1. Heart (Dict. Of Bib. Lang. gives 23 definitions for this term!)

a. Inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.

b. Inclination, resolution, determination (of will).

c. The source of life of the inner person in various aspects, with a focus on feelings, thoughts, volition, and other areas of the inner life.

d. The immaterial inner self or being.

2. Man: often refers to a male, but on other occasions it refers to mankind—male and female—anyone.

a. So ladies, this is for you too!

b. Pride is a male problem… but also a female problem.

c. It is sometimes translated “whosoever” (Lev. 15:5)

d. Thus, pride is a human problem… and one Solomon, as the observer of human behavior, wrote about often.

3. Haughty:

a. to be high, be exalted, arrogant

b. exaltation of self

c. It literally speaks of anything TALL: in either a positive or negative sense.

d. Used in a positive sense:
• Used of tall trees, walls, gates,
• Used of dignitaries—in a tall or high position
• Used of men lifted up and exalted by the Lord
• Used of Jehoshaphat whose heart was “lifted up in the ways of the Lord”

e. Used in a negative sense
• But more often it is used of men lifting themselves up on high… arrogance…
• Used of pride—tall thinking about oneself… (exaggerated, puffed up thinking… thinking of self more highly than we ought)

f. Clearly, Solomon is using the term in a negative sense here: pride, arrogance, self righteousness, vanity, conceit, self exaltation, etc.

4. The picture Solomon conveys in this passage:

a. A man whose inner thought life is full of self exaltation…

b. He describes a man full of himself…

c. A man, woman, or child who is full of pride…

d. Solomon observed that this kind of pride always seemed to precede a great fall or some sort of destruction.

5. Destruction:

a. Breaking; fracture; crushing; crash; ruin; shattering.

b. A downfall, a state or condition of moving from a high status to a low status.

c. Isa 30:13-14 – used to describe a high stone wall that comes crashing down to a pile of rubble; used of a potter breaking his clay pot and leaving it in many broken pieces… useless…

6. When Solomon observed people whose lives came crashing down around them, he noted that it was usually preceded by PRIDE of one sort or another.

a. Solomon saw people’s lives smashed like broken pottery…

b. He observed families crumble… like a high stone wall and left as a pile of rubble…

c. He saw lives fractured, crushed, broken, and ruined…

d. He observed as many shattered lives as we observe today…

e. So he studied those lives… he thought about what LED up to the destruction and ruin.

f. And time and time again, his observations led him to conclude that pride was at the root of very many of those ruined lives.

g. Prov. 6:16, 17 – Perhaps this is why he included pride as one of the seven deadly sins. In fact, it is on TOP of the list!

h. Prov. 16:18 – Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
• The fall could be a physical fall—chastening.
• The fall could be a moral fall—into sin.
• I Cor. 10:12 – “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall!”
• We are warned repeatedly, especially in gray areas, about pride.
• Pride says, “I can handle this. It won’t bother me.”
• I can skate on thin ice. I won’t fall in!
• I don’t need God. I can do this myself.
• I can handle reading all these romance novels; I can handle watching all these movies; I can handle a little flirting; I can handle a beer once in a while; I can get by just going to morning service; it won’t affect me! I can handle reading the Word once in a while… I’m strong!”
• I can handle going out with this unsaved girl or guy. I’ll win them to Christ. I can handle this situation.”
• Paul WARNS us about that kind of pride that pushes liberty to the edge…
• Solomon isn’t directly warning us. Rather, he is giving us his own observations in life: People who THINK they can stand (because of pride) often fall… and they fall hard.

i. Prov. 11:2 – Pride usually results in shame…
• The man who THOUGHT he could stand soon discovers that he was not able to do so…
• His fall brings him shame… embarrassment… even disgrace.
• He THOUGHT he could flirt and get away with it… but it led to something far more serious—and he fell morally.
• He brought shame into his life.
• The man who THOUGHT he could handle working three jobs to buy all the best things… ends up loosing his kids to drugs… and instead of bringing joy, they bring him shame…
• The proud teenager who BOASTS that he can jump off cliffs with his motorcycle—or some other silly stunt, ends up in a wheelchair… and is ashamed of how stupid he was.

j. Prov. 17:19 – He that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.
• Here Solomon adds another note: the person who exalts himself is actually SEEKING for destruction!
• Obviously, the proud person would disagree.
• When calamity strikes, he usually bemoans himself: poor me! How did this ever happen?
• But Solomon has already given him the warning. He KNOWS the outcome of pride—it is followed by destruction.
• Hence, the one who KNOWS that… and continues in his vain, proud ways, is in reality SEEKING for destruction.
• In other words, he’s LOOKING for trouble… and he will eventually find it.