‘It was
a humiliating
experience’, someone says. Another says ‘I was humbled…’. Is there a
difference between feeling humiliated versus humbled? If my Webster’s
Dictionary is accurate, the answer I would infer from its multiple definitions
would be a ‘yes’. While being humble is a position or attitude I can adopt for
myself, being humiliated is most often something that is imposed upon someone,
either due to a situation or by other people. How do people who’ve curtseyed in
the presence of earthly royalty feel? (See one example in the picture here, in
which Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers from a young girl in 1954.) Which one
was Robert Gay proposing when he wrote “On Bended Knee” in 1988, or how about
Jimmy Orr when he added a second verse four years later? And, if I don’t
willingly accede to a prostrate position, could something else that will
utterly disgrace me transpire? Perhaps admitting one’s own warts are there is
what Robert and Jimmy were thinking, but not necessarily just to avoid a
harsher treatment. They both thought there was an outcome rather pleasing and
beneficial flowing from humility. Yeh, let’s ask them someday.
Neither
the originator, Robert, nor his friend Jimmy who added some more thoughts, have
evidently shared what inspired their respective verses for “On Bended Knee”. Their
circumstances are unknown, but they both thought about what it was like to be
needy before the Holy God, and what it would be like to find rejuvenation in
the wake of humility. Who Robert Gay was in 1988, even something as basic as
his age, is a mystery. And, if Jimmy Orr is the British-born citizen from
Northern Ireland who died in 1987 in North Carolina, how was it he crafted a
verse attributed to him in 1992? Perhaps he’d written it just before his
departure from life. Nonetheless, their respective verses tell something revealing
about them both. Gay’s and Orr’s messages begin from a position neither was too
proud to occupy. Getting on one’s knees must have been familiar, but not disagreeable.
Love and respect flow effortlessly hand-in-hand with the humility with which they
present themselves. You can imagine this was something they’d done many times,
knowing they could count on rekindling an intimacy with God that begins with submissiveness
in His presence. Admit I don’t measure up – He knows it anyway. He wants to
bless those who seek Him out in truth. And, the most basic truth is this – He’s
holy, I’m not. Robert and Jimmy help the Christian own up to that, and thus
draw strength from Him in that reality. It’s only through Him that I can elevate
my life. But it has to begin from a low position. I need not know what other
pieces of Robert’s and Jimmy’s lives spurred “On Bended Knee”. They were lowly
mortals, just like me.
The pathway
starts from down below, but with God I don’t stay there. He could fold His arms
and scowl that I’m a mess that pollutes His presence. But, seeing Him in
scripture informs me that He doesn’t feel that way. Oh, He’s disappointed when
I fail, but He thinks I can choose not to stop there. Why did He choose to look
directly at Peter when he denied Him (Luke 22:61)? Was it to humiliate Peter
interminably, the way Judas evidently felt? Perhaps Jesus was just letting his
friend know He’d seen his human, mortal side yet again. And, Peter’s response
showed he realized where he stood, in comparison to his Lord, and especially to
the truth. Only with this downfall did he stand up again. Are you Peter today? Don’t
deny it. Admit it. You’ll feel better, once you purge yourself of that pride.
See this
site for information that potentially refers to one of the composers of the
song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edwin_Orr
No comments:
Post a Comment