Haikus and Humble Hermeneutics: James, Chapter 4

A Survey of Scriptural Humility

Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 18:12
Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 22:4
The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.

Zephaniah 2:3
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.

 

Ephesians 4:1-3
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Colossians 3:12

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

1 Peter 5:5-9a

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him and be firm in the faith.
(This passage in 1 Peter contains verses almost identical to this chapter of James, verses 7 and 10.)

----------------------------------

So then we see that humility comes before honor, and goes alongside meekness, patience, forgiveness, and bearing with one another in love.  Lord, help me to seek humility instead of everything I pursue in my selfishness and lack of regard for you.  I know this runs contrary to the natural ways of my own desires, so help me draw near to you.  Amen.

Note: Please read through this chapter of James in your own Bible along with the haikus that follow.  They serve only as meditations on what is contained in the Scriptures themselves.

Verse 1
What causes fighting
Among you?  Evil desires
At war within you?

2
You desire and do
Not have; you kill and covet
But cannot obtain

2 (continued)
You quarrel and fight
But you do not have because
You do not ask God

3
And when you ask,
You do not receive because you
Ask with wrong motives

3 (continued)
You only ask so
That you may spend what you get
On your own desires

4
Adulterers!  Don't
You know friendship with the world
Is hatred of God?

4 (continued)
Whoever wants to
Be the world's friend becomes an
Enemy of God

5
Or do you think that
The Scripture means nothing and
Speaks without reason?

5 (continued)
For it says that the
Spirit God caused to live in
Us yearns jealously

6
But He gives more grace:
"God resists the proud, but gives
Grace to the humble"

7
So submit yourselves
To God; resist the devil
And he'll flee from you

8
Come near to God and
He will come near to you; wash
Your hands, you sinners

8 (continued)
And purify your
Hearts, you double-minded and
Half-hearted people

9
Grieve, mourn, and wail; change
Your laughter to mourning and
Your joy to sorrow

10
Humble yourselves in
The presence of the Lord and
He will lift you up

11
Do not slander or
Criticize or speak evil
Against each other

11 (continued)
If you speak against
And judge each other, you do
The same of the law

11 (continued)
When you judge the law
You do not keep it, but sit
In judgment on it

12
There is only one
Lawgiver and Judge, He who
Can save and destroy

12 (continued)
Who are you to sit
In judgment on your neighbor
And your fellow man?

13
Come now, you who say,
"Today or tomorrow we
Will go to a town,"

13 (continued)
"We will spend a year
There and engage in business
And make a profit."

14
You do not even
Know what tomorrow will bring.
For what is your life?

14 (continued)
You are like smoke that
Appears for a little while
And then vanishes

15
Instead, you should say,
"If the Lord wills, we will live
And do this or that."

16
As it is, you boast
In your arrogance; all such
Boasting is evil

17
Whoever knows what
Is right but fails to do it,
To him it is sin