6 ¶ Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: 7 For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.
Practical advice for the ancient Israelite not to put on airs and attempt to place themselves on a par with the powerful men for it is better to be humble and be lifted up than to be arrogant and brought low. Come into the presence of the king in humility without the pretension of the “great” men. Let him raise you up. Do not put yourself in a position to be knocked down several notches.
The Christian faith is one of denial, humility, and the diminuation of Self.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
1Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
When you come to God, acting as if He’s very fortunate to have you on His “team” then God will need to knock your legs out from under you. And don’t think that if you’re so meek and miserable that you are humble. There is a tyranny of the so called weak, where they become the center of the universe, and direct others not through command or threat but through emotional manipulation and pity. You can be very arrogant without seeming so on the surface. And arrogance, lifting yourself up, is ungodly behavior for a Christian. Tell me, something, whether you seem to be a tough guy and “all that and a bag o’ chips” or if you are meek and mild and just a doormat for everyone to wipe their feet on, are you proud?
Psalm 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
If you have pride in Self, whether it be a vain extolling of your own accomplishments and your man or womanhood, or if you be a behind the scenes emotional manipulator demanding that everyone kowtow to you, you are proud and therefore, in God’s eyes, acting as one of the wicked unsaved persons.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Look around you at the people you love. Look carefully. Who will God have to take away from you in order to get you to look up and quit kissing the mirror? Come before God in humility so that He can lift you up. In these verses lie one of the three times the words “Come up hither (here)” are used in the Bible. The other two times are;
Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Revelation 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
This is the foundation for some Bible commentators saying that there will be multiple “translations” or what are popularly called “raptures”. At least one, Dr. Ruckman, insists that there will be a “rapture” of the church before the Tribulation begins and one of the believing Jews during the Tribulation with the first “Come up hither” referring to Christ’s ascension and the resurrection of the dead Old Testament saints in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52). These things are interesting to discuss but I would not make them issues for argument. Pride tends to creep into arguments and then we forget to keep the main thing the main thing, which is our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Just believe on and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ so that some day God will say to you, “COME UP HERE!”.
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