The Pride of The Heart (Ezekiel 27:12-28:10)

The  Pride of the Heart (Ezekiel 27:12-28:10)

What was striking in this section is the reason for the Lord’s judgment on the King of Tyre.  Ezekiel has been prophesying destruction and judgment on Tyre, a powerful merchant city, since the beginning of chapter 26.  But in 28, he turns his attention to the King of Tyre, and identifies his sin as this: “In the pride of your heart you say, ‘I am a god.’”

Pride is rightly considered one of the worst, if not the worst of sins, because it directly challenges our relationship with God.  I’m not talking about a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment in a job well done, in an accomplishment achieved.  But rather the kind of pride that supplants God from His throne, and places our own will and ego in that place.

This is the pride which the serpent sought to stir up in Eve, and through her, in Adam.  This is the pride which afflicts our present secular age significantly.   In a secular world with no God, we are left to define our own purpose for our lives, our own meaning, our own morality, even our own identity.  This is yet another version of the serpent’s promised to Eve, that in rejecting God she would be able to be a god, defining good and evil.

But it is not just the secular who are susceptible to idolatrous pride.  It lies waiting within each of us, a serpent coiled and ready to strike.  And this is why a life of prayer, of Word, and Worship is so important.  It recalls us to the true identity that has been given to us by our Father.  He is God.  We are not. All that we have is from His gracious hand.  All that we are and have accomplished is by His grace.  As Paul put it, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31)

So my prayer today is for humility.  I pray that I may rightly live in the grace, comfort and hope of knowing that my loving God is the source of all the blessings that I will encounter this day.  I pray for the Spirit’s guidance and strength to live this day, not to my glory, but to His.

What is the Word leading you to pray about today?

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