Being humble before the Lord is not the same as being humble to man.
Being humble before the Lord means obedience to Him no matter how difficult it might be.
Sometimes people will hate you because of things you might do that demonstrate humility to God.
Michal hated David when he was being humble before the Lord.
When David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he danced before the Lord with all his might.
Michal thought he was making a display.
David didn’t care what she thought neither did he care what all the people who saw him thought.
He danced with abandonment and honor to the Lord.
And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting,
and with the sound of the trumpet.
And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart
.2 Samuel 6:14-16
Just like always, God sees our hearts, He knows our intentions and the purposes we hold.
While we cannot see what God sees, we ought to be careful about judging others’ intentions as we do not know what God knows about their hearts. The only One who can see the heart of humans is God.
This writing is mainly about the difference of being humble before men and being humble before God.
There is quite a difference because humans only see the outward appearance and what they hear, what is spoken by any particular person. We still cannot see inside their hearts. It is the same with us, if we are misjudged by others who think we are out of line like Michal did with David, we are taking a role that does not belong to us.
When Jesus was on the cross, some said, If He is truly the Son of God, let Him come down from that cross. Christ was being humble before God, not men.
And saying, If Thou be the king of the Jews, save Thyself. Luke 23:37
When Peter and the other Apostles went before the council and the high priest,
they knew the difference. They were being humble before God. They did not budge.
Their motives were to obey the Lord and not to obey men.
While this may have seemed rebellious, it was true humility before God.
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name?
and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine,
and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said,
We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:27-29
Yes, being humble before the Lord means obeying God and not men.