Eating Humble Pie (Psalm 30–32)

Pride sneaks in sounding like confidence and leaves us feeling empty. We unpack how David’s story in Psalms 30–32 exposes the subtle drift from “God-centered” to “self-secure,” and why that shift always costs more than it promises. When David boasts, “In my prosperity, I shall never be moved,” the result isn’t strength but distance—God’s face hidden, joy fading, and a heart weighed down. Then comes the turn: God’s rescue, favor that outlasts anger, and a path back through honest confession.

We walk through Psalm 31 to see humility as strong surrender, not weak self-loathing. David warns that pride will be repaid, yet a brighter picture emerges as Jesus quotes, “Into your hands I commit my spirit,” modeling radical trust at the cross. That moment reframes humility as open-handed faith—entrusting outcomes, reputation, and hidden motives to the Father. If pride clenches and controls, humility releases and receives.

Psalm 32 offers the cure in plain words: acknowledge, uncover, confess. David describes the blessedness of forgiveness with three angles—transgression, sin, iniquity—and shows how pride blocks the flow of blessing like plaque in an artery. The relief of confession isn’t theoretical; it’s felt in a clean conscience and restored fellowship. We share practical cues for spotting pride’s creep (listen to your pronouns, watch your envy), simple steps for prompt and specific confession, and daily practices that keep a soft heart before God. Humble pie may not be on any menu, but it’s the meal that turns weeping into morning joy.

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Chapters

• 0:33 Pride’s Problem And The Psalms
• 1:10 The Origin Of “Humble Pie”
• 3:18 David’s Pride And Psalm 30
• 4:42 Warning Signs Of A Proud Heart
• 5:54 Psalm 31 And True Humility
• 7:10 Psalm 32: Confession And Relief
• 9:14 Joy Restored And Final Blessing
• 11:56 Resources And How To Connect

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:34

Has pride ever caused problems for you or for others? I suspect that I know the answer. Psalms 30 and 31 reveal some devastating consequences of pride. Pride itself is a sin, and it keeps us from admitting other sins. It robs us of the Lord's presence and fellowship. Psalm 32 gives us the key to victory over pride. Would it help you to know what that is? Stephen's lesson today is called Eating Humble Pie.

SPEAKER_00: 1:11

In the 17th century, rather elaborate hunting expeditions were held by wealthy landowners. They would go out there and camp out in the open during the hunt. But they didn't camp out in a little tent, you know, with a campfire. They had large, elaborate tents that housed kitchens and dressing rooms, and even, on some cases, personal libraries. It wasn't unusual to bring along dozens of guests and even paid musicians. Now, after a successful hunt, I have read, the expedition would turn into a time of feasting with what they had caught. However, the servants were never included in the feast. Their landlords and all those guests enjoyed venison, but the servants would be given the remaining organs of the deer, and they referred to them as umbolds. The umbolds would be cleaned and mixed with fruit and vegetables. They'd be wrapped in dough and then baked, and it kind of came out looking like a pie. The servants used to call it umble pie. Now, this term would change over the course of time and come to refer to someone who lived in rather humble circumstances. In fact, the phrase also came to refer to somebody who'd been caught or embarrassed of some crime or failure. And he was said to be forced to eat some humble pie. The truth is, nobody likes to eat humble pie. Well, for one thing, you know, it doesn't go down very easily. I've been to a lot of restaurants over the years and I've never seen humble pie on the menu. You know, it's human nature to stay away from that kind of stuff. It's human nature to love yourself, promote yourself, uh, advertise yourself, defend yourself. Frankly, that's a lot more appetizing than the humiliation of admitting uh your failure of having to eat a slice of humble pie. Well, these next three psalms are all dealing with the subject of pride, and David's going to describe what it means to be humbled. In fact, he's going to reveal for us the joy that comes when we do humble ourselves before God and confess our sin and sit down at the table and eat a slice of humble pie. Well, now here in Psalm chapter 30, we learn that David has sinned against the Lord. We're not exactly sure here in this Psalm what it was, but it was related to some kind of uh prideful attitude or action. David confesses here that his focus had shifted away from God and on to himself. In fact, he writes here in verse 6 I said, in my prosperity, I shall never be moved. Well, that sounds like a lot of pride to me. Did you hear the Lord's name in that boasting? No, I didn't either. In fact, David writes here in verse seven, Lord, you hid your face. I was dismayed. Well, he shouldn't have been surprised by God's reaction. You see, David's pride had blinded him. One of the warning signs, by the way, for you and me, that the Lord is about to give you a slice of humble pie is when you hear yourself using the words I, me, and my over and over again. When your focus is on you, well, God and and other people are just going to take a back seat. So let me ask some hard questions here. Do you crave attention? Can you rejoice when when somebody else gets the spotlight? Do you have a hard time forgiving other people who offend you? Can you easily find fault in other people, but you can't find fault in yourself? Do you blame God? Do you blame other people for failures in your life? Or can you see your own part, your own hand in them? Sounds like you're gonna have to eat a piece of humble pie. But let me give you the good news. David opens this psalm by celebrating the Lord's grace in drawing him back up like a bucket from a deep well. He says here in verse one, I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up. David says again here of the Lord in verse five, for his anger is but for a moment, and his favor, his grace, is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with a mourning. Those are great promises. Now, as we move into Psalm 31, David is humbled before the Lord. But I need to tell you, pride is still kind of lingering on his mind. He writes down here in verse 23 The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride, as if to say he's gonna serve that person a slice of humble pie. And what's the result? Well, he says back here in verse 10, My strength fails because of my iniquity, my bones waste away. Listen, beloved, we waste our lives when we focus on I, me, and my. Well, what does it mean to demonstrate humility? What does that look like? Well, it it's really thrilling to think that right here in this same psalm, Jesus pulls a text out, and and our humble servant, the Lord Jesus, quotes this text right before he dies. Jesus prays verse five here, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Luke's gospel tells us after saying this, he drew his final breath and died for your sins and mine. Well, now here in the next Psalm, Psalm 32, following these two psalms that address the subject of pride, uh, David is going to give us a personal testimony of confession. David wrote Psalm 32 in response to his adultery, his sin with Bathsheba, and if you remember the arranged death of her husband Uriah, these were evil manifestations of nothing less than pride. David was all wrapped up with I, me, and my. Well, following these acts of pride, he refuses to confess his sin. In fact, nearly a year went by before the prophet Nathan confronts David back there in 2 Samuel chapter 12. And that confrontation brought the truth to light, and fortunately, David broke down in genuine repentance. Well, immediately following David's admission, he writes a long confession to the Lord in Psalm 51, and we're going to get there soon enough. But in Psalm 51, verse 13, David promised to teach transgressors the way of God so that sinners would return to the Lord. Well, Psalm 32 is the fulfillment of that promise. David is teaching us all here in this Psalm how to respond to sin, how to respond, how to deal with pride that lurks behind every sin. David begins by revealing to us that pride blocks the blessing of God. Here in the first two verses of Psalm 32, David writes, Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. It's a wonderful phrase. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven. The word for transgression means to cross over the line, to go too far. Blessed is the one whose sin is covered. The word for sin means to miss the mark. You miss the target of righteousness. It can also refer to realizing that you're missing something in life. Beloved, sin doesn't, it does not bring a sense of fulfillment. Sin brings a sense of emptiness. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. The word for iniquity means twisted. So these three synonyms here: transgression, sin, and iniquity are all rooted in pride. Just like plaque can stop the flow of blood to your heart, pride can block the flow of God's blessing in your life. So so what's the solution? Well, David teaches us here to go to the heart doctor. It's time for a heart checkup. David writes in verse 5, I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Oh wow, there's nothing quite like the relief of confessing your sin, is there? Of being forgiven by the Lord. No wonder David ends this psalm with such joy in verse 11 as he celebrates a clean conscience and a clean heart. He writes, Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous. Righteous, by the way, refers to being right with God and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. That means your heart is right again. It's clean. Let me encourage you with a reminder that whenever the Lord sits you down in life and serves you a slice of humble pie, it might not taste good, but it isn't going to hurt you. It's non-fattening in a way. It's actually good for you. It reminds you of your sin. It leads you to the Savior. It leads you to confess your sin to Him. And as you confess your sin, in fact, every day, well, you leave that table with a renewed sense of fellowship with the Lord and a restored sense of joy and thanksgiving. You're really ready now for another day as you walk with your faithful, your gracious, your forgiving Redeemer and Lord. Well, until our next wisdom journey together, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

SPEAKER_01: 11:57

Thanks for listening to The Wisdom Journey with Stephen Davey. To learn more about us and access all of our Bible teaching resources, visit wisdomonline.org. Our phone number is 866-482-4253. And you can email us at info at wisdomonline.org. Stephen developed this daily program to help you know what the Bible says, understand what it means, and apply it to your life. So please join us next time to continue the wisdom journey.