Psalm 76:12 - August 2, 2009

Ps 76:12 "He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth." NIV

It is a common thing for those in great positions of power, wealth and authority to carry that status with a measure of pride and independence. Many who rise to these heights of accomplishment hold on to a false belief that it was their own power and wisdom that has qualified them for the stature that they enjoy. From this attitude of presumption these same rulers often make their decisions without consideration of the values and desires of the living God whose choice of them is the true source of their prominence. It is this very presumption that is behind the implications of Psalm 76:12.
Even though the rulers of the earth may seek to exercise their own will in opposition to the will of God in the final outcome God is well able to bring any leader low. His first efforts are to transform the heart of the leader but if this heart will not yield, in due time He will change the leader themselves. The scriptures give two powerful examples of the conflict between the heart of the leader and the heart of the Lord. In the book of Exodus God allowed the Pharaoh to remain as leader over the people of Egypt but the Lord progressively wore down his stubborn spirit until he finally yielded to the will of God that Moses had declared to him. The process of God implementing 10 plagues against him and the nation of Egypt was a progressive breaking of Pharaoh’s spirit. Plague after plague brought him closer to the edge of surrendering to the will of God. Finally after the loss of his own firstborn son he surrendered to the demands of God’s servant. Even then his yielded heart condition lifted as he considered the impact of losing the Israelite slaves. One final judgment fell upon him in the form of a significant portion of his army being swallowed up by the sea in their pursuit of Moses. Imagine the process of God bringing 11 progressive judgments upon a leader for the purpose of both bending him to God’s will and to establish a testimony for all generations of God’s power over the kings of men.
The second figure who experienced the breaking of his spirit at the hands of the Lord was the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. In the book of Daniel this king is given a warning of coming judgment if he continues arrogantly taking credit for his kingship, neglecting to acknowledge that it was the hand of God that promoted him to such stature in the earth. Nebuchadnezzar was cautioned that if he continued in this path of pride he would be brought low by the Lord. Given one full year to come to repentance the king persevered in his arrogance and so received 7 years of mental instability as a judgment upon his sinful heart condition as a means to break through that wrong spirit. After this season of painful judgment was lifted the king was humbled by his experience and acknowledged that all that he had accomplished was because of the work of God not his own doings.
It is so important for our own spiritual health and for the message that our lives send to those who are watching us that we live a life that is both yielded to God’s direction and acknowledging God’s favor. When we preserve a right heart towards the favor that God places upon our lives we also preserve our position before God. When we enter into presumption God in his mercy is both willing and able to take us into a season of discipline and breaking to restore us to humility and surrender to His will. Maintaining a healthy fear or reverence for the Lord is the surest path to preserving our position of grace before God. The book of James says it very simply when it says “The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble!”