HUMBLE YOURSELF

James 4:10

Morning Meditation 6/19/2013

Verse 10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

The words “humble yourselves” (tapeinoo) is the translation of one word meaning “to make low, bring low, to consider oneself insignificant.” It is an aorist passive imperative verb. The aorist tense refers to a point of time. It is assumed that James is not speaking to them about a belief to be practiced at some time in the future when the need arises. He is addressing an immediate need. They were not humble. They needed to respond to this teaching immediately. The passive voice is where the subject receives the action of the verb. It is like he is saying “be humbled.” Be humbled by what? In this case be humbled by the word of God. Respond positively to this message and bring your life into compliance. The imperative mood is a command that expresses urgency. You only command people who are under your authority. James is writing to “my brethren” (1:2). James is saying we are in the same family together. He is saying “The Holy Spirit has given me this message for you.” These brethren who have received Christ as Saviour recognize divine authority over them. This is the Holy Spirit’s message to them through James. They are receiving orders and need to take immediate action.

To obey this command is a choice. The Christian life is made up of choices. I do not always make the right choice. This is what we mean by being out of the will of God. We can never be right if God gives an order and we disobey. We are not humble by nature. So, if we are, it will be the result of a willful act. We can choose to be humble. The Bible does the following for us: It tells us what humble is, it describes the benefits and rewards to those who are humble, it gives us examples of some who pleased God in that area of their lives, it gives us orders to be humble and finally Christ gives us strength to obey his command.

Humility is not only a decision but it is an inner attitude. Note the words, “in the sight of the Lord.” James is guarding against a feigned humility, i.e., a hypocritical humility. It is not just an external appearance. The words “in the sight of,” (enopion) mean “in the presence of, to be before.” James assumes that we are in the presence of the Lord as Christians at all times. When I bow on my knees to pray, I am in the presence of the Lord. I am always “before” him. God is watching my life and since I am his servant, as are all Christians, he is watching for inner attitudes being expressed in life. God sees the inside. When Jesus was dealing with the Pharisees concerning their pride and presumption he said to them in Matthew 23:26 “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” Jesus is actually telling them how to correct the wrong. The inside must be clean. This begins with the New Birth and proceeds as we obey God from the heart. Paul brings this out in Romans 6:17, “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” Humility is an inner attitude.

Humility is not only a decision, and an inner attitude but it also finds God. Isaiah 57:15 says, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

God dwells in the “high and holy place” so we look for him in the high places. We look for him in the mountains. We do not look for him in the valleys. Therefore, we do not find him. Look with wisdom at this verse. God is in the high and holy place. Therefore the logical conclusion is that if we find him, we are going to have to climb. Right? So, many Christians spend their lives climbing and never finding. They can never get quite high enough.. But the secret of his presence is not climbing to where he is but taking the low place. He is “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit . . .” He is not just in the high and holy place. That is not the only place he dwells! There is another place “also.” And that other place is with him that has taken the low place.

This place is the easiest and yet the hardest place. You can fall or lay down and roll to the low place. That is easy. But it is not easy for the man who wants to climb. He is fascinated by climbing. He studies climbing. He buys equipment in preparation an goes through practices in order to make a good climber. There is no doubt that God is in the “high places” but you cannot climb to those places. Have you ever been a tight? Have you ever had someone you love deathly ill? Did you discover that you found God especially close? Your experience of him was so great that you wanted it to last forever. Think. Your experience of God was not on the mountain. It was in that low place. And you didn’t climb into that valley. You fell into that valley! It was no trouble to get there at all!

Is there a way to get into that valley or low place without having these serious happenings, i.e., sickness, accidents, deaths, financial bankruptcy, or other things that bring you low? James says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” It is a choice. It is something that you choose to happen to you in response to the Word of God.

This is a learned attitude. It is not something I do by nature. I am born with pride, i.e., the opposite of humility. Jesus is the best example of this grace. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt. 11:29). All we have to do to discover the self humbling of Jesus is to read Phil. 2:5-8. Every step you take on the road of self abasement will be a tiring and difficult step. The instrument that God uses for the manifestation of humility is a painful circumcision. It may be that some enemy will say something about you that is true. You will have to agree and thank him for helping you with that bit of information! He meant it for bad in order to hurt you. God meant it for good. We have to be willing to submit to the instruments that God uses to achieve humility. Remember in our text it was a passive voice verb. We make the choice but self humiliation is achieved because of submission to something that happens to us. The first thing from the outside that attacks our natural pride is the Word of God. Then God uses other instruments. God used nations more wicked than Israel as instruments in his hands to achieve humility on their part.

The words “and he shall lift you up” describes God’s action toward those who choose the way of humility. The words “he shall lift up” (hupsoo) translate one word that means “to lift up on high, to exalt.” There is the mountain! And you didn’t have to climb! And I want to say that you do not have to wait for a tragedy. You can take that lowly place voluntarily. But it is not the place of “self esteem.” It is the place of “self rejection” that does not mourn over the loss (self pity). It is the place of “the desperate need of God” where one makes no move apart from dependence on him. It is the place of complete trust and rest in him that this lowly place is his will and meeting place with us.. Then, suddenly, we find him or he finds us and we find ourselves on the mountain in the “high and holy place.” How did we get there? Not by climbing but by taking the lowly place.

May the Lord help us to choose the path of humility. All other paths are paths of pride. God is not found there. Men of pride “create an appearance” of his presence. But men of the Word can see through it clearly.

May the Lord bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White