Proverbs 15:33

The fear of the LORD [is] the instruction of wisdom; and before honour [is] humility.

Ver. 33. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom.] See Trapp on " Pro 1:7 "

And before honour is humility.] David came not to the kingdom till he could truly say, "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty," &c. Psa 131:1 Abigail was not made David's wife till she thought it honour enough to wash the feet of the lowest of David's servants. 1Sa 25:41 Moses must be forty years a stranger in Midian before he become king in Jeshurun; he must be struck sick to death in the inn before he go to Pharaoh on that honourable embassy. Luther observed that ever, for most part, before God set him upon any special service for the good of the church, he had some sore fit of sickness. Surely, as the lower the ebb, the higher the tide; so the lower any descend in humiliation, the higher they shall ascend in exaltation; the lower this foundation of humility is laid, the higher shall the roof of honour be overlaid.