In the midst of his magisterial prayer at the dedication of the Temple, interceding for God’s future mercies on His people Israel, Solomon made a fascinating, parenthetical remark. I have put it in italics here for emphasis:
“When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors” (1 Kings 8:37–40).
And so, while praying for mercy during times of national judgment, when the Lord had sent a plague or a famine on His people because of corporate sin, each individual Israelite should recognize the affliction of their own hearts – their own failings and sins and shortcomings.
That is a posture that God will bless.
Jesus taught this in a parable as well. As Luke recounts,
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
“‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
“‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”” (Luke 18:9–14)
The moment we look down at others with a sense of spiritual and moral superiority is the moment we commit our own grievous sin – not just the sin of judgmentalism but also the sin of self-righteousness...