Humble Yourself Under God’s Mighty Hand

Like drowning swimmers, Christians are called to realize they cannot save themselves and instead must submit to God’s saving hand. This is done through humility of spirit. In speaking about humility, Peter told Christians to humble themselves “under God’s mighty hand.” This is another instance of anthropomorphism (i.e., the idea of ascribing physical qualities and characteristics to God). God’s mighty hand was a common metaphor used in the Old Testament (e.g., Exodus 13:3f; Deuteronomy 9:26f; Jeremiah 21:5). WE know pride is the opposite of humility, according to I Peter 5:5, so putting ourselves under God’s mighty hand is to ask God to crush our pride beneath Him. The juxtaposition is that by crushing our pride, God will raise us up (Luke 18:14). The raising up is not something that comes from us, but rather from God (Cf. I Samuel 26:9f). However, God does not always raise us up immediately, but rather in due time. Part of being humble means we should be willing to wait patiently for
things to happen according to God’s time and not our own. God exalted Israel when He brought them out of Egypt, but it was years before His plan of release was carried out. Likewise, the exalting from God will only happen at His appointed time (Most likely referring to the end times when Jesus will return).

Excerpt from Drawing Out: I & II Peter & Jude

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