On Humbling Ourselves Before God

C. H. Spurgeon.
1 Peter 5:5-7
Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yes, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility…
I. First, our text is evidently intended to bear upon us IN OUR CHURCH LIFE. Each one of us should think little of himself and highly of his brethren.

1. True humility in our Church relationship will show itself in our being willing to undertake the very lowest offices for Christ.

2. The next point of humility is that we are conscious of our own incompetence to do anything aright. Self-sufficiency is inefficiency. He that has no sense of his weakness has a weakness in his sense.

3. This humility will show itself next in this — that we shall be willing to be ignored of men.

4. We want humility in our Church life, in the sense of never being rough, haughty, arrogant, hard, domineering, lordly; or, on the other hand, factious, unruly, quarrelsome, and unreasonable.

II. Now I will use the text in reference to OUR BEHAVIOUR IN OUR AFFLICTIONS. Frequently our heavenly Father's design in sending trial to His children is to make and keep them humble; let us remember this, and learn a lesson of wisdom. The most hopeful way of avoiding the humbling affliction is to humble yourself. Be humble that you may not be humbled.

1. And do this, first, by noticing whether you have been guilty of any special sin of pride. Usually our sins lie at the roots of our sorrows. If we will repent of the sin, the Lord will remove the sorrow.

2. In your affliction humble yourself by confessing that you deserve all that you are suffering.

3. But, more than that, humble yourself so as to submit entirely to God's will. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you in this act of self-humiliation while you meekly kiss the rod.

III. IN OUR DAILY DEALINGS WITH GOD, whether in affliction or not, let us humble ourselves under His hand, for so only can we hope to be exalted. It is a blessed thing whenever you come to God to come wondering that you are allowed to come, wondering that you have been led to come; marvelling at Divine redemption, astonished that such a price should have been paid that you might be brought nigh to God. Let grace be magnified by your grateful heart.

1. When you are doing this be very humble before God, because you have not made more improvement of the grace that He has given you.

2. Next, humble yourself under the hand of God by feeling your own want of knowledge whenever you come to God. Do not think that you understand all divinity. There is only one body of divinity, and that is Christ Himself; and who knoweth Him to the full?

3. One point concerning which I should like every one of us to humble ourselves under the hand of God is about our little enjoyment of Divine things.

IV. I finish by using my text with all earnestness in reference to the unconverted IN OUR SEEKING FORGIVENESS AS SINNERS. Do you want to be saved? The way of salvation is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." "But," you say, "I cannot understand it." Yet it is very simple; no hidden meaning lies in the words; you are simply bidden to trust Jesus. If, however, you feel as if you could not do that, let me urge you to go to God ill secret and own the sin of this unbelief; for a great sin it is. Humble yourself. Sit down and think over the many ways in which you have done wrong, or failed to do right. Pray God to break you down with deep penitence. When your sin is confessed, then acknowledge that if justice were carried out towards you, apart from undeserved grace, you would be sent to hell. You have almost obtained mercy when you have fully submitted to justice. Then, next, accept God's mercy in His own way. Do not be so vain as to dictate to God how you ought to be saved. Be a little child, and come and believe in the salvation which is revealed in Jesus Christ. "Ah," say you, "I have done this, but I cannot get peace." Then sink lower down. Did I hear you say, "Alas, sir, I want to get comfort"? Do not ask for comfort; ask for forgiveness, and that blessing may come through your greater discomfort. Sink lower down. There is a point at which God will surely accept you, and that point is lower down. "Oh," you say, "I think I have a due sense of sin." That will not do. I want you to feel that you have not a due sense of sin, and come to Jesus just so. "Oh, but I do think that I have been brokenhearted." I should like to see you lower than that, till you cry, "I am afraid I never knew what it is to be brokenhearted." I want you to sink so low that you cannot say anything good of yourself; nay, nor see an atom of goodness in yourself. Come before God a criminal, in the prison dress, with the rope about your neck. You will be saved then.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

Love Is the Greatest
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.


4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Most assuredly the Holy Spirit convicts a believer of sin. It is He who quickens or makes a spiritually dead person alive and aware of his lost condition then saves and seals him. Yes, the eternal penalty for sin has been reconciled never to be addressed again. The power of Christ's death, burial and resurrection has positioned the believer in a right standing before God. However, this does not eliminate the old nature and tendency toward sin. 

Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"

A truly saved, born again believer is viewed sinless positionally, in Christ, under the blood. By his substitutionary sacrifice we are declared righteous but still have no inherent righteousness. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 

The Apostle Paul spoke of his own struggle and the battle that raged within. Romans 7:18 "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
v. 19 "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."
v. 20 "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."

Hebrews 12:5 " And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:" 

Heb 12:6 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." 

Heb 12:7 "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" 

Heb 12:8 "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." 

1 John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 

1 Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

Struggling with Sin Romans 7
13Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good. 17In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. 20And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. 23But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.b 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.



The Word says that God will lead us into righteousness and that we have an unction from the Holy One. If Christians pray and read the word and stay in close communion with the Lord, the Holy Spirit will unction them of something they just said or did that was wrong. I personally hear the Lord tell me what sins to repent of when I pray--like resentment, anger, fear, pride, etc. There is a lot of false doctrine out there, like some saying that repentance is a change of mind. That is only part of it. Repentance involves godly contrition and a change of heart, as well, for it to be a solid repentance. Another false doctrine out there now is that we don't have to confess our sins because Jesus forgave us of them once and for all on the cross. Although there is truth that He did take away all of our sins on the cross, He made provision for us that if we do sin, (and He knew that after we were saved we would sin) all we have to do is sincerely confess our sins to Him and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

cling on to the Light, no matter how faint it may seem to be, and do not let go.

He has seen you through, and will continue to see you through.

A study on 2 Chronicles 20

What to do when you feel helpless and the enemy is overpowering
v12 We do not know what to do, but we look to God for help.

v9 when we cry out to God, He hears us and will rescue us.

v15 Do not be afraid or discouraged. The battle is not yours but God's

v17 You do not even need to fight. Stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you. Again do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them (what can man - mere mortals, do to me? If the Lord is for me who can be against me?), the Lord is with you.

v 19 Give praise to God

v20 Believe in the Lord and you will be able to stand firm

v21 Sing to the Lord, give Him praise, give thanks to God

v22 At the moment of your praise and singing, God is doing something.
(22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves)

v26 there will be victory, blessings will come

v30 you will have rest on all sides

2 Chronicles 20
1After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunitesa declared war on Jehoshaphat. 2Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edomb is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.c They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.)

3Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the LORD for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. 4So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the LORD’s help.

5Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the LORD. 6He prayed, “O LORD, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! 7O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? 8Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. 9They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’

10“And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. 11Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. 12O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”

13As all the men of Judah stood before the LORD with their little ones, wives, and children, 14the Spirit of the LORD came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.

15He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!”

18Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD. 19Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.

20Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”

21After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:

“Give thanks to the LORD;

his faithful love endures forever!”

22At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.

25King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing,e and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,f which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.

27Then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the LORD had given them victory over their enemies. 28They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the Temple of the LORD.

29When all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the LORD himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. 30So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Matthew 13:22

Keep thine heart with the utmost care; for out of these are the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23


If you love the world, you are God's enemies. And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
James 4:4
Stop loving the world and the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, the Father's love is not in him. 1 John 2:15

Jesus answered: "Take heed that no man seduce you." Matthew 24:4

Do not, however, imitate them. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Matthew 6:8

Do Not Be Unequally Yoked,
come out from among them and be separate
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will live with them

and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they will be My people.”

“Therefore come out from among them

and be separate, says the Lord.

Touch no unclean thing,

and I will receive you.”e

And:

“I will be a Father to you,

and you will be My sons and daughters,

says the Lord Almighty. ”

let your requests be made known to God
Philippians 4:6

Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established.
Proverbs 16:3

Say thy prayers, confess thy sins, do thy little piece of work, and do it honestly; God will redeem thee, atone for thee, regenerate thee, be the guardian of thy tomb, fashion for thee a new body, weave for thee an eternal dress, and provide for thee "a house not made with hands." Think of the blessed result. Be at rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him; He shall establish thy thought; He shall save thy soul; He shall crown thee with eternal peace.

https://biblehub.com/…/doing_our_duty_is_committing_our_way…

Doing Our Duty is Committing Our Way to God
George Dawson, M.A.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established.

There is no instrinsic value in things. They only possess a relative value. All things depend upon seasonableness. The Scripture speaks of a "word in season." If there can be words in season, there can be words out of season. A word not in season is merely a right thing in a wrong place. Therefore it is not the value of the thing in itself; there is no such thing; values are all from without. The idlest dream a man has is that a bit of gold has an intrinsic value. But a thing that is worthless to-day is not therefore worthless at another time." The word for to-day, in this text, is one of rest. Many people say that "committing your ways to the Lord, is to tell them to Him when you pray. But that is only saying something. A large part of the piety of the people consists in saying feelings instead of doing. When we say "Commit thy works unto Him," it is with a view to put down fret, fever, and distress, and to learn a lesson of the holiday of the soul, rather than of the work-day and mammon. Committing your burden unto the Lord is getting Him to carry it. It does not mean sit still and do no work. There is always something left for man to do, even when God takes the matters up. "Commit thy ways" must mean something in the spirit by which, while a man goes on in life, he gets the fret, and the burdens and the gall, and the weariness off his shoulders. There are two difficult and painful businesses. One is, to fit your circumstances to yourself; and the other is, to fit yourself to your circumstances. Ambition is seldom desirable. A profound sense of duty will do all that ambition can do, and leave nothing of the bitterness behind. Suit thyself to thy circumstances; do thy duty; and so commit thy way unto the Lord. Committing your ways is just the absence of ambition: it is to do thy work, and leave it to the great laws of God. He commits his ways unto the Lord who does his duty simply in the state in which he is. As to the results. The text notes the establishment of the thoughts — not always the success of the work — but the establishment of the man. Quietness — uprightness — "Slow gains and few shames." Commit thyself, with all thy way, and work, and soul, to Him. Say thy prayers, confess thy sins, do thy little piece of work, and do it honestly; God will redeem thee, atone for thee, regenerate thee, be the guardian of thy tomb, fashion for thee a new body, weave for thee an eternal dress, and provide for thee "a house not made with hands." Think of the blessed result. Be at rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him; He shall establish thy thought; He shall save thy soul; He shall crown thee with eternal peace.

(George Dawson, M.A.)

Psalm 32 New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 32

Of David. A maskil.[a]

1 Blessed is the one

whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

2 Blessed is the one

whose sin the Lord does not count against them

and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent,

my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night

your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped

as in the heat of summer.[b]

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess

my transgressions to the Lord.”

And you forgave

the guilt of my sin.

6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you

while you may be found;

surely the rising of the mighty waters

will not reach them.

7 You are my hiding place;

you will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,

which have no understanding

but must be controlled by bit and bridle

or they will not come to you.

10 Many are the woes of the wicked,

but the Lord’s unfailing love

surrounds the one who trusts in him.

11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;

sing, all you who are upright in heart!

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/my-joy-rose-as-sorrows-fell?fbclid=IwAR0AnvQ9kmN32wPggikWcFoSD9JLwMRxuG5gxcwDxZbppUArl65Es1j222g