“Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7
Peter writes these words in the context of encouraging us to submit to the authorities God has placed over us and to have an attitude of submission toward everyone in the body of Christ. Submission requires humility. Immediately after this verse, Peter warns us that Satan is out there waiting to devour whom he can. Humility defeats Satan. Also, notice in our verse that humility is something God wants us to do. It is an action: “humble yourselves.” Of course, God humbles us but here Peter tells us to make it our purpose to learn how to humble ourselves.
For the last several weeks Thomas Boston has shown us just how to do that. I thought it would be helpful to have all 8 of his points in one mediation for us to have handy. Because we are called to humble ourselves, it is important for us to know how to do that. And since it doesn’t come naturally to us it is also important to have these reminders ready for us to review frequently. So here it is:
What It Means to Humble Ourselves Under His Hand
- We must learn to see His hand in all things. Ephesians 1:11
- We must learn to have a sense of our own worthlessness before Him. Job 42:5-6
- We must see our guilt and filthiness in His sight and that He afflicts us as sinners. Daniel 9:8
- We must learn that silent submission under the hand of God is of great value. Psalm 39:9
- We must learn to thank God for His many mercies and not dwell on the negative. Lamentations 3:22-23
- We must learn that pride seeks self-exoneration before all men and to prove to all how right I am. Proverbs 30:2
- We must learn to lay aside all our dignity before the Lord, extol others, and forget ourselves. Luke 5:8
- We must learn to readily submit to the worst parts of our circumstances. Philippians 2:8
As Peter says, “…for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”2 Peter 1:10-11
His mercy endures forever!
Pastor Flynn
Photo by Katie Moum