Tiago 4

Tiago 4:6

Poole - “God resisteth;” it is a military term: God sets himself, as in battle, against the proud, defying, beating down, exposing to contempt, and destroying them; he is so far from giving them more gifts, that he rather spoils them, as sworn enemies, of what they have. (Matthew Poole's Commentary on the New Testament) Thomas Manton writes that God… stands in battle-array or in direct defiance and opposition against them. The proud man has his tactics, and God has His anti-tactics. The Word shows that there is a mutual opposition between God and the proud. And I note this particularly because in Proverbs it says, “He mocks proud mockers.” They mock God, and God mocks them. God still counteracts the proud, as he did Pharaoh. Mocking is a great sign of pride; disdain of others comes from overvaluing ourselves. God has made everyone an object of respect or pity; it is pride that makes them objects of contempt, and in them their Maker (Pr 17:5). Wicked men “sit in the seat of mockers” (Psalm 1:1). This is a sin so hateful to God that he takes notice of disdainful gestures—“the pointing finger and malicious talk” (Isa 58:9). Why should God so expressly set himself against pride? Because of all sins, He hates this sin (Pr 16:5). Other sins are more hateful to men, because they bring disgrace and have more baseness in them, whereas pride seems to have a kind of bravery in it. But the Lord hates it because it is a sin that sets itself most against Him. Other sins are against God’s laws; this is against His being and sovereignty. Pride not only withdraws the heart from God but lifts it up against God. It is a direct contention as to who shall be acknowledged as the author of blessing and excellence: “Because you think you are wise, as wise as a god…” (Ezek 28:6). Babylon speaks in the name and style of God, and so does Nineveh: “I am, and there is none besides me” (Zeph 2:15). And as pride rises against his being, so it rises against his providence. (A Practical Exposition of James) Andrew