Pride [goeth] before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
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Better is it to be of a humble spirit with the meek, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Proverbs 16:19 sets two lives side by side: a low place among the poor, or a share of the spoil with the proud. It comes right after the warning that pride goes before destruction, so the choice is between two endings, not between poverty and profit.
One writer traces how pride behaves. It swells highest just as the blow falls:
Pride, on the other hand, is most offensive to Jehovah. It is dangerous, even destructive, to man. And man tends to be most puffed up at the very moment the blow falls. We can see it throughout Scripture — a haughty spirit before a fall. So it was with Nebuchadnezzar, where mercy stepped in; so with Haman, where there was only judgment.
A humble spirit shows in the company it keeps. One writer names the two kinds of company on offer:
If we have a truly humble spirit, we shall be thankful to enjoy the fellowship of the lowly (v. 19). In fact, this would include the fellowship of the Lord Jesus, who said, "I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). How much better is such company than that of "the strong"! They pride themselves on their ability to overcome others and to gain much "spoil." Do we want a share in that?
God's poor people may look like nothing much. One writer says how God sees them, then turns it into a question:
However feeble, however failing, however poor they are, they are the excellent of the earth, and God finds His delight in them. Are we lowly enough in our own eyes? Have we learned our own nothingness well enough to associate with God's poor people and find our delight where He finds His?
The proverb states the outcome but not the reason. One writer finds the explanation elsewhere in Scripture:
God gives grace to the humble while He resists the proud. The wise king of old had noticed that "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). But he does not tell us why it is so. Here we get the explanation. The proud get no grace from God, but resistance instead. No wonder they go down.
Taking the low place looks like losing. One writer links the humble spirit here to the people Jesus called blessed:
Next we have the good portion of the humble spirit with the meek. The Lord pronounced such souls blessed — blessed for the kingdom of the heavens, or for inheriting the earth when the Heir of all things takes it. He Himself will then share with the great and divide spoil with the strong. For this is the start of the King's reign in righteousness, in contrast with this evil age.
A prophet uses the same picture of dividing spoil. There it means generosity, not greed:
The prophet, by the Spirit of God, uses picture language to describe the future triumphs of the suffering Servant of Jehovah, the One the earth despised. What are the "great" ones of the earth in the presence of the One to whom Jehovah will assign a portion? He is heir of all things and above all. Yet though Jehovah Himself singles Him out from all others ("to him will I divide"), He still stoops to divide the spoil with the strong. He loves to share with others what He has rescued from the power of the enemy.
One writer states the rule behind the proverb:
In the moral government of God, pride and destruction always go together. This principle always holds good, however the measure may vary. Let us remember it. "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled." If God's kingdom rules our lives, we shall find that the only way to get up is to go down. The One who now occupies the very highest place in heaven is the One who chose the very lowest place on earth.
- Down — Pride swells highest just as the blow falls. Scripture's examples show it again and again.
- Grace — Pride ends in a fall because God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble instead.
- Company — A humble spirit is glad of lowly company. That company includes the One who called Himself gentle and lowly in heart.
- Spoil — The proud win their plunder by overpowering others. Christ divides what He rescued from the enemy, and He loves to share it.
- Up — In God's kingdom the only way up is down. The One who took the lowest place on earth now holds the highest place in heaven.