The Word of God says, ”Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19: 12‐14
Presumption in this context means to assume that God is saying something that He is not saying. This religious norm is suicidal. It can cause you your life, and material blessings and most especially your spiritual blessings. Moses recounted, “So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you as bees do and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.” Deuteronomy 1:43‐44
It is quite revealing to see that God warned earlier in Numbers 15:30; “But the soul that doeth presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” Thank God for people like king David who gave us the antidote to presumption in his Psalm. He daily sought the Lord for direction. He said, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” Psalm 143:8.
We can see how God led His people in the wilderness by the pillar of cloud in the daytime and by the pillar of fire by night. They could not do without the pillars of cloud and fire. The mixed multitude that despised the leading of the Lord perished in the wilderness. Numbers 9:16‐18 revealed how they journeyed, I quote, “So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.”. Paul the apostle said in Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” If you want to enter into the rest of God learn to be led by the Holy Spirit without whom you can do nothing. He is the Lord in the Church.
King Jesus in His earthly ministry submitted to the Holy Spirit and resisted presumption. Despite all the suggestions of the devil, He remained focused on the Spirit of Truth and rejected every diversion. King David was presumptuous by numbering the Israelites against the will of God. This horrible sin led to the lost of precious souls of seventy thousand men. I Chronicles 21:1‐30 gives details of how David bowed to the prompting of Satan to number Israel despite the Godly advise of his associate [Joab]. On a serious note, God wants us to seek direction from Him for every step we take. We know that David was a man after God’s heart who sought God’s will often, but in a moment of demonstration of self, David bowed to Satan’s temptation, and the result was regrettable. Any message that is not inspired by the Holy Spirit brings spiritual death to the audience.