Be humbled in the sight of the Lord: and he will exalt you.
ταπεινωθητε ενωπιον του κυριου και υψωσει υμας
5 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Blessed are those who humble themselves before God, for James says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Whenever we humble ourselves in this way. Even if demons plot against us or men who hate virtue attack us, we have God saving us, provided only that we do not forget His law or blaspheme Him in our afflictions.
Why does Saint James, after saying above, "The Lord resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (v. 6), and then, "Therefore submit to God" (v. 7), not rest content with this?
Why does he add here a third saying, "Humble yourselves before the Lord"? The explanation, as I think, is this.
The passion of pride has prevailed with great superiority over all men, more than all the passions. With his own sword of pride, the devil first wounded himself in heaven.
With the same sword he wounded Adam on earth, and all Adam's descendants. Therefore the brother of God, desiring to heal this great wound, doubles and triples the remedies.
For this reason he is not negligent in writing the same thing, crying out with Paul: "To write the same things to you is not tedious for me, but it is safe for you" (Phil 3:1).
This word of the brother of the Lord agrees with the word of the Lord, who said: "He who humbles himself will be exalted" (Lk 14:11).
And again: "If anyone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all" (Mk 9:35).
He who humbles himself in this life will be exalted in the other, as the chief Apostle Peter said: "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Pet 5:6).
What more shall I say? If someone is humble, he is exalted by God even in this life. He receives the indwelling of God's grace in his soul.
He becomes higher than the passions and the snares of the devil. He lives a life of rest, or one not subject to falling, having attained blessed dispassion.
As Sirach said, "The greater you are, the more humble yourself, and you will find grace before the Lord" (Sir 3:18).
Therefore the prayer of the humble man at once rises upward. It passes through the clouds and does not return until it has inclined the Most High God to fulfill his request.
The same Sirach says: "The prayer of the humble passes through the clouds, and it will not depart until the Most High visits" (Sir 35:17).
Humble yourselves and put aside pride, which is contrary to God (Jas 4:6), and He will exalt you. For to the humble, and to them alone, He gives grace that raises them morally above the world and will glorify them in the future (cf. Mt 23:12; Lk 14:11; Lk 18:14).
Concluding a series of moral counsels, the Apostle, with the authority of an archpastor and guide of souls, invites Christians to submit to God and resist the devil.
The Apostle calls Christians to God as a divinely inspired Old Testament teacher, almost in the exact words of the prophets.
Thus, for example, the holy prophet Zechariah spoke in God's name: "Return to Me, says the Lord of Sabaoth, and I will return to you" (Zech 1:3; cf. Sir 38:10).
The next appeal of the Apostle James sounds especially heartfelt and living: "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to sorrow."
How strongly this recalls the Lord's words: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn" (Lk 6:25).
Pride is the highest of all evils. Its opposite, humility, is a great good. When either of them, good or evil, is done voluntarily and freely, everyone who exalts himself through conceit is humbled in due time by God, who opposes the proud. But when a man is exalted in a praiseworthy way, he humbles himself with all modesty and is raised to the height of glory through labors of humility.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 7 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS