2 Samuel 15:1,4; John 7:17; Acts 8:9-11; Proverbs 11:2; Acts 12:19-23
Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him…Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory.
There was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
When pride cometh, then cometh shame.
And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Tyranny, both in state and church, owes its origin to pride.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): In every form of government, monarchy or republic, there will be would-be leaders, who seek to gain influence and carry their objects by tickling vanity, operating on vices, calumniating innocent men, and the other arts of the demagogue. Where the power is in the hands of the people, the people is very apt to take its responsibilities [lightly], and to let itself be led blindfold by men with personal ends to serve, and hiding them under the veil of eager desire for the public good…An accomplished charlatan will leave much to be inferred from nods and hints, and his admirers will generally spin even more out of them than he meant.
THOMAS CHALMERS (1780-1847): Be assured, it is not because the people know much, that they ever become the willing subjects of any factious or unprincipled demagogue. It is just because they know too little. It is just because ignorance is the field, on which the quackery of a political impostor ever reaps its most abundant harvest.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): “So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel,” 2 Samuel 15:6. Absalom was thoroughly versed in the arts of the demagogue; and the common people heard him gladly. He used the patriot’s arguments, and was every thing of the kind, as far as promise could go. He found fault with men in power; and he only wanted their place, like all other pretended patriots, that he might act as they did, or worse.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): A just retribution overtook him. The locks of his hair in which he gloried were caught in the low branches of an oak and there he hung.
C. E. STUART (1827-1903): Suspended by his hair between heaven and earth, Absalom met with the due reward of his deeds, 2 Samuel 14:6 & 18:9.
CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): “As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise,” Proverbs 27:21. Absalom was tried in this fining-pot, and found “reprobate silver.”
C. H. SPURGEON: And there are those in all ages who set up to be prophets, and who seek to draw men after them, of whom it is well to beware.
ADAM CLARKE: Simon endeavoured to persuade the people that he was a very great personage, and he succeeded.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): “They had regard,”—they acquiesced in what he said, and yielded obedience unto it; not only attending to his words with their ears, but with their hearts. “From the least to the greatest,” showing how general their mispersuasion was.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): He drew the attention, and commanded the regard, both of princes and peasants, of the learned and unlearned, of the great men, and of the common people, who one and all wondered at him, and applauded him…He “bewitched the people,” or rather astonished them, with the strange feats he performed; which were so unheard of and unaccountable, that they were thrown into an ecstasy and rapture; and were as it were out of themselves, through wonder and admiration, at the amazing things that were done by him.
MATTHEW POOLE: He caused them to be amazed at, and afraid of him.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): And this amazedness was grown to some strength by reason of a long space of time. Furthermore experience teacheth what a hard matter it is to pluck that error out of the minds of men which hath taken root through long continuance and to call them back unto a sound and right mind who are already hardened…Hence it comes that hypocrites are proud of their numbers; and weak men, terrified by the pompous display of those numbers, stagger.
MATTHEW HENRY: Simon was more desirous to gain honour to himself than to do good to others.
JOHN CALVIN: “And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost,” Acts 8:18,19. That ambition which was hidden before breaketh out now, when as he desireth to be equal with the apostles.
MATTHEW HENRY: Simon showed that, like Balaam, he aimed at the rewards of divination; for he would not have offered money for this power if he had not hoped to get money by it. He showed that he had a very high conceit of himself.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Such self-seekers are all proud men.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): It is a shame for men to seek their own glory.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Here we arrive at the close of Herod’s pomp, in which we behold the sure end of iniquity.
MATTHEW HENRY: The men of Tyre and Sidon had, it seems, offended Herod, Acts 12:20…They had been guilty of some misdemeanours which Herod highly resented, and was resolved they should feel his resentment. Some very small matter would serve such a proud imperious man as Herod was for a provocation, where he was disposed to pick a quarrel. He was highly displeased with this people, and they must be made to know that his wrath was as the “roaring of a lion, as messengers of death,” Proverbs 16:14. The offenders truckled, being convinced, if not that they had done amiss, yet that it was in vain to contend with such a potent adversary, who, right or wrong, would be too hard for them.
C. H. SPURGEON: Proud men are generally hard, and therefore very unfit for office; persons of high looks provoke enmity and discontent.
MATTHEW HENRY: Proud men will have all about them to be of their mind, of their religion, to say as they say, to submit to their dominion, and acquiesce in their dictates—those that idolize their own conduct cannot bear contradiction—and those that will not yield to them they malign and hate with an inveterate hatred.
JOHN CALVIN: In short, they can bear nothing, and are not only passionate, but likewise outrageous. They would wish that all should yield to them, and that they should yield to none. If all do not yield at their bidding, they think that injustice is done to them. This passionate temper is easily betrayed by proud men.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): What was said of the Cretans, Titus 1:12, might, with few exceptions, be applied to all: “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow-bellies,”—a wretched compound of falsehood, and cruelty, and abominable sensuality.
JOHN CALVIN: Proud men, who are apt to be blinded by a sense of their importance, require to be brought down, and made to see that in God’s estimation they are no better than others.
MATTHEW HENRY: Note, God takes notice of the boasts of proud men, and will call them to an account. It is the glory of God to “look on every one that is proud, and bring him low,” Job 40:12. The instance of it here is very remarkable, and shows how God “resists the proud.” Observe how the measure of Herod’s iniquity was filled up: it was pride that did it; it is this that commonly goes more immediately before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
CHARLES BRIDGES: Herod, under the shouting praise of his flatterers, “gave not God the glory,” and was blasted in shame.
MATTHEW HENRY: Thus is shame the fate of proud men.
