Psalms 138:6 NKJV
Though the Lord is on high,
Yet He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.
Feeling Overlooked? Psalm 138:6 Reveals God’s Attentive Grace
MY NOTES
“Though the Lord is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar.” — Psalms 138:6 (NKJV)
“Though the LORD is on high” highlights God’s greatness, But David quickly counters the common idea that being great means being distant. “Yet He regards the lowly.” This isn’t just a passing glance; it’s a careful, attentive look. God “regards” the lowly—those who are humble, stripped of their own importance, and therefore open to His help. This isn’t just a preference for a certain kind of person; it’s a compassionate mercy toward those who realize they have nothing to offer but God’s promise.
Then, there’s the more serious side: “But the proud He knows from afar.” “Proud” here isn’t healthy confidence; it’s the act of self-importance, the soul turned inward, treating God as unnecessary or easy to handle. God “knows” them—not in a way of not knowing, but in a way of a relationship that’s been turned down. The distance is both moral and relational: pride creates a separation because it won’t bow, and therefore won’t receive.
The logic is both challenging and reassuring. God’s holiness means He can’t be controlled; His grace means He’ll lower Himself to help those who are sorry. If you picture God as a great king, the proud try to enter the throne room as equals; the lowly come empty-handed, asking for mercy. The amazing thing about this verse is that the High King comes close to the empty-handed, while the self-sufficient find Him, by their own actions, “afar.”
The word “regards” isn’t just a casual glance. It’s an attentive, caring recognition. Think of a parent in a crowded room who, despite the noise, is laser-focused on their child’s quiet whimper. God “views with pleasure” those who are low in their own eyes. As Spurgeon noted, because the lowly think little of themselves, God thinks much of them.
The Distance of Pride
The sobering warning: “But the proud He knows from afar.” This doesn’t mean God is unaware of what the proud are doing. He “knows” them perfectly, but the relationship is distant. Pride acts like a spiritual repellent. When a soul is “curved inward”—treating God as an optional accessory or an equal—it creates a moral gap.
The proud Pharisee in Jesus’ parable (Luke 18) tried to get as close to the “front” as possible, yet God was far from him. The Publican stood “afar off” in his shame, yet God was right there with him.
The distance isn’t measured in miles, but in the humility of the heart. If you try to stride into the throne room as an equal, you’ll find the door strangely far away. If you come empty-handed, the King Himself steps off the throne to meet you.
Grace for the Empty-Handed
This verse is the Old Testament root of a truth repeated all over the New Testament: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This isn’t God being “picky” about personalities; it’s a practical reality. You cannot fill a cup that is already full. Only the “lowly”—those stripped of self-importance—have the room to receive the “quick returns” of God’s mercy.
Key Takeaways
- Greatness is not Aloofness: God’s high position doesn’t prevent Him from noticing your “lowly” affairs; it enables Him to help you better.
- The Pharisee Trap: Proximity to religious things doesn’t mean proximity to God. Humility is the only “access pass” to His heart.
- Attentive Recognition: God isn’t just watching you; He is “regarding” you with a look of love and a plan to exalt you in due time.
- Pride creates Separation: God doesn’t need to get close to the proud to see their emptiness; He sees through the bluff from a distance and keeps them at arm’s length.
Cross References (NKJV)
Isaiah 57:15
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’”
Proverbs 3:34
“Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.”
James 4:6
“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’”
1 Peter 5:5
“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.””
Luke 18:14
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Prayer
Abba, it is breathtaking that You—the High and Holy One—would even glance in my direction, let alone regard me with love. Forgive me for the times I’ve tried to be the king of my own life, keeping You at a distance through my pride. Soften my heart. I want to be ‘lowly’ in my own eyes so that I can be near to Your heart. Thank You for stooping low to lift me up. I pray for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Things to Think About
- In what area of your life are you currently trying to “stride into the room” as an equal to God (relying on your own wisdom or strength)?
- Think about the phrase “He knows the proud afar off.” Does that distance feel like a safety net for your ego, or a tragedy for your soul?
- David was a shepherd-turned-king. How does his “lowly” origin help you trust that God sees your current “low” situation?
Proverb for Today
“Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the Lord; But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.” Proverbs 8:32-36 NKJV
Daily Scripture
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NKJV
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Summary of Commentaries:
Jehovah’s infinite majesty does not make Him aloof; rather, His greatness is shown in His attentive care for the humble. Commentators emphasize that while God draws near to the contrite—those who, like the Publican, recognize their need—He views the self-sufficient from a distance. Pride creates a relational chasm, resulting in divine rejection. Ultimately, God fills the “vessel of humility” with grace while keeping the “varnished cup of pride” at a distance.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Though the LORD be high.” In greatness, dignity, and power, Jehovah is higher than the highest. His nature is high above the comprehension of his creatures, and his glory even exceeds the loftiest soarings of imagination. Yet hath he respect unto the lowly. He views them with pleasure, thinks of them with care, listens to their prayers, and protects them from evil. Because they think little of themselves, he thinks much of them. They reverence him, and he respects them. They are low in their own esteem, and he makes them high in his esteem.
“But the proud he knoweth afar off.” He does not need to come near them in order to discover their utter vanity: a glance from afar reveals to him their emptiness and offensiveness. He has no fellowship with them, but views them from a distance; he is not deceived, but knows the truth about them, despite their blustering; he has no respect unto them, but utterly abhors them. To a Cain’s sacrifice, a Pharaoh’s promise, a Rabshakeh’s threat, and a Pharisee’s prayer, the Lord has no respect. Nebuchadnezzar, when far off from God, cried, “Behold this great Babylon which I have builded;” but the Lord knew him, and sent him grazing with cattle. Proud men boast loudly of their culture and “the freedom of thought,” and even dare to criticize their Maker, but he knows them from afar and will keep them at arm’s length in this life, and shut them up in hell in the next.
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Enduring Word
Yet He regards the lowly: David understood that God is great in glory and on high, yet He holds the lowly, the humble, in high regard. On the other hand, God keeps His distance from the proud. (Guzik)
i. “Infinitely great as God is, he regards even the lowest and most inconsiderable part of his creation; but the humble and afflicted man attracts his notice particularly.” (Clarke)
ii. “Unto the lowly; unto such as are mean and obscure in the world; to me, a poor contemptible shepherd, whom he hath preferred before great princes, and to such as are little in their own eyes.” (Poole)
iii. David’s statement that God regards the lowly, but the proud He knows from afar is another way of saying a truth from Proverbs 3:34 that is repeated twice in the New Testament: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). (Guzik)
iv. “Low things he looketh close upon, that he may raise them higher; lofty things he knoweth afar off, that he may crush them down lower. The proud Pharisee pressed as near God as he could; the poor publican, not daring to do so, stood aloof; yet was God far from the Pharisee, near to the publican.” (Trapp)
v. “Proud men boast loudly of their culture and ‘the freedom of thought,’ and even dare to criticize their Maker: but he knows them from afar, and will keep them at arm’s length in this life, and shut them up in hell in the next.” (Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
Though the Lord be high – This might be rendered “For lofty is Yahweh – and the humble he sees – and the proud he knows from afar.” The idea is, that God – so high and exalted – sees and knows all of every rank among people. The mind of the psalmist had been impressed with a sense of the greatness and majesty of God, but (as if it might be said that one so great could not regard man, so humble and insignificant) he adds, that the fact of God’s exaltation does not prevent his noticing the affairs of people: that the lowly in life need not fear lest they should be overlooked; the proud need not hope that they will escape the notice of his eye.
Yet hath he respect unto the lowly – Those in humble life; the obscure; the unknown. It does not mean here that he has any special favor toward them, but merely that he sees them. Their low and obscure condition does not prevent his observing them, and they need have no fear that he will overlook them, or that they will be forgotten. See James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5.
But the proud – Those of lofty rank, and of lofty feelings; the haughty.
He knoweth afar off – From afar. Though he is exalted – though he is in heaven – yet he is not so far removed but that he sees them, and knows them altogether. Distance from him is no protection for them; nor can the wicked hope to escape notice from the fact that God reigns over distant worlds.
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John Gill
Though the Lord [be] high,…. Above all the earth, and all the nations of it, and the highest of men in it; above the heavens, and the angels there, who are his creatures and at his command; above all the blessings and praises of his saints: the perfect knowledge of him is so high as not to be attained; and his thoughts and ways are higher than ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth; he is indeed the most High, higher than the highest; see Psalm 113:4. According to Arama, here begins the song, “the kings of the earth shall sing in the ways of the Lord?”
yet hath he respect unto the lowly; for good, as the Targum; that are low in their own eyes, humbled under a sense of sin, convinced, of the insufficiency of their own righteousness to justify them, and made to submit to the righteousness of Christ; ascribe the whole of their salvation to the free grace of God; patiently and quietly bear every afflictive providence; think the worst of themselves, and the best of others; and, being the followers of the lowly Jesus, learn of him, imitate him, and become like unto him: these the Lord has a gracious respect unto; he looks upon them with a look of love; he has respect to their persons in Christ, and to their sacrifices for his sake, which are those of a broken and contrite heart; he regards their prayers, though low and destitute, and gives more grace unto them; yea, he condescends to dwell with them, and in due time highly exalts them; see Isaiah 57:15. David may have in view his own low state and condition as a shepherd, in which he was when the Lord took him, and raised him to the throne of Israel;
but the proud he knoweth afar off; the Targum adds, “to destroy them:” such who are proud of themselves and what they have; of their wisdom and knowledge, of their strength or beauty, of their wealth and riches; or of their righteousness and holiness; of the purity and goodness of their hearts, and power of their free will, they vainly think themselves possessed of; and despise others below them in these things, or the practice of them: these the Lord takes notice of, and looks upon them at a distance with scorn and contempt; nor will he admit them to nearness to him, nay, opposes himself to them, and sooner or later abases them; see Proverbs 3:34. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, “high things he knoweth afar off”; things too high for creatures, that are out of their reach; he sees and knows all persons and things, whether in heaven or in earth. Others render them, “and the high One knoweth afar off”; knows the lowly, owns and acknowledges them for his own; takes care of them, provides for them, and protects them: and then the sense is the same with the preceding clause.
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Matthew Henry
The favor God bears to his humble people (v. 6): Though the Lord be high, and neither needs any of his creatures nor can be benefited by them, yet has he respect unto the lowly, smiles upon them as well pleased with them, overlooks heaven and earth to cast a gracious look upon them (Isa. 57:15; 66:1), and, sooner or later, he will put honor upon them, while he knows the proud afar off, knows them, but disowns them and rejects them, how proudly soever they pretend to his favor. Dr. Hammond makes this to be the sum of that gospel which the kings of the earth shall hear and welcome-that penitent sinners shall be accepted of God, but the impenitent cast out; witness the instance of the Pharisee and the publican, Lu. 18.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“He hath respect unto the lowly.” Give me the homely vessel of humility, which God shall preserve, and fill with the wine of his grace; rather than the varnished cup of pride, which he will dash in pieces, like a potter’s vessel. Where humility is the cornerstone, there glory shall be the top stone.
—William Seeker, in “The Nonsuch Professor in his Meridian Splendour,” 1660.
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