Godly Humility

1 Samuel 22:22-23 – And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”

These words from David follow a terrible event in his life. David, in fleeing from the murderous jealousy of King Saul, had stopped and received help from a friend. The man, a priest, who aided David was later murdered by King Saul for supposedly conspiring with David against the king. Saul also had the man’s family and entire town put to death. The only escapee was Abiathar, a son of the murdered priest.

When Abiathar came to David with the news, David acted in true and godly humility. Many of us, in such a situation, would have spread the blame or declared our innocence. Many would have tried to deflect any fault for what happened to Saul; but not David. David said to Abiathar, “You know what, it’s my fault. I should have seen this coming. I put your dad and family in danger.” No blame-shifting. No hiding from what happened. No, “Man, that Saul is a jerk! We sure hate him, don’t we?” David just stood, like a man, and confessed his sin.

We must learn from David’s character here if we are to be humble before God and men. There are going to be times when we mess up. There are going to be times when we do not do our fair share. There are going to be times when we simply wrong others, either intentionally or not. In those times, let us learn to be like David. Let us not try to excuse ourselves. Let us not say, “Well, I was having a really bad day; and I had a headache; and the sun was in my eyes; and I was distracted by that barking dog; and besides, they made me mad; etc.” Instead, let us simply and humbly take the blame for our failures, and do what we can to make things right in the name of the Lord.

Dear God, I pray that you will help me to put off sinful pride and put on godly humility. Let me always be quick to take the blame when I fail. Let me not shift blame, look for excuses, or hide from the truth. Let me simply be a man who pleases you, a man with true humility.