6 and greater grace he doth give, wherefore he saith, `God against proud ones doth set Himself up, and to lowly ones He doth give grace?'
If the scorners He doth scorn, Yet to the humble He doth give grace.
and whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
In like manner, ye younger, be subject to elders, and all to one another subjecting yourselves; with humble-mindedness clothe yourselves, because God the proud doth resist, but to the humble He doth give grace;
Before destruction the heart of man is high, And before honour `is' humility.
because every one who is exalting himself shall be humbled, and he who is humbling himself shall be exalted.'
`Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and honouring the King of the heavens, for all His works `are' truth, and His paths judgment, and those walking in pride He is able to humble.'
The pride of man humbleth him, And humility of spirit upholdeth honour.
Because thy heart `is' tender, and thou art humbled before God in thy hearing His words concerning this place, and concerning its inhabitants, and art humbled before Me, and dost rend thy garments, and weep before Me: even I also have heard -- the affirmation of Jehovah.
For thus said the high and exalted One, Inhabiting eternity, and holy `is' His name: `In the high and holy place I dwell, And with the bruised and humble of spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of bruised ones,'
And bowed down hath been the haughtiness of man, And humbled the loftiness of men, And set on high hath Jehovah alone been in that day.
The fear of Jehovah `is' the instruction of wisdom, And before honour `is' humility!
and hath not been humbled before Jehovah, like the humbling of Manasseh his father, for Amon himself hath multiplied guilt.
Ye multiply not -- ye speak haughtily -- The old saying goeth out from your mouth, For a God of knowledge `is' Jehovah, And by Him actions are weighed.
He brought down the mighty from thrones, And He exalted the lowly,
and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him, and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses `is' his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it. `And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known; and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand `is' thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.
We have heard of the pride of Moab -- very proud, His pride, and his arrogance, and his wrath, Not right `are' his devices. Therefore howl doth Moab for Moab, all of it doth howl, For the grape-cakes of Kir-Hareseth it meditateth, Surely they are smitten.
For he saith, `Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath got to the kingdoms of a worthless thing, and their graven images, `Greater' than Jerusalem and than Samaria, Do I not -- as I have done to Samaria, And to her worthless things, So do to Jerusalem and to her grievous things? And it hath come to pass, When the Lord doth fulfil all His work In mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I see concerning the fruit of the greatness Of the heart of the king of Asshur. And concerning the glory of the height of his eyes. For he hath said, `By the power of my hand I have wrought, And by my wisdom, for I have been intelligent, And I remove borders of the peoples, And their chief ones I have spoiled, And I put down as a mighty one the inhabitants, And my hand as to a nest Getteth to the wealth of the peoples, And as a gathering of forsaken eggs All the earth I -- I have gathered, And there hath not been one moving wing, Or opening mouth, or whispering.'
And when he is in distress he hath appeased the face of Jehovah his God, and is humbled exceedingly before the God of his fathers,
And Moses cometh in -- Aaron also -- unto Pharaoh, and they say unto him, `Thus said Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, Until when hast thou refused to be humbled at My presence? send My people away, and they serve Me, for if thou art refusing to send My people away, lo, I am bringing in to-morrow the locust into thy border,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on James 4
Commentary on James 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
In this chapter we are directed to consider,
Jam 4:1-10
The former chapter speaks of envying one another, as the great spring of strifes and contentions; this chapter speaks of a lust after worldly things, and a setting too great a value upon worldly pleasures and friendships, as that which carried their divisions to a shameful height.
Jam 4:11-17
In this part of the chapter,