What does the Bible mean when it speaks against haughty eyes?

To impress the abhorrence with which Jehovah regards malignant iniquity, we have special evil qualities. They are set forth in a more abstract style, which might not be in the same person, that in the mouth of these two divine testimonies every word should be the more established. "These six Jehovah hates, yea, seven [are] an abomination to him." Haughty eyes are first, or a proud look; what a contrast with Him who made heaven and earth, and all that in them is, when He deigned to become man here below! The dependent and obedient man, meek and lowly in heart, who ever looked up and did only what pleased His Father, full of compassion toward suffering man, ready to forgive the sinful. "A lying tongue" comes next; Jesus was not true only but the truth; He alone. Far from Him "hands that shed innocent blood," Himself the holy sufferer to the utmost. But in man there may be worse still? "a heart that devises wicked imaginations," in hateful and unmistakable resemblance to the evil one. What can be more opposed to Jehovah and His Anointed? "The counsel of peace shall be between them both."

Haughty eyes, and a proud heart, how abhorrent to God and unbecoming in man! It is sin unequivocally; the tillage of the wicked, their business or their glory; their lamp or sinful field. The meek shall inherit the earth; Christ's time is their time. The present is the evil age.

But the Lord Jesus does not teach his disciples about the human eye but rather about the heart which he did already mention in verse 21: 'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' In Scripture the eye is very often used to depict the inner condition of men. The Word of God speaks of 'haughty eyes' (JND) and of 'high looks' (Psalms 18:27; 101:5), of 'blinded eyes' (1 John 2:11), of 'eyes with no fear of God' (Psalm 36:1), of 'evil eyes' (Matt. 20:15; Mark 7:22) and of 'eyes that are not satisfied with riches' (Eccles. 4:8), but also of 'enlightened eyes' (Psalm 19:8) and of a 'bountiful eye' (Pro. 22:9).

The eye therefore doss not only take in impressions from the outside but it also reflects-and often clearly visible-the condition of the human heart. The following references will make clear the link between the heart and the eye: 'Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.' (Psa. 101:5)-'Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty.' (Psa. 131:1) 'An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing (JND: lamp, tillage, prosperity) of the wicked, is sin.' (Pro. 21:4). So here the eye is seen as mirror and expression of the human heart.

Pride is in every human heart; it runs in man's blood; all are afflicted with this disease, though by too many, alas, it is regarded rather as an ornament than a blemish. The Word of God says simply of “a high look, and a proud heart,” so much thought of in the world, that they are sin (Prov.21:4). They are hateful to God (Prov.6:16,17; 16:5), and to Christ, typified by wisdom (Prov.8:13).

Pride. There are several words so translated in the Greek Testament. The one used here (hyperephania) conveys the sense of a spirit of self-exaltation in a man coupled with the disparagement of others. The Pharisees who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others (Luke 18:9) are flagrant examples, but the Gentiles are not free from guilt in this respect any more than the Jews (Rom. 1:30). This arrogance displays itself in boastful words and vain-glorious deeds, but its origin is within the heart, as is shown by that sentence from the Magnificat: "He scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart" (Luke 1:51). This particular form of haughtiness is obnoxious to God and amenable to His summary judgment, for both James and Peter write that "God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

(v. 1) Through the exercises of his soul the godly man becomes marked by lowliness that makes nothing of self, and meekness that gives place to others. Thus the natural haughtiness of the heart, that makes everything self, is judged, and the lofty eyes that look down upon others are condemned.

Can one wonder that we have "haughty" next? They present an evil more deeply seated than the "boasters", though not so loud in its vain expression. They are the proud against whom God ranges Himself; the most akin to Satan's fault; the most alien from the mind which is in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondman, being made in the likeness of men, and, being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, death of the cross (Phil. 2:5-8). Thus it is that appreciation of Christ is our only sure and holy deliverance; for pride hides itself under so many veils, which may deceive itself as much as others, and none more than the mere professor or even the real Christian who walks with the world. Grace gives true lowliness, which consists not so much in thinking all the evil we can of ourselves as in thinking of Christ and not of ourselves at all. When we have seen Him, as He is, we can see ourselves not worth thinking of, save before God to judge our ways when faulty. We can then, readily and without effort, each esteem the other as more excellent than ourselves, regarding each not his own things but each those of others. Is it possible to draw a sketch more unlike what prevails in Christendom? "Proud" or "haughty" is the truest designation of the type that abounds.

"A man of Belial, a wicked person, walks with a perverse mouth. He winks with his eyes; he speaks with his feet; he teaches with his fingers. Deceits [are] in his heart; he devises mischief at all times; he sends out discords. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly, in a moment shall he be broken, and without remedy. Six [things] Jehovah hates, yea, seven [are] an abomination of his soul; haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness breathing out lies, and he that sends out discords among brethren." vv. 12-19.

In an evil sense it is used for pride — "A high look and a proud (broad) heart" (Ps. 101:5; Prov. 21:4; Prov. 28:25).

Let it be observed, then, first of all, that David speaks to and before the Lord. It is as under His all-searching eye that he says, "My heart is not haughty." He is therefore characterised by the true heart, of which we read in Hebrews 10 To say that his heart was not haughty, nor his eyes lofty, conveys the thought of his humility. Constantly we find that nothing is more abhorrent to the Lord than pride and high looks. We read, for example: "Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer." (Psalm 101.) Humility, on the other hand, is as often commended: "Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isaiah 57:15.) Yea, as the Lord Himself said: "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18.) Humility and meekness, indeed (and they are twin graces), are the two blessed moral traits in our Lord's own example, which are presented to us as the pathway to finding rest to our souls. Nothing, therefore, speaks so distinctly of a powerful work of grace in the soul as the possession of humility. It is the sure product of the sanctifying power of the truth, and hence the infallible sign of growing conformity to Christ. Thus to get down ever lower is to get morally ever closer to Him. May we all learn the lesson in this day of independence and self-seeking even among Christians. When will it be apprehended that one of being filled with the Spirit is submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of God?