We’re often preoccupied with understanding great things. We focus our attention on scientists, scholars, and experts—and, of course, we often need their insights! But, as believers, we must remember that ultimately we live by faith, not by human insight.

The Bible describes individuals who believe that they can handle life and death on their own as “puffed up.” Such people regard the idea of bowing down before God as ridiculous, unnecessary, and unhelpful—and they’re prepared to scorn those who choose to do so. In contrast, the righteous don’t look to themselves to find all of the answers; they humbly “live by … faith.” They believe what God says simply and solely because God said it.

We see this verse’s principle referenced on several occasions in the New Testament. Paul, for example, in writing to the Ephesian church about what it means to know God, reached back to Habakkuk. He made it clear that God gives His righteousness as a gift of grace through faith, not as something we earn by our good deeds or religious works (Ephesians 2:8-9). His epistle to the Romans can be seen as an exposition of this text from Habakkuk: in the gospel, he told the Roman church, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:17).

Jesus addressed our need for humble faith in His parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee gloated that he was not like other people: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector” (v 11). His soul was puffed up. But the tax collector recognized that he was a sinner and sought God’s mercy. Jesus said, “This man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (v 14).

The puffed-up soul pictured in this parable and in Habakkuk’s prophecy can so easily be a portrait of you and me. We find it easier to live by human wisdom and effort than by faith in God. Our natural state is to puff ourselves up, not to humble ourselves at the foot of the cross. When we suffer from big views of ourselves and small views of God, we need to remember that humility of heart comes from an awareness of who God really is:

O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and His love:
Our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.[1]

Sing more of His greatness than of yours and more of His power than of yours, live for His praise more than for yours, and you will know the glorious freedom and peace of the life of humble faith in the God who loves you, forgives you, and saves you.