Horatio liked to blow his horn; he’d play it all day long;
He never seemed to tire of his ego driven song.
“Look at me; see me, people; for I am something great.”
But as he raised his own praise, this song folks would soon hate.
He loved to be in the lime-light, by this the world he’d bless,
But he was lonely in this world for only him, he did impress.
A hero and a legend he was in his own mind;
He looked within his mirror until it made him blind.
He put himself on pedestal where Jesus should have been.
That sounds a lot like me and you, for that’s such a common sin.
Perhaps a little Horatio resides in all of us;
And praise from other people is never quite enough.
When we do good for other folks who are in dire need,
Is it for their welfare or for our ego to feed?
Do we brag about the love within our soul?
That ain’t love, that’s something that quickly will form mold.
If there’s any good in you, let Jesus be your Judge.
To pat yourself on your own back amounts to only sludge.
Horatio just don’t get it, never has, never will;
He doesn’t understand that horn makes all listeners very ill.
Real love doesn’t brag, it doesn’t seek its own.
And everything is vanity when we push Christ off His Throne.
Good deeds bring God pleasure when done in Jesus’ Name;
But when we would exalt our self they only bring us shame.
Do not tell your left hand when you right hand’s doing good.
Put your self-praise in the trash, exactly like you should.
And one day God will raise the humble, like His Word has said.
And in the meantime, you won’t be cursed with a swollen empty head.
So, wisdom can be found in the mouth that is kept shut.
Horatio that horn you blow, is it your mouth, or is it your butt?
Tertius
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness
in front of others to be seen by them.
If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 6:1
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
Galatians 6:14
A note about “Horatio Hornblower”: I always thought this was a name given in jest to anyone who liked to brag (or toot their own horn, so to speak). Little did I know this was a fictional character in a series of books by C. F. Forester. To exalt ourselves is not only rude, annoying and actually lowers the braggart from that high position they so desperately seek, it mimics the actions of Satan in Isaiah 14:12-14. Before Adam and Eve bit the forbidden fruit, Satan committed the first recorded sin when he said, “I will make myself like the Most High.”