The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. Psalm 145:8-13
Humble my heart before thee, and replenish it with thy choicest gifts.
As water rests not on barren hill summits, but flows down to fertilize lowest vales, so make me the lowest of the lowly, that my spiritual riches may exceedingly abound. When I leave duties undone, may condemning thought strip me of pride, deepen in me devotion to thy service, and quicken me to more watchful care. When I am tempted to think highly of myself, grant me to see the cunning power of my spiritual enemy; Help me to stand with a wary eye on the watchtower of faith, and to cling with determined grasp to my humble Lord;
If I fall let me hide myself in my Redeemer’s righteousness, and when I escape, may I ascribe all deliverance to thy grace. [VOV]
We are to think of ourselves with “sober judgment, according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3). In other words, the humble person knows who she is, and whose she is. This is the secret to Jesus’ remarkable humility. In contrast to pride and fear, the humility we see in Jesus is marked by dependence and confidence. If we aspire to walk in this path, we will have to think with sober judgment. We will have to be clear-eyed about who we are and whose we are. Where do we get this kind of clarity? The gospel tells us who we are:
We are made in the image of God, created in his likeness for his glory. This truth speaks to both our dignity and our dependence. Before and after the fall, people need God in every aspect of life, “for in him we live and move and have our being” Acts 17:28
The gospel tells us whose we are, we belong to God, body and soul. He is our Maker, to whom we belong by virtue of design. He is our Father, whom we belong to by means of adoption. He is our Master, and we are his bondservants. He is our king, and we are his subjects.
“Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).