What Jehovah’s Humility Means for Us

DAVID was a man who knew adversity. He suffered mistreatment at the hands of King Saul, his jealous father-in-law. Three times Saul tried to kill David with a spear and for years hunted him incessantly, forcing him to become a fugitive. (1 Samuel 18:11; 19:10; 26:20) Yet, Jehovah proved to be with David. Jehovah saved him not only from Saul but also from other enemies. We can, therefore, appreciate David’s sentiments, expressed in song: “Jehovah is my crag and my stronghold and the Provider of escape for me. . . . You [Jehovah] will give me your shield of salvation, and it is your humility that makes me great.” (2 Samuel 22:2, 36) David achieved a measure of greatness in Israel. How, then, was Jehovah’s humility involved?

When the Scriptures speak of Jehovah as being humble, they do not mean that he is limited in any way or that he is subject to others. Instead, this beautiful quality indicates that he has deep compassion for humans who sincerely strive to gain his approval and extends mercy to them. At Psalm 113:6, 7, we read: “[Jehovah] is condescending to look on heaven and earth, raising up the lowly one from the very dust.” His “condescending” means that “he bends down to see” or that “he is humbling Himself to look.” (Today’s English Version; Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible) So from the heavens Jehovah himself ‘bent down,’ or ‘humbled himself,’ in order to pay attention to David, an imperfect but humble man who desired to serve God. Therefore, David reassures us: “Jehovah is high, and yet the humble one he sees.” (Psalm 138:6) The merciful, patient, and compassionate way in which Jehovah dealt with David should encourage all who seek to do God’s will.

Though Jehovah as the Sovereign occupies the most exalted position in the universe, he is willing to have dealings with each one of us. This gives us confidence that we may count on his unfailing help in even the most difficult of circumstances. There is no reason to fear that he will forget us. With regard to his people of ancient Israel, Jehovah is aptly spoken of as the one “who during [their] low condition remembered [them]: for his loving-kindness is to time indefinite.”​—Psalm 136:23.

As Jehovah’s present-day servants, we may suffer adversity as David did. It may be that we face ridicule from those who do not know God, or perhaps we are struggling with poor health or have experienced bereavement. Whatever our situation, if our heart is sincere, we can approach Jehovah in prayer, appealing to his mercy. Jehovah will ‘bend down’ to take note of us and listen to our prayers. The inspired psalmist wrote: “The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous ones, and his ears are toward their cry for help.” (Psalm 34:15) Does it not touch your heart to reflect on Jehovah’s endearing quality of humility?

[Pictures on page 30]

Just as he heard David’s prayers, Jehovah is willing to hear our prayers today

Questions From Readers

How does the Christian congregation view gluttony?

God’s Word condemns both drunkenness and gluttony as behavior that is incompatible with serving God. Therefore, the Christian congregation regards a confirmed glutton in the same manner as it views a habitual drunkard. Neither a drunkard nor a glutton can be part of the Christian congregation.

Proverbs 23:20, 21 states: “Do not come to be among heavy drinkers of wine, among those who are gluttonous eaters of flesh. For a drunkard and a glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with mere rags.” At Deuteronomy 21:20, we read about a “stubborn and rebellious” individual, who deserved to be put to death under the Mosaic Law. According to this verse, two characteristics of that rebellious and unrepentant individual were that he was “a glutton and a drunkard.” Clearly, in ancient Israel, gluttony was viewed as an unacceptable practice for those who desired to serve God.

What, though, constitutes a glutton, and what do the Christian Greek Scriptures say about this topic? A glutton is defined as “one given habitually to greedy and voracious eating and drinking.” Thus, for one thing, gluttony is a form of greed, and God’s Word tells us that “greedy persons” are the sort of