3 Steps to Becoming the Greatest Humble Person EverSample

Humbled To Be Exalted

The story of Mephibosheth, found in 2 Samuel 4, tells us of a young man who was King Saul’s grandson. This man had been born to privilege, yet he lost it all when both his grandfather and father died. He not only lost his privileges, but also his two legs (when he was a child, his nurse dropped him when she was running away in fear of being attacked). We find this story again in chapter 9, when King David asked if anyone from Saul’s family was still alive. When King David found that there was a survivor by the name of Mephibosheth, he decided to bring this man to the palace, to show him favor and seat him at his table alongside his own sons.

This story is one of loss and restoration, but also a story of humiliation. It is a story of losing everything and then being uplifted to sit at the King’s table. When this man lost everything he had, including his ability to walk, he lost his self-esteem to the point of saying he was not as important as a dead dog (2 Samuel 9:8 NIV). We can assume he had been humiliated; life had certainly given him plenty of chances to learn to be humble. We find the favor of God given to a forgotten and despised man, as we see King David restore and exalt Mephibosheth.

The Lord Jesus Christ was invited into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal with him. As Jesus watched the other guests choose the best places to sit at the table, He told them a story. He exhorted them not to choose the best seats, but to wait for the host to seat them; otherwise, they could be told to move to the lowest seats, and thereby be publicly ashamed. Here we see Jesus advising us to be humble by choosing the least important seats. Often, people lift themselves up to be important, only to be abased. But the humble will be exalted. 

Indeed, we find Mephibosheth being exalted after long years of humbleness. As he sat at the King’s table with the great Absalom, David’s son, he appeared as big as Absalom, though he most certainly was not. God’s grace upgraded this man to a place of honor and teaches us to learn humility. In time, we will be exalted. God desires to restore our honor, but He waits until we have learned to be humble and will stay humble, whatever our situation or predicament might be.