Isaiah gives us the account of Satan’s struggle with power. “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!  You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.  I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’  But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit” (14:12-15). 

In these verses Satan’s motivation is made clear.  The words “I will” repeated five times reveal his pride and self-centeredness.*

All great leaders who are well respected and spoken highly of by people who work for them share a similar trait-- modesty.  Jesus did not have aspirations for earthly greatness instead his aim was a cross.  He said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24-25).

Asaph was a man we do not know a lot about, except that he wrote twelve of the Bible’s psalms.  Of the twelve, there is one, Psalm 75, where he tells us how to keep our head and heart together. 

In verses 4-7, Asaph speaks to those who have experienced a measure of success, “I warned the proud, ‘Stop your boasting!’ I told the wicked, ‘Don't raise your fists! Don't lift your fists in defiance at the heavens or speak with rebellious arrogance.’  For no one on earth — from east or west, or even from the wilderness — can raise another person up.”

What Asaph is saying is, Don’t think you are so great.  Your successes didn’t just happen. Behind it all is the sovereign hand of God. You are only the recipient of His goodness and grace.*

By giving all the glory to God we discern, disarm, and destroy pride.