The last written words of Martin Luther were, “It is true, we are beggars all.” If you spend any time at all with beggars, you realize that one thing they are not plagued with is modesty. They simply cannot afford to be modest.
On a trip to Denver, my family and I witnessed a panhandler across the street from where we were having dinner. He was playing a guitar, singing, and wearing a half-mask that made his appearance look like a mouse. We watched our half-man, half-mouse sing all through dinner and sure enough, just about everyone that walked by saw him and put a little bit of money in his pot.
The one thing that he knew he couldn’t be was modest. If he was modest – he wouldn’t even make it as a beggar.
Like Ahaz though, we can’t even make it as beggars. We put our modesty, which is really disguised self-importance, ahead of our beggarness.