Loading...
Loading...
11 illustrations
Consider two grave consequences: First, pride subjects a man to the imputation of folly.
When we grip our own opinions with rigid hands, refusing the gentle correction of wise counsel, we chart a course toward destruction.
When men and women engage their ambitions with fierce determination, they unwittingly declare independence from Elohim, attempting to wrest the government of the universe from His hand.
The psalmist presents a full-length portrait of the unawakened sinner, drawn by the unerring pencil of truth.
The townspeople of Nazareth encountered the Divine made manifest, yet rejected Him because His origin seemed ordinary.
The Lord of hosts has purposed to stain the pride of all glory—exposing the fundamental corruption underlying human honor derived solely from men's approval.
Exell's 1887 analysis reveals pride's devastating universality: it spares neither age nor circumstance, neither the healthy nor the diseased, neither public nor private life.
The prophet's rhetorical question—"Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?"—exposes the folly of the Assyrian king, who attributed his conquests entirely to his own skill and military might, ignorant that Yahweh wielded him as an instrument.
I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?" The prophet indicts a specific vice: descendants trafficking in their ancestors' glory while possessing none themselves.
This unfamiliar intruder had sought prominence in Jerusalem by hewing himself a grand sepulcher—a monument to his own ambition.
Exell's *Biblical Illustrator* (1887) distinguishes these opposing spirits: the proud man esteems himself better than others; the humble man esteems others better than himself.