Post by George on Aug 20, 2009 11:49:30 GMT -5
Humble and Contrite
(1Jn 2:16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
I chose to start this study with a contrast between pride and humility. Pride is the exact opposite of humility and the state of being humble. In the verse above we read of the lust of the flesh. Lust in this case means desire. The lust of the flesh is all the things we desire that make us feel good. The lust of the eyes is all the things we see that we want or desire. Want and desire are synonymous.
Then we come to the pride of life. And the pride of life - The word here used means, properly, ostentation or boasting, and then arrogance or pride. It refers to whatever there is that tends to promote pride, or that is an index of pride, such as the ostentatious display of dress, equipage, furniture, etc. For clarity’s sake let us take a look at the word “ostentatious.” It means making a display from vanity; boastful; fond of presenting one's endowments or works to others in an advantageous light.
(Pro 11:2) When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
In this case the one follows the other. If there is pride in our lives the shame is sure to follow. It is inevitable and cannot be avoided. Then look at the last part of the verse. With the lowly is literally those who are and remain humble. God cannot provide wisdom to us if we are in a prideful state. The human mind is capable of dealing with only one thought or emotion at a time. While it is true that often our thoughts come rapid fire and one immediately after the other they still remain one at a time.
(Pro 16:18) Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
There is that pride again and in this case a rather scathing warning. Look at the destruction that befell the angels that were cast out of heaven and banished to hell for all eternity. Look at the original sin. That came from being prideful. In this case the pride existed in a desire or lust to be like God knowing right from wrong. Our first parents were not content with the position they were in but wanted more. As the serpent told them, they had the desire to become like gods.
An haughty spirit before a fall refers to a high spirit or a spirit that is of our own making and not in keeping with the desires of God. It refers to a man that carries his head high; looks upwards, and not to his goings, sees not at what he may stumble, and so falls: moreover, the bigger a person or thing is, the greater is the fall; and very often when a man has got to the height of his riches and honour, and is swelling with pride and vanity on account of it, he is on the precipice of ruin, and his fall is immediate; which was the case of Nebuchadnezzar, who while he was expressing himself in the haughtiness of his spirit, being in the height of his glory, his kingdom departed from him, and this will be the case of the man of sin, or antichrist.
(Jas 4:6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
The grace God gives us is proportionate to our needs. To those who remain of a humble and contrite spirit the amount of grace needed is not that great. To those involved in worldly lusts or desires the need for grace is greater and He provides it. At times we may feel the amount of grace we need is greater than what we have been given but we must recall the words of the Lord to the apostle Paul: “My grace is sufficient for thee.” The amount of grace we receive is sufficient for our needs according to the measure of God regardless of our own feelings of lack.
The proud are those who have an inordinate self-esteem; who have a high and unreasonable conceit of their own excellence or importance. This may extend to anything, to beauty, or strength, or attainments, or family, or country, or equipage, or rank, or even religion. A man may be proud of anything that belongs to him, or which can in any way be construed as a part of himself, or as pertaining to him. The resistance of pride God shows is not only evident in His Word but also in the arrangements of His providence and grace. It is quite obvious from the things written above that God’s providence will not supply the grace needed by the proud. We will see this expanded upon and explained in the verses which follow.
(Jas 4:10) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Let us take a look at being humble or the state of humility. It literally means in ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance, humbleness of mind, a modest estimate of one's own worth. In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will.
The second part of the verse explains what will happen when we assume and maintain the state of humility. He shall lift us up. It is not our job to lift ourselves up nor is it our job to make us appear better in the eyes of others. It is His job! Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt really low and possibly even abandoned by God? You try and try and try to get out of it by doing things that should make you feel better and thus lift you up out of that state? No matter what you do it does not work. That is because at that point we are trying to do God’s work for Him. That, friends will never work. He does not need our help.
(1Pe 5:5) Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (1Pe 5:6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
I shall not address the first part of verse 5 because it is pretty much self-explanatory. However we must look at the portion of the verse which tells us to “be clothed with humility.” The sense here is that we are to put on humility as we do a garment which clothes our body. In this case the garment of humility actually needs clothe our minds. This clothing of the mind with humility causes us to n to think better of ourselves than we should. It causes us to not want to lord over others. In the case of the Church it causes us to be supporting and respectful of God’s under Shepard, the Pastor. We are to support him in all we do within the body of believers as well as in our private lives. When asked of the Pastor to do a particular thing the state of humility will cause us to do whatever is asked of us without grumbling or murmuring.
In 1 Peter 5:6 we see almost the exact words seen in James 4:10 But with a little added to it. We must take a look at the phrase “the mighty hand of God.” The hand is that by which we accomplish things. Any and all work we accomplish is accomplished by use of the hand(s). The phrase “hand of God” appears sixteen times in the Bible. Often it refers to the fact that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God. From this we can see that the things done by the hand of God in our lives are done through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The hand of God can and has produced both good and calamity in the lives of people. In the verse we are looking at we see the hand of God exalting or raising us up. If we go back and look at Sodom and Gomorrah we can see that the hand of God provided destruction as punishment.
Next we see that He will exalt us in due time. That is not in our time and we feel we need to be lifted up. It is in God’s time and the time when He finds it appropriate to do the exalting. Sometimes that is difficult for us to understand and accept but we must remember that God is sovereign and things are done as He wants them and as He thinks it appropriate. Simply humbling ourselves in the eyes of the Lord or under His mighty hand will not always bring immediate results. Oh, of course when we humble ourselves we will feel differently inside because of the fact we have once again allowed the Holy Spirit to work on our hearts but the exaltation or lifting up is accomplished in His time frame when He feels it appropriate.
(Col 2:23) Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
The shew of wisdom spoken of refers to the things in the preceding verses. We must look at “will worship.” This is not addressing our own will or thinking that our will is worthy of worship as some do. That is one of the worst forms of pride which is counter-productive and self-defeating. As we have seen, any sort of pride in our lives takes us farther away from God and His will for us. What will worship is referring to here is willful worship. It is worship that we give willingly because He is worthy of it and also requires it of us. It has nothing to do with man’s free will. It is that free will which can keep us from willfully worshipping and causing us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.
Then next we see the use of the word “humility” once again. I believe what we are seeing here is the fact that willful worship will cause us to be in a state of humility. It will cause us to be in a state in which God can work on us in His time and cause us to be submissive to the things He requires of us. Humbleness and meekness go hand in hand. It must be remembered that meekness can only be given us through the Lord, Jesus Christ. If you read in Galatians 5 you will see that meekness is a part of the fruit of the Spirit and is not of ourselves or anything we can do. Meekness must come from the Lord.
And neglecting of the body; by fastings and watchings, whereby they seemed to be very religious and devout, holy and mortified persons, who kept under their bodies, subdued their unruly appetites, and fulfilled not the lusts of the flesh: but then this was only a show of wisdom and godliness; there was no truth nor reality in these things; they were only a mere form, an outside show, a mere pretence; there was no true devotion nor religion in them.
(Psa 34:18) The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
The Lord is nigh literally means that He is near in place, kindred or time. It could be all three at once and I believe usually is. This is particularly true of the use of place and time. If the Lord is beside us as we conduct our walk then He is also with us in real time. As far as kindred is concerned, He is very near to us in that we are given to be the sons of God.
Let us look at the statement about a broken heart. This had nothing to do with being broken-hearted due to the loss of a loved one or a cherished pet or anything similar to that. In this use the heart refers to the mind, the will and the emotions. Our hearts or our flesh needs to be broken so that we can rid ourselves of pride and allow Him to work in our lives. As was stated previously our pride keeps the Lord from working in and on us. Recall the words of the psalmist:
(Psa 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
To regard in this use means to discern, approve, take heed and respect. Again the heart refers to the mind, will and emotions. Iniquity is vanity, evil, wickedness and mischief. In other words it is sin. To put that all together, if we approve, take heed or respect the sin in our lives, in other words if we know it is there and take no action to rid ourselves of it The Lord will not hear us. Not only will our prayers be hindered He simply will not hear us. That is why I believe the only prayer the Lord can and will hear from an unsaved sinner is a plea for salvation and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Any other prayers by the unsaved sinner are in vain.
The use of the word “saveth” in this verse does not relate to salvation. It literally means that He will protect us and keep us safe. It follows right along with the use of the word “contrite” which is similar to but stronger than the use of the phrase “a broken heart.” The word “contrite” means that our spirit, in other words our mind, will and emotions are literally ground to a powder. They are pulverized. Our spirit is actually conducive to producing pride, ego and smugness. These things must be put away from us if we are to have the Lord provide us with the safety mentioned in this verse.
(Psa 51:17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
The phrase “the sacrifices of God” is not referring to any sacrifice He has made on our behalf. It is referring to things we sacrifice to Him. These are sacrifices which God desires and approves.
Are a broken spirit - A mind broken or crushed under the weight of conscious guilt. The idea is that of a burden laid on the Soul until it is crushed and subdued. The use of the phrase “contrite heart” means a mind broken or crushed under the weight of conscious guilt. The idea is that of a burden laid on the Soul until it is crushed and subdued
The use of the phrase “a broken and a contrite heart” has much the same meaning as the use of broken heart but has a stronger and more intense feeling to it. See the paragraphs above on broken heart and contrite. A broken heart is synonymous with a broken spirit. Again it is our spirit that is being spoken of and not the Holy Spirit.
(Isa 57:15) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
The high and lofty One refers to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His love is higher than our love. His actions are higher than our actions. He is the ultimate authority in all things. Even though all of this is true it does n to mean that God does not pay attention to the affairs of the human being. He always has time to pay attention to us, to know our needs and to provide solace to us when needed.
That inhabiteth eternity - The word ‘eternity’ here evidently stands in contrast with the ‘contrite and humble spirit;’ and it seems to be used to denote the elevated place of an eternal dwelling or heaven. He dwells not only among human beings, but he dwells in eternity - where time is unknown - in a world where succession is not marked - and long before the interminable duration was broken in upon by the revolutions of years and days.
Whose name is Holy – This can be explained using scripture alone. Witness the following: (1Pe 1:16) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1Ch 16:10) Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. (Psa 99:3) Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. (Luk 1:49) For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. These are but a few of the verses in the Bible which tell us His name is Holy.
I dwell in the high and holy place – This is an obvious reference to heaven. Heaven is the dwelling place of the Lord.
With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit could seemingly refer to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ who is the epitome of meekness. However in this case it is referring to the citizens of heaven. Those who are of a humble and contrite spirit dwell with Him in His heavenly home.
To revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. This literally means to make alive. He makes alive the spirit of those who are humble and contrite. Those who do not think more highly of themselves than what they should find favor in His eyes.
(Isa 66:2) For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
For all those things hath mine hand made – In the words of the Lord this signifies or indicates that this is the heaven and the earth, and all that is in them. The sense is, ‘I have founded for myself a far more magnificent and appropriate temple than you can make; I have formed the heavens as my dwelling-place, and I need not a dwelling reared by the hand of man.’
And all those things have been saith the Lord – All of those things have been created by the Lord and for the Lord. They are done at His behest and when He wants them to be done. This could be rendered all those things were made signifying that God was the Creator of all things. He claims them as His.
Even to him that is poor - The idea is, not that God looks with favor on a poor man merely because he is poor - which is not true, for his favors are not bestowed in view of external conditions in life - but that he regards with favor the man that is humble and subdued in spirit.
And of a contrite spirit - A spirit that is broken, crushed, or deeply affected by sin. It stands opposed to a spirit that is proud, haughty, self-confident, and self-righteous.
And trembleth at my word refers to the fear and reverence of the Lord. He is referring to those who have respect and reverence for His commands. The word translated as trembleth literally means fearful and reverential.
All in all we can see that being fearful, reverential, respectful, humble; of a lowly mind and having a spirit of our own that is literally ground to a powder is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. Many promises, some of which can be seen in this study, are made by the Lord as to how He will handle and deal with people who assume these attributes in their lives. We also see a warning to those who are of the opposite state. God resisteth the proud. The prayers of the proud are hindered. We must get past ourselves and put aside all fleshly dealings with ego, pride and vanity. Once we can accomplish that we find pleasure in the eyes of God.
(1Jn 2:16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
I chose to start this study with a contrast between pride and humility. Pride is the exact opposite of humility and the state of being humble. In the verse above we read of the lust of the flesh. Lust in this case means desire. The lust of the flesh is all the things we desire that make us feel good. The lust of the eyes is all the things we see that we want or desire. Want and desire are synonymous.
Then we come to the pride of life. And the pride of life - The word here used means, properly, ostentation or boasting, and then arrogance or pride. It refers to whatever there is that tends to promote pride, or that is an index of pride, such as the ostentatious display of dress, equipage, furniture, etc. For clarity’s sake let us take a look at the word “ostentatious.” It means making a display from vanity; boastful; fond of presenting one's endowments or works to others in an advantageous light.
(Pro 11:2) When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
In this case the one follows the other. If there is pride in our lives the shame is sure to follow. It is inevitable and cannot be avoided. Then look at the last part of the verse. With the lowly is literally those who are and remain humble. God cannot provide wisdom to us if we are in a prideful state. The human mind is capable of dealing with only one thought or emotion at a time. While it is true that often our thoughts come rapid fire and one immediately after the other they still remain one at a time.
(Pro 16:18) Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
There is that pride again and in this case a rather scathing warning. Look at the destruction that befell the angels that were cast out of heaven and banished to hell for all eternity. Look at the original sin. That came from being prideful. In this case the pride existed in a desire or lust to be like God knowing right from wrong. Our first parents were not content with the position they were in but wanted more. As the serpent told them, they had the desire to become like gods.
An haughty spirit before a fall refers to a high spirit or a spirit that is of our own making and not in keeping with the desires of God. It refers to a man that carries his head high; looks upwards, and not to his goings, sees not at what he may stumble, and so falls: moreover, the bigger a person or thing is, the greater is the fall; and very often when a man has got to the height of his riches and honour, and is swelling with pride and vanity on account of it, he is on the precipice of ruin, and his fall is immediate; which was the case of Nebuchadnezzar, who while he was expressing himself in the haughtiness of his spirit, being in the height of his glory, his kingdom departed from him, and this will be the case of the man of sin, or antichrist.
(Jas 4:6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
The grace God gives us is proportionate to our needs. To those who remain of a humble and contrite spirit the amount of grace needed is not that great. To those involved in worldly lusts or desires the need for grace is greater and He provides it. At times we may feel the amount of grace we need is greater than what we have been given but we must recall the words of the Lord to the apostle Paul: “My grace is sufficient for thee.” The amount of grace we receive is sufficient for our needs according to the measure of God regardless of our own feelings of lack.
The proud are those who have an inordinate self-esteem; who have a high and unreasonable conceit of their own excellence or importance. This may extend to anything, to beauty, or strength, or attainments, or family, or country, or equipage, or rank, or even religion. A man may be proud of anything that belongs to him, or which can in any way be construed as a part of himself, or as pertaining to him. The resistance of pride God shows is not only evident in His Word but also in the arrangements of His providence and grace. It is quite obvious from the things written above that God’s providence will not supply the grace needed by the proud. We will see this expanded upon and explained in the verses which follow.
(Jas 4:10) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Let us take a look at being humble or the state of humility. It literally means in ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance, humbleness of mind, a modest estimate of one's own worth. In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will.
The second part of the verse explains what will happen when we assume and maintain the state of humility. He shall lift us up. It is not our job to lift ourselves up nor is it our job to make us appear better in the eyes of others. It is His job! Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt really low and possibly even abandoned by God? You try and try and try to get out of it by doing things that should make you feel better and thus lift you up out of that state? No matter what you do it does not work. That is because at that point we are trying to do God’s work for Him. That, friends will never work. He does not need our help.
(1Pe 5:5) Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (1Pe 5:6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
I shall not address the first part of verse 5 because it is pretty much self-explanatory. However we must look at the portion of the verse which tells us to “be clothed with humility.” The sense here is that we are to put on humility as we do a garment which clothes our body. In this case the garment of humility actually needs clothe our minds. This clothing of the mind with humility causes us to n to think better of ourselves than we should. It causes us to not want to lord over others. In the case of the Church it causes us to be supporting and respectful of God’s under Shepard, the Pastor. We are to support him in all we do within the body of believers as well as in our private lives. When asked of the Pastor to do a particular thing the state of humility will cause us to do whatever is asked of us without grumbling or murmuring.
In 1 Peter 5:6 we see almost the exact words seen in James 4:10 But with a little added to it. We must take a look at the phrase “the mighty hand of God.” The hand is that by which we accomplish things. Any and all work we accomplish is accomplished by use of the hand(s). The phrase “hand of God” appears sixteen times in the Bible. Often it refers to the fact that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God. From this we can see that the things done by the hand of God in our lives are done through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The hand of God can and has produced both good and calamity in the lives of people. In the verse we are looking at we see the hand of God exalting or raising us up. If we go back and look at Sodom and Gomorrah we can see that the hand of God provided destruction as punishment.
Next we see that He will exalt us in due time. That is not in our time and we feel we need to be lifted up. It is in God’s time and the time when He finds it appropriate to do the exalting. Sometimes that is difficult for us to understand and accept but we must remember that God is sovereign and things are done as He wants them and as He thinks it appropriate. Simply humbling ourselves in the eyes of the Lord or under His mighty hand will not always bring immediate results. Oh, of course when we humble ourselves we will feel differently inside because of the fact we have once again allowed the Holy Spirit to work on our hearts but the exaltation or lifting up is accomplished in His time frame when He feels it appropriate.
(Col 2:23) Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
The shew of wisdom spoken of refers to the things in the preceding verses. We must look at “will worship.” This is not addressing our own will or thinking that our will is worthy of worship as some do. That is one of the worst forms of pride which is counter-productive and self-defeating. As we have seen, any sort of pride in our lives takes us farther away from God and His will for us. What will worship is referring to here is willful worship. It is worship that we give willingly because He is worthy of it and also requires it of us. It has nothing to do with man’s free will. It is that free will which can keep us from willfully worshipping and causing us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.
Then next we see the use of the word “humility” once again. I believe what we are seeing here is the fact that willful worship will cause us to be in a state of humility. It will cause us to be in a state in which God can work on us in His time and cause us to be submissive to the things He requires of us. Humbleness and meekness go hand in hand. It must be remembered that meekness can only be given us through the Lord, Jesus Christ. If you read in Galatians 5 you will see that meekness is a part of the fruit of the Spirit and is not of ourselves or anything we can do. Meekness must come from the Lord.
And neglecting of the body; by fastings and watchings, whereby they seemed to be very religious and devout, holy and mortified persons, who kept under their bodies, subdued their unruly appetites, and fulfilled not the lusts of the flesh: but then this was only a show of wisdom and godliness; there was no truth nor reality in these things; they were only a mere form, an outside show, a mere pretence; there was no true devotion nor religion in them.
(Psa 34:18) The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
The Lord is nigh literally means that He is near in place, kindred or time. It could be all three at once and I believe usually is. This is particularly true of the use of place and time. If the Lord is beside us as we conduct our walk then He is also with us in real time. As far as kindred is concerned, He is very near to us in that we are given to be the sons of God.
Let us look at the statement about a broken heart. This had nothing to do with being broken-hearted due to the loss of a loved one or a cherished pet or anything similar to that. In this use the heart refers to the mind, the will and the emotions. Our hearts or our flesh needs to be broken so that we can rid ourselves of pride and allow Him to work in our lives. As was stated previously our pride keeps the Lord from working in and on us. Recall the words of the psalmist:
(Psa 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
To regard in this use means to discern, approve, take heed and respect. Again the heart refers to the mind, will and emotions. Iniquity is vanity, evil, wickedness and mischief. In other words it is sin. To put that all together, if we approve, take heed or respect the sin in our lives, in other words if we know it is there and take no action to rid ourselves of it The Lord will not hear us. Not only will our prayers be hindered He simply will not hear us. That is why I believe the only prayer the Lord can and will hear from an unsaved sinner is a plea for salvation and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Any other prayers by the unsaved sinner are in vain.
The use of the word “saveth” in this verse does not relate to salvation. It literally means that He will protect us and keep us safe. It follows right along with the use of the word “contrite” which is similar to but stronger than the use of the phrase “a broken heart.” The word “contrite” means that our spirit, in other words our mind, will and emotions are literally ground to a powder. They are pulverized. Our spirit is actually conducive to producing pride, ego and smugness. These things must be put away from us if we are to have the Lord provide us with the safety mentioned in this verse.
(Psa 51:17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
The phrase “the sacrifices of God” is not referring to any sacrifice He has made on our behalf. It is referring to things we sacrifice to Him. These are sacrifices which God desires and approves.
Are a broken spirit - A mind broken or crushed under the weight of conscious guilt. The idea is that of a burden laid on the Soul until it is crushed and subdued. The use of the phrase “contrite heart” means a mind broken or crushed under the weight of conscious guilt. The idea is that of a burden laid on the Soul until it is crushed and subdued
The use of the phrase “a broken and a contrite heart” has much the same meaning as the use of broken heart but has a stronger and more intense feeling to it. See the paragraphs above on broken heart and contrite. A broken heart is synonymous with a broken spirit. Again it is our spirit that is being spoken of and not the Holy Spirit.
(Isa 57:15) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
The high and lofty One refers to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His love is higher than our love. His actions are higher than our actions. He is the ultimate authority in all things. Even though all of this is true it does n to mean that God does not pay attention to the affairs of the human being. He always has time to pay attention to us, to know our needs and to provide solace to us when needed.
That inhabiteth eternity - The word ‘eternity’ here evidently stands in contrast with the ‘contrite and humble spirit;’ and it seems to be used to denote the elevated place of an eternal dwelling or heaven. He dwells not only among human beings, but he dwells in eternity - where time is unknown - in a world where succession is not marked - and long before the interminable duration was broken in upon by the revolutions of years and days.
Whose name is Holy – This can be explained using scripture alone. Witness the following: (1Pe 1:16) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1Ch 16:10) Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. (Psa 99:3) Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. (Luk 1:49) For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. These are but a few of the verses in the Bible which tell us His name is Holy.
I dwell in the high and holy place – This is an obvious reference to heaven. Heaven is the dwelling place of the Lord.
With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit could seemingly refer to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ who is the epitome of meekness. However in this case it is referring to the citizens of heaven. Those who are of a humble and contrite spirit dwell with Him in His heavenly home.
To revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. This literally means to make alive. He makes alive the spirit of those who are humble and contrite. Those who do not think more highly of themselves than what they should find favor in His eyes.
(Isa 66:2) For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
For all those things hath mine hand made – In the words of the Lord this signifies or indicates that this is the heaven and the earth, and all that is in them. The sense is, ‘I have founded for myself a far more magnificent and appropriate temple than you can make; I have formed the heavens as my dwelling-place, and I need not a dwelling reared by the hand of man.’
And all those things have been saith the Lord – All of those things have been created by the Lord and for the Lord. They are done at His behest and when He wants them to be done. This could be rendered all those things were made signifying that God was the Creator of all things. He claims them as His.
Even to him that is poor - The idea is, not that God looks with favor on a poor man merely because he is poor - which is not true, for his favors are not bestowed in view of external conditions in life - but that he regards with favor the man that is humble and subdued in spirit.
And of a contrite spirit - A spirit that is broken, crushed, or deeply affected by sin. It stands opposed to a spirit that is proud, haughty, self-confident, and self-righteous.
And trembleth at my word refers to the fear and reverence of the Lord. He is referring to those who have respect and reverence for His commands. The word translated as trembleth literally means fearful and reverential.
All in all we can see that being fearful, reverential, respectful, humble; of a lowly mind and having a spirit of our own that is literally ground to a powder is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. Many promises, some of which can be seen in this study, are made by the Lord as to how He will handle and deal with people who assume these attributes in their lives. We also see a warning to those who are of the opposite state. God resisteth the proud. The prayers of the proud are hindered. We must get past ourselves and put aside all fleshly dealings with ego, pride and vanity. Once we can accomplish that we find pleasure in the eyes of God.