3 Steps to Becoming the Greatest Humble Person EverChikamu

David and King Saul

David was anointed as the future king of Israel: however, he had to run away from King Saul and spent many years in exile. In one of many stories where David was being persecuted by Saul, we find him in front of Saul, who was asleep. He could have killed Saul, yet we know David did not kill him. When David returned to his men, he was reproached for having lost such an opportunity to finally kill the King of Israel. David’s response was that he could not lift his hand against the anointed of the Lord. In this story we find a young person, conscious of the privileges granted to him by God, which did not include taking matters into his hands. We also see how much he respected the authority God had established in Israel. David must have known God was the only one who could decide the end of Saul’s reign. But that understanding implied he had to withstand long and severe persecutions. As we see David not taking Saul’s life when he had the chance to do it, we also see him accepting the unfair life he had to live. This required humility; mostly it required accepting God’s will for his life, even if it included long years of unfair persecution. 

We know that in the end, King Saul was killed by his enemies and David was crowned as the King of Judah. In time, David was exalted, and he saw God’s purposes being finally fulfilled in his life. It took him more than three decades to rise to power. It certainly took humility for him to wait so many years. He had decided to wait on God’s time; that is why he did not take matters into his hands. It not only took patience, but humility to resist and endure apparent injustice.

We read David’s words in Psalm 35:10 saying: “Who is like you, Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them.” We can almost hear David saying: “You rescued me from Saul’s strong hands.” David had a gift of being able to understand the hardships he went through. He left his problems in God’s hands—and yes, he cried to Him in despair, but not in distrust.

One of the hardest things in the Christian life is to learn to trust God when we do not understand why we are going through adversity. It takes humility to trust that God is good, despite our losses and hardships. But as we become humble, we are able to accept those losses. As we receive God’s grace to endure and heal, in time we will be exalted.