All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
for great is the glory of the LORD.
For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
The above lines come from this hymn of King David. He wishes and prays that the highest of the land (the kings) would realize they are really the lowly of the land. God is the one that is high and it is those who are lowly that receive His grace. Even though God is high he stoops to us and gives us His grace and steadfast love. However, the haughty God does not bend down to meet. He keeps them afar. David states that these kings do sing the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the LORD. David is probably referring to those kings who came to visit him. They would be compelled to worship God in their desire to be engaged with God’s earthly king. That, to David, was a form of worship. But he wanted more for them. When they came to engage with him, David would speak the words of God to them. He wanted them to lose their haughty spirits and become lowly in heart to receive God’s grace. Yet, kings don’t typically bend the knee to others since they are constantly having others bend the knee toward them. The corruption and pride that comes to those in authority often prevents them from stopping low to God so that God can stoop low to them with His grace. Their haughty spirits make it impossible for them to experience God’s grace. Why:
James 4:6 (ESV)
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Humility is the avenue by which we see His glory.
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