“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” Isaiah 6:1
One can only imagine what Isaiah must have saw. It’s not until crossing over to Heaven that one can behold the beauty and magnificent splendor of God in all His Glory. Yet, Isaiah was privileged to get a sneak peek of God’s glory, awe, and majesty, all of which came about after something left the scene. What was that “something” you may be wondering? It was pride! And that pride was in the form of a person. Notice the key verse says, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up.”
As a young king, Uzziah started out well. 2 Chronicles 26:5 tells us, “Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.” But, as Uzziah became more and more successful, powerful and blessed, something in his heart changed. 2 Chronicles 26: 16 goes on to say, “But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.” Uzziah began to believe his own press. He allowed the thoughts of self-sufficiency to creep in and become a stronghold in his heart and mind. Because of Uzziah’s pride, which led to sin, he was struck with leprosy and had to live out the rest of his days separated from God and his people.
Notice that as Uzziah became prideful, he also became more religious. He wasn’t out stealing, womanizing or becoming a drunkard. No, he actually became more “spiritual,” as in “spiritually prideful.” He thought within his heart he had arrived spiritually but that could not have been further from the truth. He still needed God then as much as he did in the beginning.
The good news is that we can rest in the truth of knowing that all of our sin, to include pride, was paid for through Jesus on the cross. The key to staying out of pride is praise. As we stay in the place of praise, with our hearts and minds on Jesus the Holy Spirit will keep us from pride.
Today, continually lift up your praise to God and let Him fill your heart with His love and grace and as we lift Him high His glory will be seen in and through our lives.