Satan's 'I will's

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” Isaiah 14:12-14
Isaiah 14, along with Ezekiel 28, gives us some unique insights into the fall of Satan. Here, we see Satan’s attitude immediately prior to his fall. Five times, he says ‘I will’. We see what he wants: to ascend to heaven, raising his throne above the stars of God (a reference to angels, see Job 38:4-7). He wants to sit enthroned on the highest peak, the sacred mountain (presumably Mount Zion in Jerusalem). Ultimately, he wants to make himself like God, the Most High. (Note that this was how he tempted Eve to fall, Gen. 3:5.)
God had indeed set Satan over all the other angels (Ezek. 28:14). But Satan wanted more. He was not satisfied with his position in God’s plan.
We need to be very careful not to let these same attitudes develop in our own lives – and the possibility is very real; as we see here, these attitudes are as old as time itself. We must be on the lookout for attitudes of pride, of dissatisfaction with the role God has given us, for wanting to take the place of God. This is why God “opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (Jas. 4:6).