Humility

O mortal man, “what does the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.”* (Micah 6:8) “Humble thyself to walk with God,” is the marginal reading. O man, wouldst thou walk with that high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, who dwelleth in a high and holy place? Wouldst thou have Him dwell with thee? He dwells with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit (Isaiah 57:15). We all want God to dwell with us; we want a closer walk with Him. He walks only with the humble. The more humble we are, the closer will be our walk with Him. Since this is true, we feel like learning all we can about this grace which God so much admires, so that we may possess more of its beauty and power in our hearts.

The pure and holy life of Jesus was one constant exhibition of humility. In the great plan of salvation by grace is purposed and provided that the divine character be implanted in the character of man. Jesus would have us to wear the grace of humility in our hearts; therefore He says, “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.”* (Matthew 11:29) Come, dear reader, and let us sit down at the feet of Jesus while He teaches us a lesson in humility. Oh, how eager we are to learn! What joy fills our hearts as we gather at His feet and look up into His face with souls that are longing to receive more of His lowliness! Jesus has two ways of teaching us anything He would have us know—one is by telling us about it, and the other is by showing it too us in His own life. The Bible is the book that teaches us of the words and the life of Jesus, and to this blessed book we will go.

That we may be more humble, more perfectly imitate our gracious Redeemer in this holy temple of the soul, we shall in this lesson have three points of consideration; namely,

1. What is humility?
2. The blessedness of being humble.
3. How to be more humble.

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1. To be more humble we must first learn what humility is.

We have before said that the Bible is the book which teaches us of the divine graces and perfections; so to this book we go to learn more about this adorable grace. We soon learn that this holy quality is more frequently commended than any other and that we are more urgently enjoined to wear it on our hearts. Humility is not a grace distinct from the other graces, but it makes up a large portion of them and is inseparable from them. In the human character and in the Christian religion there is no virtue nor excellence but is highly imbued with this grace. It is the foundation and the crown of all moral excellence. No virtue can truly be virtue unless it bears the stamp of humility, and no temper of the soul is truly perfect till it is cleansed by being immersed in this grace. Humility is the parent and nurse of all the holy qualities in the Christian character.

All can have this grace. It is not suited to the lowest condition of life only, but those who move in the loftiest circles can have it. It is not a grace that degrades, but a grace that exalts. Oh, what a sweet, pure grace it is! It is wholly free from self and from all that is impure, sensual, or devilish. It is heavenly in its nature. It is not a grace that lifts man up to be great in his own opinion, on the contrary, it enables him to be contented to be little.

Humility is not opposed to high attainments in intellectuality, or cultivation of the mental powers, but it does overthrow the wisdom of the world. By this we mean that the unlearned can know God through this grace and that the learned can know God in no other way. This world does not know God by wisdom. Though man may have all the wisdom of this world, yet in order for him to know God, he must lay it aside (in the sense of its aiding him to comprehend God) and come as if he knew nothing. Education and high mental powers can be used by the spirit of humility, but they must be throughly purged from all self-dependence and be brought to see that the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God.

Humility is the opposite of pride. It is lowliness. It is that grace which enables us to have faith in God. How can they have faith who are lifted up with pride. It is that grace which keeps love burning in our hearts. We can never see how much God loves us and how great is His goodness unless we see how dependent we are upon Him; consequently we cannot love Him as we should unless we are truly humble. It is humility that helps us to be patient amid the trying scenes of life. Without humility there is no true rest of the soul, no true contentment of mind, no true happiness of heart.

Humility is the most beautiful of the beatitudes. The glittering diamonds of earth are not to be compared with the beauty of lowliness. Those who love the things of earth have a strong desire to be adorned with pearls and diamonds. Those who love God have a great desire to have their hearts adorned with a meek and quiet spirit. Oh, how their souls yearn after more of the meekness and lowliness of the Savior! The worldly-minded want the adornings rich and gay, that they may be admired by the world. The Christian desires the grace of humility to adorn his heart because that grace is precious in the sight of God. Let us pray earnestly for God to teach us more about humility and to help us to be more like Jesus in this sweet grace. He will hear and answer prayer in His own way, and His way is best.

But to have more of this grace, we must learn more about what true humility is in its nature. The spirit of humility will help us to form a just estimate of ourselves. Humility will make us more severe in judging ourselves than in judging others. We may learn something more of humility by contrasting it a little farther with its opposite. Pride is a most inconsistent principle. It often acts contrary to itself. Humility never does this. How many things the proud are doing which they have no delight in! They please others for the sake of being praised. With the humble this is not true. Here is a very good test of humility. Someone accomplishes what you have undertaken and failed in, or someone is praised for certain virtues and acquirements in which you think you are well advanced. To illustrate: Suppose you think you are a man of much prayer. You think that if you do excel others in anything, it is in being prayerful. So when others are referred to in your presence as being the more prayerful, it tries your humility. Pride will put a man into a ditch if he thinks he will there gain notice. Remember, the humble loves the lowliest place. Not only do they love the lowest place, but they even love to have this fact unknown.

Humility hides from view. It does not hide from the view of others so much as it does from one’s own self. Others see the humility of the humble person more plainly than he sees it. Humility seeks to hide virtues in oneself rather than to make them known. The humble man, though he may be greatly gifted in many ways, yet he does not see his gifts. It seems to him that he is excelled by all others. Not only does humility hide the other Christian graces from the gaze of self, but it hides itself also. A humble man does not see his humility. He esteems others better than himself. He sees the good that is in others, but does not see their faults; but he sees his own faults rather than his good qualities. To make this plainer, we would say that a humble man who may have much faith but little patience sees his little patience rather than his greater faith; while in his brother who has great patience and but little faith he sees the much patience, but does not see the weak faith; consequently he esteems others better than himself.

The word translated humility occurs only about seven times in the New Testament. In Ephesians 4:2 it is rendered “lowliness”; in Philippians 2:3 it is rendered “lowliness of mind”; in 1 Peter 5:5 it is translated “humility.” By this we learn that lowliness and humility are synonymous terms; and we shall use them as such in this chapter. Meekness is not perfectly synonymous with humility and lowliness; it is rather an immediate fruit of them, but many times it can be used to express lowliness. Meekness is to humility what the tree is to the root, and humility is to meekness what the root is to the tree. Each is dependent upon the other; especially is the tree dependent upon the root. Meekness is that grace which enables us not only to receive injuries without having any feeling of revenge, but to have a desire to do good to those who are responsible for the injuries. Humility is that grace which enables us, in our relationship to God, to see our nothingness and unworthiness to receive anything else than mistreatment; consequently when it comes, we receive it without any feeling of revenge, because we see, in the first place, that we are unworthy of any good.

God loves humility. A meek, lowly, quiet spirit is precious in His sight. He dwells with the lowly, and gives grace to the humble. Our Savior said: “Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”* (Matthew 23:12) Humility is the only way to exaltation, but bear this ever in mind: humility does not seek to be humble for the sake of exaltation. Humility seeks to be humble for no other reason than to be humble. How beautiful! To be self-emptied is the fundamental preparation for the infilling of grace and glory.

Since we are learning from Jesus something of humility, let us hear what He may say relatively to this grace. “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”* (Matthew 18:4) This was the answer Jesus gave to the disciples who had come asking the shameful question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”* (Matthew 18:1) He who willingly is the least, the same is the greatest; but he who becomes the least for the purpose of being the greatest is hypocritical and proud. Jesus said to His disciples on another occasion, “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.”* (Matt. 20:26-27) Again, on beholding the pride and the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus said to His disciples: “Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”* (Matthew 23:10-12)

The humble man is the great man. Humility is a great thing. The smaller a man is in his own estimation, the greater he is. A man shows his greatness by showing his littleness; consequently he who shows himself to be the smallest shows himself to be the greatest. This is very simple, yet it is hard for many to learn. Oh, why will mortal man be proud? Why will this poor, fallen creature think himself to be something? God, in looking down upon him, says, “Thou worm”* (Isaiah 41:14); but man in his self-esteem rises and says, “I am no worm; I am a man.”

There are three prominent features in God’s great kingdom of love and righteousness, and these are symbolized by three ordinances. The entrance into the kingdom of God is through death and resurrection, which is symbolized by baptism. Baptism is administered but once, because we are supposed to enter the kingdom but once. Spiritual life in the kingdom of God is maintained by living upon Christ; by eating of that bread which came down from heaven. This constant feeding upon Christ is symbolized by the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. This ordinance must be kept continuously, because we are constantly living upon Christ. In the kingdom of God we take the place of a servant toward each other. This place of humble servitude is symbolized by the ordinance of feet-washing. This ordinance is not to be observed just once, like baptism, but continuously, because we are ever the servants of one another. How blessed and beautiful! It thrills my soul with admiration. How wondrous is God’s salvation! And how holy is He!

The writers of the epistles speak of humility in language similar to the language of Jesus. Paul said, “In honor preferring one another.”* (Romans 12:10) Do not seek to be the greatest; do not seek for highest honors; but seek the lowest place and prefer that your brother have the honor. This text Conybeare and Howson render thus: “In honor let each set his neighbor above himself.” It reads as follows in Rotherham’s translation: “In honor outdoing one another.” The word rendered prefer means “to take the lead” in being nothing. “Be ambitious to be unambitious.” Outdo each other in being humble and show this by preferring that others have all the honor. Some have grace enough to be willing that honors be given to another if they themselves can have equal honors; but to the truly humble such grace is given as enables them to secretly desire all honor to be given to others. Is this your experience?

Suppose that in company with three other brethren you went to pray for a man dying of consumption. The man was healed instantly and in a few days was a well and strong man. Someone, in telling of this wonderful healing, told who the other brethren were that prayed for the dying man, but failed to mention you. An account of the healing appeared in the paper, giving the names of the other brethren that were present and prayed, but omitting your name. Would you secretly rejoice? Would you be really and truly glad if it should never come to the ears or minds of anyone that you, too, were present and prayed for the man? O my brother, if you are humble, you will rejoice to be unknown and unnoticed.

At one time two brethren made a visit to some sisters. Several beautiful songs were sung by the sisters. Finally one of the brethren sang a very inspiring hymn. There was, however, but little comment upon the hymn. After the lapse of a few moments the brother asked whether any of the company had ever heard that hymn before. The reply was that they had not. He then told them that the Lord had given him that song down in the rural districts of one of the Southern States. The point for the brother to examine closely is, did he desire to magnify the Lord, and the Lord alone? Or did he have a secret desire to let the company know that he was the composer? Self has a desire to be set forward, an itching to be noticed. The Apostle John would have said, “The Lord gave a disciple that song to His own glory.” How beautiful a grace is humility! Self sometimes gets so cunning as to seek applause by seeming to shun it.

The Apostle Paul says, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.”* (Philippians 2:3) Do not seek a reputation. Allow me to quote again from Conybeare and Howson: “Do nothing in a spirit of intrigue or vanity.” I will take time and space to make explanation of this text, believing as I do that it will be to the reader’s edification. In Philippians 1:16 we learn that some preached Christ of contention (or “in a spirit of intrigue” say Conybeare and Howson), not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to Paul’s bonds. “Whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”* (Philippians 1:18) These Judaizing teachers, since Paul had been imprisoned, began to teach Christ, supposing that he was like themselves—seeking his own glory—and that therefore if they would begin to preach Christ, he would grow envious and fear lest he himself should lose some glory. So they preached in a “spirit of intrigue.” But he was not seeking his own glory, and therefore so far as he was concerned, he could rejoice no matter who preached Christ. This is the true spirit of humility. “Let nothing be done to lift up self and to put another down, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.” I know of no text that teaches humility more forcibly and beautifully than this does. “But in lowliness of mind let each account others above himself.” “But in your lowliness of mind esteeming one another superior to yourselves.” Alas! how few are actuated fully and at all times by this spirit! It is advised that every reader look closely into his own heart as he slowly turns in the light of this truth.

How prone is man to see the faults and defects of others more readily than his own! How clearly he can see every little wrong his brother does! But he fails to see his own. He goes to visit a distant family. He hears the man speak a little unkindly to his wife. How quickly he notices it! He thinks it is bad indeed that a man should speak so unkindly to the one whom he has promised to love and cherish through life. But when he gets home, he fails to see the same fault in himself. Things look worse and can be seen more readily in others than in himself. With the humble man this is the opposite. He sees his own faults more readily than the faults of others. Defects look greater in him than they do in others; therefore he considers others superior to himself. In his lowliness of mind he regards others above himself. He meets many who can sing, pray, and preach much better than he can. When a man thinks he is more spiritual than anyone else, he is the least spiritual.

The Apostle Peter says, “All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”* (1 Peter 5:5-6)

You will remember that we are learning something of humility from the teaching of Jesus and of the apostles. We have not referred to every text that hints at humility, but only to the principal ones. How worthless is everything that is not pervaded by deep humility! Only this is of any worth in God’s sight. For poor, weak man to think himself to be something, how shameful this is and how abominable in the sight of all heaven! The words of Peter, “Be clothed with humility,” are deep and far reaching. Rotherham renders them, “Lowliness of mind girding on.” Literally, they are, “Tie on with a fast knot.” We can often know a man by his clothes. Clothing is only an outward covering, but in this text it expresses the inward condition. “Gird on lowliness of mind.” “Be clothed with humility”—over all the acts of life throw a covering of humility; as if to hide them from the gaze of men. It is that hideous monster Pride, that dark-visaged enemy of purity and peace, which seeks to set self forward and to call attention of others to one’s own good deeds. O God, deliver man from this artful foe.

Let humility run through your whole life and pervade every act and thought. Humble yourself, empty yourself of self before God, and let Him be all in all. Are you afraid you will suffer some loss if you cast the pure, white robe of humility over the whole of your conduct and hide your good qualities and gifts and good deeds from the gaze of others? It is only self that can by this suffer loss. Humility suffers no loss nor experiences any regret from being unnoticed and unknown. The humblest man is the happiest.

Humility is more than that sinking down into nothingness before God while in prayer. It is that which flows out from us in our everyday conduct as we mingle with others. That in your silent chamber before the awful and august presence of God you feel yourself sunken out of sight, is not full proof of humility. When you go out among men and are made a blessing to some and they begin to give you praise, then it is that the real tests come. If you would know the true state of your heart, watch its feelings and behavior along the common course of everyday life. Someone has used these weighty words:

Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you. Under the banner of this truth, give up yourselves to the meek and humble Spirit of the holy Jesus…. Humility must sow the seed, or there can be no reaping in heaven. Look not at pride only as an unbecoming temper, nor at humility only as a decent virtue; for the one is death, and the other is life; the one is all hell, and the other is all heaven.

So much as you have of pride, so much you have of the evil one alive in you; so much you have of true humility, so much you have of the Lamb of God within you. Could you see with your eyes what every stirring of pride does to your soul, you would beg of everyone you meet to tear the viper from you, though with the loss of an hand or an eye. Could you see what a sweet, divine, transforming power there is in humility… how it expels the poison… and makes room for the Spirit of God to live in you, you would rather wish to be the footstool of all the world than to want the smallest degree of it.

[William Law; Spirit of Prayer]

Beloved fellow pilgrim, let us examine the true state of our hearts in the light of a few scriptural texts. “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.”* (Romans 12:16) This text the Revised Version renders in these deep words: “Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to things that are lowly.” Have no aspirations for high positions in life. If your calling in life is a low one be content. Seek nothing higher from any self-interest. A humble man takes the lowest seat and is so contented that he is not looking for a higher one. He who takes a low seat with the hope of being invited up and daily looks for it is a miserable man.

“Be not wise in your own conceits.”* (Romans 12:16) Do not think yourself to be anything more than an ordinary man. It was the proud Pharisee that said, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are.”* (Luke 18:11) Do not get such a cultivated nicety and such a lofty opinion of yourself that others seem to come a little short of yourself. A man of my acquaintance began to have a favorable opinion of himself as being cultured, meek, patient, and humble. A circumstance suddenly occurring one day affected him to such an extent as to show him that he was greatly deficient in patience and humility. Some conceit was taken out of him.

“Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.”* (1 Corinthians 13:4) Love and humility go hand in hand. It is through love we are to be servants one of another. “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness.”* (Ephesians 4:2) Plod along in your life’s vocation quietly and contentedly, envying no man. The little word all gives this great depth of meaning. “All lowliness” signifies perfect freedom from any wish that your lot in life be any other than that in which God has placed you. It means perfect contentment. “All meekness” means perfect freedom from any desire for revenge and from any spirit of retaliation—a perfect forbearance. It is a patience so deep that no trial nor vexing thing can get to the bottom of it. A humble man feels no envy. Others may rise higher and higher in social life, but he plods on sweetly contented with his lowly station.

Man cannot of himself be humble. Such is our helplessness. It is true we are commanded to humble ourselves. So are we commanded to repent and to have faith, but we are dependent upon the Spirit of God that we may keep these commands. It is only by the aid of the Holy Spirit that we can humble ourselves. We can have true inward feelings of humility only as they are given by the Spirit of God. Last evening while I was in secret devotion, there came into my heart such a sense of nothingness as to seem to blot me out of existence. As sometimes you have seen a vapor pass away until not the least trace of it could be seen, so I seemed to fade away and vanish out of sight. It was sweet as heaven to me. It was the Spirit of God that gave me such a vision of myself. I saw, too, how awfully vile, sinful, and corrupt I would be without the atonement of Christ.

Humility of heart will find expression in life. The Apostle John does not speak of himself. He says, “that other disciple.”* (John 20:3,8) Matthew does not tell us that he was rich and that he made a great feast for Christ. It is one of the other evangelists that tell us that (Luke 5:29). Matthew simply tells us what was done “as Jesus sat at meat,”* (Matthew 9:10) but does not hint at who it was that gave the entertainment. The acts of the humble are always such as will attract the least attention to self. I am not passing judgment upon the motive of a certain sister, but her conduct on a certain occasion will help me to illustrate to you more clearly how true humility behaves itself. We sat at her table. There were nine of us. She had prepared nine pieces of meat from some wild game. She took up the platter containing the delicious meat, and looking it over, remarked, “There is only a piece for each one, and I will take the most inferior piece.” It would have been more consistent with the spirit of humility to have taken the most inferior piece without saying a word.

A certain brother had a nice apple, which he was preparing to eat. The apple was mellow upon one side, but harder upon the other. As he was about to begin eating the apple, a little child came up and begged a piece. The temptation came at first to cut off a portion from the hard side of the apple, but resisting the temptation, he gave the little girl a part from the mellow side. No one knew of this act but Him who knows all things. The truly humble choose the inferior things for themselves without calling attention to it. True humility will manifest itself daily in home life. Those who are humble will choose the poorest and leave the best for the others of the family.

By what has been said you understand something of what humility is in actual experience. Now we come to our second point of consideration.

2. The blessedness of being humble.

God walks with the humble. What heart could crave a richer blessing? “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”* (Exodus 33:14) Thus to walk with God in humbleness is to have fullness of rest. If you would be happy and full of rest, you must be humble. Listen to these words of the Savior, and I trust they may fall upon your heart in their full weight and in all the strength of their beauty. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”* (Matthew 11:29) Rest is the result of being lowly. Alas! how few have found the precious secret! The more humble a man is, the sweeter, richer, and deeper is his rest; and the prouder he is, the more wretched is his state. Sweet, tranquil rest fills the heart and life of the truly humble. The world may scoff at you, but your rest of soul is not disturbed. All around you may be praised and honored and you neglected, but your soul rests on. Blessed experience indeed!

God gives grace to the humble. Therefore the more lowly a man is, the more grace he has. Grace, like water, fills up the lowest places. Suppose you have two cups each ten inches deep. These cups are connected by a small tube. The tube enters one cup two inches from the top and the other two inches from the bottom. To have the pipe running level, you understand it would make one cup six inches higher than the other. Now, if there is an opening in this tube midway between the cups and you begin to pour water in this opening, the water will run both ways. But soon the water in one cup rises to the tube, and then all the water you pour in will flow into the other cup. Christian hearts are all bound together by the golden pipe of salvation. This pipe enters the heart at the surface of the humility. If you have but one inch of humility in the bottom of your heart and your brethren have ten, then as God pours grace and glory into the golden pipe, your heart is filled; then it all flows into other hearts that are more lowly. If you desire more grace and glory, you must humble yourself; because God gives grace to the humble.

“Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.”* (Matthew 5:5) The earth is the Lord’s and its fullness. The meek and lowly have God for their Father; consequently they are heirs to this world—to all they daily need of it. This is one blessing belonging to the humble. They inherit the earth. By this is meant that God who owns the earth and all in it will supply every need, or give to the truly humble every temporal blessing needed. Those who become a little anxious and somewhat disturbed because every temporal blessing is not in sight are not as humble as they should be: consequently faith in God is hindered. I desire to make every point comprehensive; and the best manner in which to do this by illustration. Suppose I was to go to a place to hold a meeting. Now, if the congregation at that place did not give me of their means to meet my present necessities and I should become anxious and restless, it would be because I was not as humble before God as I should be. To humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God includes not only a consciousness of our dependence upon God but also the rest of faith and trust in Him. God’s humble child shall never want. “[They] shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied.”* (Joel 2:26) When the grace of humility adorns the heart, God is well pleased, and He keeps that heart full of rest. “The LORD lifteth up the meek.”* (Psalm 147:6)

“He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. The LORD lifteth up the meek.”* (Psalm 147:4-6) This is wonderful. The same thought is expressed here as in Isaiah 40:26-29. The very greatness of God’s power that is called into operation in creating and sustaining the material universe is called into operation in lifting up and sustaining the meek. The heavens may fall and the worlds melt away, but God will never suffer His humble child to stumble and fall. It is blessed to be humble. My heart daily seeks for more of this satisfying grace. My soul has tasted of it and prays and longs for more. As the hart pants after the water brooks so my soul pants after more humility. It is not a restless, anxious, dissatisfied craving, but a sweet, satisfied longing. The meek are exhorted to seek meekness (Zephaniah 2:3). The very meekest can yet attain to greater meekness, and consequently our joy and blessedness can ever be increasing.

We will make a few quotations from the Holy Bible. These we ask you to meditate upon until your soul tastes of the sweetness they contain. “The meek shall eat and be satisfied.”* (Psalm 22:26) Is it not blessed to be fully satisfied; to want nothing; to have full and perfect rest of soul? Such is the happy state of the truly humble. Not only shall they have food for the body and be satisfied therewith, but they shall have food for the soul until it delights itself in fatness.

“The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way.”* (Psalm 25:9) If this declaration does not waken in your soul an intense desire to become more meek, it must be sleeping the sleep of death. The ways of God are peaceful, pleasant, happy ways. There is no sorrow there, no darkness. All is hopeful and bright. The humble shall walk there and shall hear the voice of their God. His ways are higher, much higher, than man’s ways; but those who will humble themselves, He will exalt to walk in His ways. Alas! how few in these days of iniquity and cold formality know the right ways of the Lord! Thank God! there are a few who know—and blessed is that people!

“The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”* (Psalm 37:11) When you have meditated on this text a full hour, you will then begin to comprehend only a little of its depth of meaning. Have you an abundance of peace? Many who thought they had an abundance of peace found, when the tests and trials came, that their peace was very shallow. One who testified of being so full of peace lost all his peace when the trial came. Someday (for such days do come) when everything seems to go wrong, then do you delight yourself in the abundance of peace? If you do not, you need more meekness; for the promise is that the meek shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

“The LORD lifteth up the meek.” “The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD.”* (Isaiah 29:19) Oh, how these words thrill our inner being! No harm can ever come to one of God’s humble ones, for He lifts them above every evil. We set sail upon the ocean of life in sweet assurance of safety. We do not know what storms may rise along the way. We do not know how high the billows may dash, nor what may interpose; but this we know; if we keep humble, God will lift us high over all, and our joy shall be increased. Since it is so blessed to be humble, all our hearts are longing for more humility; therefore we will now consider our third point.

3. How to become more humble.

To the obtaining of more humility, there are at least four requisites; namely,

1. Being conscious of one’s need of more.
2. A comprehension of the true worth of this grace.
3. Having a strong desire to obtain more.
4. Earnestly seeking after it.

1. The first thing necessary for the obtaining of more humility is to be conscious of your need of more. You cannot attain to more if you do not feel your need of more. You must feel your need so deeply that your soul will cry unto God for more; then God will give it; no soul was ever denied its holy desires when pleaded for in earnestness. Examine your experiences in the light of God’s word. Examine your meekness beside the meekness of Jesus until you deeply feel the need of more. If one fails to be conscious of any need of more, it would be folly to seek for more. No one can seek with sufficient earnestness to find unless deeply conscious of the need. In order for us to receive anything from God, our souls must plead from a full consciousness of need. Remember this, my dear Christian reader; I am not writing on this subject merely to entertain you; I desire to benefit you in your own soul’s experience. Lay this book down now and look into your heart and life to see how much need you have of being more humble; and may the Spirit of God aid in the research. Take plenty of time. Many people fail to get full help from God because they do not take time enough.

2. A comprehension of the true worth of this grace. After you have discovered that you are not as humble as you need to be, then you should see something of the beauty and the true worth of humility. If a man should see that he needed more, but should not see the great benefit and blessing it would be to him, he would not strive for it. Let this sweet grace therefore become a pearl of great price to your soul.

I must repeat something I have said before. Take time to see the excellence of humility. Nothing else is hindering Christians today from making spiritual advancement as is their not taking enough time to do so. The artist stands before the scene to be painted till his whole soul is aflame with admiration of its beauty. If he is going to paint a sunset, he must see its beauties and its glories. These glories he must view with such admiration that they get into his own soul; and then he can pour them from his own soul into his painting. Let me say, too, that the skilled artist sees glories in the sunset that are hidden from the unpracticed eye. If you would see the beauty and the excellence of humility, you must tarry before Him who shines forth His grace in its light and strength, until your soul is filled with admiration of its beauty. It is only then that you can get humility into your own heart and show it forth in your life. Those who tarry long at the feet of Jesus see beauties of His sweet life and excellencies in His character that unpracticed eyes never see.

3. Having a strong desire to obtain more. You must feel your need of humility and see the beauty of it until your soul longs for more of it. There must be a longing. As your physical being thirsts for water, so your soul must thirst for God. Someone wrote these beautiful lines:

“God loves to be longed for, loves to be sought,
For He sought us Himself with such longing and love.
He died for desire of us—marvelous thought!
And He yearns for us now to be with Him above.”1

Some have considered desire as something unimportant. They seem to think it bespeaks a state of discontent, of uneasiness, or of unrest. Not so. There is a blessedness in having strong desire for more of God.

“Of all the myriad moods of mind
That through the soul come thronging,
Which one was e’er so dear, so kind,
So beautiful as longing?”2

The student that has no thirst for knowledge finds no joy in seeking knowledge; but the student that desires knowledge seeks for it with joy. Ah! with what delight he bends to his task! As long as he has mind-hunger, so long will he continue in search of knowledge and ever will be gaining and happy and contented in such knowledge. Should this mind-hunger cease, then this mental growth is at an end. The same is true in spiritual things. If there is no hunger of soul for more meekness, then more meekness will never be gained. When soul-hunger ceases, spiritual development is at an end. Longing is not unrest. It is not anxiety. The sinner’s soul is in unrest, and he longs for rest. The Christian’s soul is full of rest, but he longs for calmer rest; his soul is full of peace, but he desires sweeter peace; his heart is full of contentment, but he desires deeper contentment. It is not a bitter cry of anguish nor of disappointment; but it is the tender, passionate yearning of a loving heart for a sweeter, fuller, richer, deeper experience in the meekness and lowliness of Jesus. But it is not enough to have strong desire.

4. Earnestly seeking after it. The student may have a thirst for knowledge; but if he does not seek for it, he will never gain it. “Seek ye the LORD; all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgments; seek righteousness; seek meekness.”* (Zepheniah 2:3) Here is where many fail. They long for more of God, to be more kind, to be more meek and patient; but they do not make the effort to obtain more. In order to obtain the pearl of great price, the man sold all he had and bought the field containing the pearl. You desire to become more meek, but you are not willing to take time that you might obtain it. The temporal duties of life are demanding all your time. As you go about your daily duties, you sigh for more of God. Longing is not sighing.

“I will not waste one breath of life in sighing.
For other ends has life been given to me—
Duties and pure devotion daily rising
Into a higher, better life with Thee,
My God, with Thee.”

Gazing into heaven will not make you more like Jesus. Sitting down and longing will never gain the goal. The man at the base of the cliff may wish he were at the top, but mere wishing will not take him there. We must have desire, but our desire must lead to service. Deny self for the good of others. Pray for others more than for yourself. Be patient under every provocation and affliction. Look not on your “light afflictions,” but keep God’s glory in view. Keep seeing more of God in everything and less of self. Do not have regard for self. Beloved, it is possible for you to become so humble and heavenly minded that you hardly seem to dwell in the body. Going out from your presence will be a peculiar influence that others will feel and look on you with wonder. They will not understand you. To them you will seem to live more and to dwell rather in the spiritual than in the natural world.

“Oh, to be but emptier, lowlier,
Mean, unnoticed, and unknown,
And to God a vessel holier,
Filled with Christ, and Christ alone!”*