Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king,And do not stand in the place of the great;
For it is better that he say to you,“Come up here,”Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince,Whom your eyes have seen.
Proverbs 25:6–7 · NKJVPart of Do Not Exalt Yourself Before the King, Proverbs 25:6–7.
Quick answer
Because there are only two ways it ends, and one of them happens in front of everybody. Being invited up is better than being moved down.
Read the whole unit
Read the whole unit
The counsel is prudential before it is moral, and it works by arithmetic. Take the low place and the only available direction is up. Take the high one and you have handed someone else the power to relocate you, publicly, in a room where everyone is watching rank. The last line makes the audience explicit: the prince whom your eyes have seen, meaning the man is right there and so is everyone else.
Jesus retells this saying almost move for move at a wedding feast, telling guests not to sit in the best place lest a more honorable man arrive, and to take the lowest so the host may say "Friend, go up higher" (Luke 14:8–10). He then adds the line the proverb leaves implicit: "whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (14:11). The proverb gives the mechanics; Jesus names the principle underneath them and applies it past the banquet hall.
What this verse contributes
the reasoning, and the public setting that makes the arithmetic work.
The other half
Do not put yourself forward at court, and do not take a seat that was not offered. The saying is about self-promotion in a room where rank is visible.
Related: Luke 14:8–11 · Proverbs 15:33 · Proverbs 18:12 · Proverbs 27:2
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.