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  • Marti Lambert on James 4:10 - 3 years ago
    The king James says "in the sight of the Lord" Other versions say "before the Lord"

    What is the significance of humble ourselves in the sight of the lord. Is it position or place?
  • Jim Kirkpatrick - In Reply on James 4 - 3 years ago
    They are watering down the Kings James Bible. I will not attend a Church that does not read and preach out of it.
  • Jesse - In Reply on James 4:10 - 3 years ago
    Marti,

    Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord. The word humble in James 4:10 is a command, but it's in the Passive Voice. It is literally be humbled in the sight of the Lord. That's what it would literally read.

    Every time there is a command for to be humbled in the scriptures, it's always in the Passive Voice which means submit to God's humbling process. He humbles us.

    You see, if I humble myself and bring myself before God, that's pride. It would be like "Here I am Lord, your humble servant. I have come humbly before you!" And the Lord is probably going "Let's try that again because I can't accept that."

    So when God brings us low, we are supposed to submit to it. And then the promise is that He shall lift you up.

    If you start at James 4:7, and keep in mind that these are Jewish believers who are in difficult and hard situations. They are afflicted. They are mourning. They are weeping. And they are attempting to change their circumstances into laughter and joy in order to encourage themselves.

    The command is let yourself be afflicted, let yourself mourn, let yourself weep, let your joy turn into heaviness, and your laughter into mourning.

    In other words, take the low road. We all want to feel good. We all want to feel encouraged. We all want to think positive. But James is saying take the low road.

    If you're in affliction, and choose affliction and mourning, weeping and heaviness, and mourning so that you can experience the grace of God rather than attempting to in your own human resources make yourself a happier person and make yourself feel better about yourself, that's the road to be on.

    He's not saying that you should not feel good about yourself. He's just saying choose the difficult road. Don't keep trying to get out of it. God is humbling you for a reason. He's bringing you low so that you come to Him.



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