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The Work of Pride
Psalm 10:4
"The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts."
When you study the Scriptures, pride seems to be the sin that God hates the most. Pride was the sin that caused Lucifer to be thrown out of Heaven. Pride is the sin that causes a person to be destroyed. Pride is the sin that will cause God to judge a nation.
In Psalm 10, we find the work of pride. The first work of pride is making life all about you. God says in Psalm 10:2, "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined." You will notice that pride caused this person to not help the poor. Why? The reason is because they were wrapped up in themselves. A person who makes everything about them and what they want is filled with pride. Nothing should be about what we want, but it should be about what God wants.
The second work of pride is not seeking God. Notice in the verse above, the wicked would not seek God because of their pride. In other words, God calls it wicked to not seek Him. In fact, God says the only reason why you would not seek Him is because you are filled with pride. Pride is the only reason why someone would not seek God in everything that they do.
Let me ask you, are your works filled with pride? For instance, do you seek God in all of your daily affairs? Before you go anywhere, do you ask God to help you as you go through your day? Before you make any decision, do you ask God to help you make that decision? Before you start your day at work, do you ask God to help you as you work? Whenever you perform your ministries at church, do you ask God to help you no matter how big or small the task may seem? When you spend time with your family, do you ask God to help you have a good time with your family? As you rear your children, do you ask God to help you rear them? When you work with your personal finances, do you ask God to help you as you purchase items and pay bills?
If you don't ask God to help you before you do anything, then the work of pride has filled your heart. For you to have enough confidence in yourself that you think you don't need to ask God to help you is nothing more than pride. Pride causes a person to believe that they can do something without God's help.
The result of humbling yourself before God will be that you will seek Him greatly. God says in 2 Chronicles 33:12, "And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers," You will notice that when Manasseh humbled himself that he sought the LORD. When a person is humble, they will seek God in everything that they do.
Christian, be careful about being so filled with pride that you think you can do something without God's help. No matter how small the task may seem, you need God's help to do that task. Starting right now, be sure you ask God to help you before you do anything so that pride will not have a place in your heart.