Tag James

Only God Has Tamed the Tongue

Todd R 2 Comments

In many Psalms, the authors complain about the evils in the world and compare them with God and His perfect attributes.  Psalm 12 is one of these, and begins with David lamenting the ungodliness he sees in the world in the first verse:

“Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
            for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.”

What is David so upset about?  James 3:7-8 tells us: “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”  David is upset by people’s inability to “tame the tongue,” which he describes in verses 2 through 4:

“Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
            with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
            the tongue that makes great boasts,
those who say, ‘With our tongue we will prevail,
            our lips are with us; who is master over us?’”

David says the words of the unfaithful are lies, flattering, duplicitous, boasting, proud, and rebellious.  These adjectives also describe much of what we see and hear today, and if we’re honest, much of what we say.  How often do we say things just because they came to mind?  And if they are bad things, but we get away with it or get something we want from it, are we emboldened to continue?  After all, “no human being can tame the tongue.”

There is One, however, who has tamed the tongue.  David contrasts His words with ours in verses 6 and 7:

“The words of the LORD are pure words,
            like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
            purified seven times.
You, O LORD, will keep them;
            you will guard us from this generation forever.”

These words are pure, refined, purified, kept, and preserved.  The number seven in the Bible is often used to indicate perfection, so if His words are “purified seven times”, they are perfectly considered and constructed before they are delivered to us.  God keeps all His promises, and His word never expires.

Even when the world is full of people who speak ungodly words, the Lord’s words are pure and can be trusted. Because of this we know He will “guard us from this generation forever.”  Someday our words will be like His words.

Amen

Freeing Ourselves from the Man in the Mirror

Todd R 1 Comment

In Deuteronomy Moses reviews the giving of the Ten Commandments and reminds us that he didn’t just come down from the mountain with the Commandments written on tablets as we sometimes imagine, but that the “LORD spoke with you [Israel] face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire”[1]  Terrified of this manifestation of God, the people responded “we will hear and do it.”[2]

God was pleased that the people pledged their obedience, but lamented to Moses in Deuteronomy 5:29, “Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!”  In this statement, our Holy, all-knowing God makes 2 points: that obeying Him is in Israel’s best interest, and also that they don’t always do it.  Not only did they not always obey Him, but they often didn’t have “such a heart” for it.  They didn’t even intend to obey Him, whether neglectfully or intentionally.  Like ancient Israel, we often hear the Ten Commandments and the rest of God’s Word and instead of saying “we will hear and do it,” we continue along our own path.

James describes a similar scenario in a New Testament context:

“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” – James 1:23-25

Photo by Jovis Aloor on Unsplash

James compares hearing God’s law to seeing in a mirror what we really look like: we look like sinners who fall short of perfect obedience and need God’s grace.  God didn’t give us His “perfect law” to condemn us, although because we aren’t perfect His law does condemn us.  He didn’t give the law to make us feel bad, although any of us can struggle with a guilty conscience.  He gave His commands because they’re what’s best for us, and along with them He gave His Son so we could find our way back to Him.  We are blessed when we do what He wants because God gave His commands so “that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever.”  For those with faith in Christ, God’s “perfect law” is a “law of liberty” that frees us to be blessed by acting on God’s will for us.  We have liberty not to sin.

But when we spend too much time looking in the mirror at ourselves, we risk feeling condemned and guilty.  We risk seeing God’s law and our failure to keep it as the end of the story.  Therefore, we must instead focus on our God of grace, who through Christ gives us liberty and freedom from condemnation and guilt.  As Paul wrote in Romans 8:1-2, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

When we don’t feel we have “such a heart” as to follow God always (which is probably often), let it drive us to dwell on the character of our God, who revealed Himself to Moses as “the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”[3]

Don’t start with the man in the mirror.  Start with Him.

“When the outlook is grim, try the uplook!” – Warren Wiersbe

[1] Deuteronomy 5:4
[2] Deuteronomy 5:27
[3] Deuteronomy 34:6b

The Cost of Being a Good Samaritan

Todd R 2 Comments

Years ago, I heard a sermon illustration about a parent looking out the window and seeing their kids playing with a skunk.  Naturally, they yelled out to the kids “get away from there and come inside!”  The kids quickly came inside but brought the skunk with them!  The point of the story is that when we want to help others, sometimes their problems become our problems.  There is a cost to truly loving others.

The same principle comes out of the parable of the Good Samaritan.  In the well-known parable a man is robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the side of a road.  First a priest, and then a Levite, passed him by.  But a Samaritan, a member of a group despised by many Jews, stopped and helped the man.  This help had a significant cost, as described in Luke 10:34-35:

“He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.  And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”

Here’s a list of what the Good Samaritan provided for the man in these two verses:

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash
  • Likely some kind of cloth to bind the wounds.  He likely tried to use the cleanest cloth he had with him and ripped or cut it as needed.
  • Oil and wine, which he “poured” on the man’s wounds.  He is more concerned about treating the man than about pouring out too much.
  • A ride on his own animal.  The Samaritan walked alongside, giving the man the more comfortable trip to the inn.
  • Money.  Denarii is the plural of denarius, which was about a day’s wages for a laborer.  The Samaritan spent at least two days wages (“two denarii”) and promised to pay more if needed.
  • Ongoing care and concern.  The Samaritan promised to pay “when I come back.”  He was going to make a return trip to the inn to check up on the man.

Contrast this to the priest and Levite, who both “passed by on the other side” to avoid being contaminated by the man, who appeared dead.  The Samaritan was more concerned about providing help than about whether he would become ceremonially unclean.

Loving people often has costs, including significant ones and ones we don’t anticipate, like the skunk that ended up in the house in the opening example.  While we can’t help everyone in need that we come across, and we’re unlikely to come across someone beat up and left for dead, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” – James 2:15-16

“No one can do everything, but everyone can do something” – Max Lucado

The Sovereign Over Nations

Todd R 2 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Jesus said in Luke 14:11 – “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Centuries earlier, the prophet Isaiah used striking word pictures to show that God does this with entire nations, not just with individual people.

First, Isaiah describes the ancient nation of Babylon as a woman, who exalted herself but will be humbled, in Isaiah 47:1-3:

“Come down and sit in the dust,
            O virgin daughter of Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
            O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
            tender and delicate.
Take the millstones and grind flour,
            put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
            pass through the rivers.
Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
            and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
            and I will spare no one.”

Ancient Babylon exalted themselves above all nations, claiming to be the greatest power ever in the world.  Here Isaiah says Babylon will be publicly disgraced, called down from the throne, and made to do menial labor.  While God had used Babylon to judge His people and bring them into exile, Babylon would not escape being humbled before God.

Then Isaiah gives a contrasting picture about the future of God’s people in a humble woman who will be exalted in Isaiah 52:1-2:

“Awake, awake,
            put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
            O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
            the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
            be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
            O captive daughter of Zion.”

Here the “daughter of Zion,” God’s family, will be freed from bondage and put on beautiful garments.  Spiritually, this means His people will be freed from slavery to sin, which will not exist in the new heaven and earth to come.  What a glorious future we have!

Therefore, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” – James 4:10

Swearing Should Be Hurtful (Sometimes)

Todd R 1 Comment

What does a Godly person act like?  In Psalm 15, David asks this same question:

“O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
            Who shall dwell on your holy hill?”

Then David lists a set of qualities that God requires for one to be righteous, and it includes how we swear.  At the end of verse 4, David writes that a Godly person is someone “who swears to his own hurt and does not change.”

Some of the qualities in the list are easy to understand, but what does it mean when someone “swears to his own hurt”?  David is not writing about swear or curse words.  He’s writing about vows or promises made, but not just any vows.

There are vows that are hurtful, but are not qualities of a Godly person, such as when Saul vowed in 1 Samuel 14:24 – “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.”  This vow resulted in a death sentence for Saul’s son Jonathan, which was overruled by the people.  Another example is Jephthah, who vowed in Judges 11:30-31 – “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”  This resulted in a death sentence for his own daughter, who was the first to come out of the house when he returned in peace.  Saul and Jephthah swore to their own hurt, but this type of swearing is not a quality of a Godly person.

There are also vows that help us get ahead in this world.  An honest reputation is good for a career or in getting along with people and feeling successful.  But it’s easier to keep your word when there is a tangible benefit in this world.  Honesty in these situations is not necessarily bad, but it just doesn’t rise to the level of righteousness.  These vows are not what David is writing about either.

What David means by someone “who swears to his own hurt and does not change” is a person who is honest because it’s what God is and what God wants from us, no matter what it costs them.  Even if honesty brings no benefit to the honest person, they remain honest anyway.

Maybe you’ve promised a spouse or friend that you will help with a project this weekend, but then you get a call from another friend who has tickets to a big game.  Maybe you’ve promised to play with your children or help with their homework, but then remember you have a work project that requires after-hours time to get done.  Maybe vowing to be honest at work means you have to reveal something that could hurt your businesses’ reputation?  A person who “who swears to his own hurt and does not change” is not affected by changes in circumstances, whether they might miss out on something, or whether there is a personal cost.

Is this difficult?  Yes.  It’s so difficult that James wrote: “my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”[1]  To James, keeping vows was so hard that it was something to be avoided.  So…

“O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
            Who shall dwell on your holy hill?”

Who?  Jesus, the only one who ever kept all of their vows and promises, and offers His righteousness to us, both as a means for our salvation, but also as a model for us to follow.  He alone has fully done what is necessary for anyone to dwell in God’s presence.

Amen.

[1] James 5:12