"Saul became an enemy to David through pride," said President Ezra Taft Benson in an address at the April 1989 general conference. "He was jealous because the crowds of Israelite women were singing that `Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.' (1 Sam. 18:7.)
"The proud stand more in fear of men's judgment than of God's judgment." (See D&C 3:6-7; 30:1-2; 60:2.) "What will men think of me?" weighs heavier than "What will God think of me?""King Noah was about to free the prophet Abinadi, but an appeal to his pride by his wicked priests sent Abinadi to the flames. (See Mosiah 17:11-12.) Herod sorrowed at the request of his wife to behead John the Baptist. But his prideful desire to look good to `them which sat with him at meat' caused him to kill John. (Matt 14:9; see also Mark 6:26.)
President Benson said that fear of men's judgment manifests itself in competition for men's approval. The proud love the praise of men more than the praise of God.' (John 12:42-43.) "Our motives for the things we do are where the sin is manifest," he said. "Jesus said He didalways those things' that pleased God. (John 8:29.) Would we not do well to have the pleasing of God as our motive rather than to try to elevate ourselves above our brother and outdo another?
"Some prideful people are not so concerned as to whether their wages meet their needs as they are that their wages are more than someone else's. Their reward is being a cut above the rest. This is the enmity of pride.
"When pride has a hold on our hearts, we lose our independence of the world and deliver our freedoms to the bondage of men's judgment. The world shouts louder than the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. The reasoning of men overrides the revelations of God, and the proud let go of the iron rod." (See 1 Ne. 8:19-28; 11:25; 15:23-24.)
