While I was preaching and elaborating on the dramatic encounter of Saul of Tarsus with Jesus on the Damascus Road, something unusual happened. As I began my comments on Acts 9:6, something stirred deep in my heart. I stopped in the middle of my message and prayed, “O God, bring down the proud and arrogant leaders in our nation, both political and religious.”
Acts 9:6 (NKJV) where Saul’s experience occurred, reads, “So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘“’Lord, what do you want me to do?'”
Saul, who was on his way to Damascus to arrest followers of Jesus, was struck down by a bright light from heaven. Lying in the dust, he heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4b). Astonished and trembling, he asked about the identity of the voice and heard, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5b).
As I elaborated on these passages, I was so taken at how shattered Paul must have been, lying in the dust of the Damascus Road after encountering the risen Lord. His world had been turned upside down. At that moment, I spontaneously prayed that God would bring down the proud and arrogant leaders in our nation, both political and religious.
God Hates Pride
God hates pride, and both James 4:6 and I Peter 5:5 quote Proverbs 3:34, warning, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Paul warned against putting a “novice” (one new to the faith) into a place of leadership, “lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6).
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