stuff and guide tours about it. They just don’t make things like they used to.
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