Foreign Familiarity or Familiar Foreignness (Psalm 54)

“O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might…

Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.”

Psalm 54:1, 4

This psalm can feel very familiar and yet very distant. It can feel distant because it is familiar. Here we encounter that which is native to the psalms. This is why it is familiar. And, this is why is seems distant, for what is native to the psalms often feels foreign to us. It’s like having a pocket full of foreign currency in a strange land. We know we’ve got money, but we don’t know how much we’ve got.

This foreign familiarity is frequently so because we try to relate to the psalms in the wrong way. We can’t take them up like a pop song. One can’t come to the psalter as though it were karaoke night, seeking a sad song to express their recent heartache. We cherry pick the psalms for emotional feels while avoiding them intellectually. There are many psalms, that when honestly examined, many think, “I could never pray that!”

Here we have a prayer for deliverance. Most everyone is comfortable with that. When we’re in a real pickle, we will all pray for deliverance. But David also prays for vindication. He prays against his enemies. This is where we get uncomfortable. Here is where this psalm feels foreign to our Christianity. “Vindication? I’m a sinner. Enemies? Aren’t we supposed to love our enemies?”

When we experience such discomfort with the psalter we must begin here: if this psalm feels foreign, it is foreign to me, not to Christianity. When I can’t seem to square it with the New Testament, this is because I’m out of harmony, I’m out of balance, I’ve emphasized some truth such that I cannot understand another truth. So instead of discarding such a psalm off or treating it like a salvage project, picking the good parts, lets recognize that it is truth and then let us seek to recognize the truth that it is.

To begin this, I think our biggest help comes in verse 4. The psalmist turns from prayer to address those listening in on his prayer. Before you pray this prayer, you are meant to listen in to this prayer. You are meant to hear God’s King praying for vindication. How can you sing this psalm? You are meant to sing it with the King.

Dealing with Déjà Vu (Psalm 53)

The reader through the psalms might here experience something of déjà vu? If that’s you, know there is an explanation for the feeling.

Psalm 14

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.

The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
who eat up my people as they eat bread
and do not call upon the LORD?

There they are in great terror,
for God is with the generation of the righteous.
You would shame the plans of the poor,
but the LORD is his refuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalm 53

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.

Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?

There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The similarity is unavoidable, but the differences are not insignificant. Charles Spurgeon comments, “It is not a copy of the fourteenth psalm, emended and revised by a foreign hand; it is another edition by the same author, emphasized in certain parts, and rewritten for another purpose.”

There are differences not only in content, but in context. Psalm 14 appears in Book I of the Psalms (1–42) while Psalm 53 is in Book II (42–72). Books II and III together make up what is known as the Elohistic Psalter (Psalms 42–83). These psalms show a preference for speaking of the the God of Israel as Elohim (God) instead of Yahweh (the LORD). In the first book, Yahweh is used 272 times while Elohim is used only 15 times, whereas in Book II, Elohim is used 164 times while Yahweh is used only 30 times. Psalm 14 uses Yahweh four times, while Psalm 53 doesn’t use it at all.

Also, within Book II, Psalms 51–70 form a sub-collection of Davidic psalms. All these Psalms, with the exception of Psalms 66 and 67, are attributed to David. Further, Psalms 52–55 are all Maskils. This stands out even more when you observe that Psalms 56–60 are all Miktams. All this to point that these psalms are where they are for a reason. There is purpose.

Additionally, Davidic psalms with historical settings aren’t extremely common. There are only 14 of them in the Psalter. They are more rare in the first book of the Psalms than in the second. The first book has only five, whereas the second has eight. The third psalm is the first psalm with a historical superscription, “A Psalm of David, When He Fled from  Absalom His Son.”  Because of the rarity of historical settings, when read through the first book of the psalms, any time we read about any opposition to David, Absalom is on the mind. The 14th Psalm gives us no setting. When we think of the fool there, Absalom naturally comes to mind.

Whereas when we come to Psalm 53, a different character is suggested. There is an unusual concentration of psalms with headings here and most all of them are relate to a specific time in David’s life, that period when he was fleeing from Saul. Psalm 52 was occasioned by Doeg’s wickedness. Psalm 54 when the Ziphites betrayed David. Psalm 56 was written when David was with the Philistines hiding from Saul. Psalm 57 was written when he fled from Saul and hid in a cave. Psalm 52 relates to events from 1 Samuel 22. Psalm 54 relates to events from 1 Samuel 23. 

Though the superscription of Psalm 53 has no historical setting, there is something in Psalm 53 that relates to 1 Samuel 25. In 1 Samuel 25 we encounter Nabal, who refused to aid David. His wife Abigail was praised as being both discerning and beautiful. Hearing of her husband’s insolence, she comes before David saying, “Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him” (1 Samuel 25:25). This psalm speaks to “nabal.” Nabal’s name is the Hebrew word for “fool.” “The nabal says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” And the chief way Nabal does this, is by saying “No” to God’s King. The supreme way men say “There is no God!” is by saying “There is no eternally begotten Son of God, incarnate of the virgin, Jesus the Christ, Son of David, King of Israel.”

Don’t Lose Your Religion

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

—James 1:26–27

If you grew up in a typical evangelical church, you probably heard or even said something like this: “Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship.” Christianity certainly is a relationship, but it is just as certainly a religious relationship. 

The Redeemer of Israel declared from the fire, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery [here is the relationship]. You shall have no other gods before me [here is the religion]” (Deuteronomy 20:2–3). Our Redeemer tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Our relationship with God is covenantal. A covenantal relationship with God means religion. It means commands. It means worshipping Him the way He has told us to.

What is religion? We rarely encounter the word in the New Testament. Outside of these three references in James 1, we find it once in Acts and once in Colossians. By “religion” we could mean those various religions which we find in the world of which one is true and all others are false. This is near the sense of the word when Paul said, “…according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee” (Acts 26:5).

With this, there is a sense in which we can say that Christianity is not a religion. When we study world religions, we take up the study of man’s quest for “god”—an idolatrous god of his own making. Christianity, in contrast, is a revelation. It speaks not of man’s pursuit of God, but God’s pursuit of man. Nevertheless, the revelation given to man is, we will see, undeniably religious.

Religion more basically refers to our worship, devotion, piety, and obedience. Specifically, the word refers to the outward expression of our worship. You can see this when Paul uses the same word in reference to the “worship of angels” in Colossians 2:18. Paul was not referring to the “religion of angels” but to man’s worship of angels.

Here, James writes to us not concerning true and false religion, as in Christianity versus Hinduism, but religion, true and false, as in the religion of the Pharisees versus that of the disciples. James assumes his listeners are in the true religion. He’s asking if their religion is true. They profess Christianity, but do they posses Christ?—that is his question. Christianity is a religious relationship. Or we might better say it is a relational religion. James is essentially asking if their religion has that relationship.

What is religion? T.J. Crawford provides an excellent definition: “What is religion? So far as regards the intellect, religion is the knowledge of God; and so far as regards the heart and the life, religion is the love, and trust, and worship, and submission, and obedience which we owe to God. It is the intercourse of the creature with the Creator,—of the weak, short-sighted, fallible, and perishing creature, with the almighty, all-seeing, infallible, and eternal God, whose counsels are unsearchable, and whose ways are past finding out.”

Do you see how relational that definition of religion is? Do you see how religious your relationship to God is meant to be? I pray that when you read and reflect on a passage like this, you sense that your “relationship” is is lacking, is less that to be desired, yea, is worthless, if it is not religious. James does not tell us that religion is worthless. He speaks of a kind of religion that is worthless. And opposite of that worthless religion is not a vague spirituality or nebulous relationship. Opposite worthless religion is religion pure and undefiled.

The Doing that Must Be Done (James 1:22–25)

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

—James 1:22

Note that this command begins with “but.” There is a contrast. James has told us to “receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But…” Recognize then the gravity of what James is saying. If you go to the doctor, and he hands you a prescription and says, “This is able to save you life, but…” how earnestly are you going to listen to the words after that follow that conjunction? The implanted word is able to save your souls but…

James here speaks of the necessity of doing concerning the salvation of our souls. There is a doing that must be done in the doing of your salvation. This can make us uneasy. We may even feel as though there is a tension within the Word of God. The same tension is felt when James later says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14). Some have so profoundly felt this tension that they pit Paul against James. But before we resort to pitting James against Paul, let’s see James in harmony with Jesus. Fewer dare to pit Paul against Jesus. Paul is in harmony with Jesus. James, we will see, is in harmony with Jesus. This is because Jesus is in harmony with Jesus, and Paul and James both are apostles of Jesus Christ. There is not a Jesus of Paul and a Jesus of James. Any tension we feel is owing to us, not the Scriptures. Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24–27).

Many try to escape this tension because they are trying to escape this truth: there is a doing that must be done. Many are not trying to resolve a felt tension by seeking Biblical harmony. They are trying to escape conviction by emphasizing one truth to the exclusion of another. They think their huge ears will compensate for their tiny hands. “[R]eceive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But, be doers of the word and not hearers only.” There is a doing that must be done in the doing of your salvation.

Still there is a felt tension, but much can be alleviated when we examine more carefully the doing that is to be done. The hearer-doer does the perfect law, the law of liberty. What is the perfect law? While this could refer to the law being whole and complete in itself (cf. Psalm 19:7), I believe it refers to the law as being complete in Christ (Matthew 5:17–20). The perfect law then is the law received from the hand of Christ who fulfilled the law for us.

What is the law of liberty? It is the law as received by those who have been set free in Christ. It is “the law of the Spirit of life.”

“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. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1–4).

The doing that must be done is a doing within the context of the gospel. It is not a doing for life, but a doing from life. It is not a doing that procures salvation, but that is part of our salvation. This is not a “do this or you will not be saved,” but a “do this or you have not been saved.” It is not a doing that results in salvation, but a doing that is a result of salvation. No doing, no salvation. Or, as James will later put it, no works, not faith. Faith lays hold of Christ and Christ has been made unto us righteousness and sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30). Do not deceive yourself that you have Christ if you only have a claim to justification but no demonstration of sanctification.

Put Away All Sin (James 1:19–21)

“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

—James 1:21

The problem is inside us. The solution is outside of us. We must put away and we must receive. This is the generic answer to all of our struggles in sanctification. We must put off the old man in Adam and we must put on the new man in Christ. We must mortify and we must vivify. We must kill and we must enliven. We must put sin to death and we must live in the Spirit.

In this post I aim simply to meditate on the command to put away. What are we to put away? All filthiness and rampant wickedness. James’ choice of the word “filthiness” aids you in putting away what you should put away. Sin is impure and defiling. It is not a thing to be kept near, but put away.

Put away wickedness. Do not call your sins by sweet names. It is wickedness. Ralph Venning is helpful in capturing something of the wickedness of sin when he first quotes and then expands on John Bunyan. 

“Sin is the dare of God’s justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight of his power, the contempt of his love, as one writer prettily expresses this ugly thing. We may go on and say, it is the upbraiding of his providence (Psalm 50), the scoff of his promise (2 Peter 3:3–4), the reproach of his wisdom (Isaiah 29:16). And as is said of the Man of Sin (i.e. who is made up of sin) it opposes and exalts itself above all that is called God (and above all that God is called), so that it as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing itself as if it were God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).” 

That sin you cling to, realize its filth. That darling you treasure in your heart, realize its wickedness. These are not things to be kept dear but to be repulsed by.

And put them away, do not put them aside. When you clean up some putrid refuse, you don’t sit the dirty rag next to you to later admire it. You are forever done with it. Put away sin like a vomit soaked paper towel. If you have a child or a pet, then chances are good that you have that article of clothing or blanket that was soiled with something so nasty that you did not bother to wash it. Straight into the trash it goes and not soon enough. That is how we must think of our sin. Thomas Manton cautions,

“You can never part with sin soon enough; it is a cursed inmate, that will surely bring mischief upon the soul that harbours it. It will set its own dwelling on fire. If there be a mote in the eye, a thorn in the foot, we take them out without delay; and is not sin a greater mischief, and sooner to be looked into and parted with? Certainly the evil of sin is greater than all evil, and hereafter the trouble will be greater; therefore we can never soon enough part with it.”

And we must do this with all sin. Not some. All! Put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness. Tolerating some sin in your life is like tolerating some part of a house fire. John Owen warns, “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Put away all sin.

Put away all sin.

Put away all sin.

Do Not Be Deceived—about God! (James 1:16–18)

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”

—James 1:16

Do not be deceived, about what?!

Do not be deceived, the man who remains steadfast under trail will receive the crown of life? 

Do not be deceived, each person is tempted when they are lured and enticed by their own desire? 

Do not be deceived, sin when it has fully grown brings forth death?

There is truth in all these answers contrary to the lie of James’ concern. Still, none of them gets to the root. James has, what I believe we may say is the fundamental, basic and primitive deception in mind. The answer is found within v. 13. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

Do not be deceived—about God! Do not be deceived into thinking that temptation has its source in God. It is far more dangerous to be deceived that God is bad than that sin is good. Belief that God is bad is at the core of what makes sin, sin. It is the very sinfulness of sin. All sin is unbelief. All sin involves not believing God to be all that He is in all of His perfections. All sin is a willingly received deception about who God is. But it is less dangerous that the unbelief be indirect rather than direct. It is less dangerous to covet than it is to deceived that God cannot satisfy. It is less dangerous to believe that sin can please than to believe that God cannot. The first lie is an acorn. The second is a mature oak heavy with acorns. If you retain some belief that God is good, you have something with which to fight covetousness. If you believe that God is bad, you have nothing left with which to fight. You have a sin not contrary to covetousness, but one which births covetousness. If you do not believe God to be infinitely desirable, then you have nothing with which to fight sinful desires. You cannot fight envy as Asaph did saying, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25). Do not be deceived about God! Such deceit is the sin of sin.

A.W. Tozer opened his classic The Knowledge of the Holy with this sentence, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” (p. 1). Eve’s greatest deception was not that the fruit was good, but that God was bad. The serpent’s question sowed a seed of doubt in her mind—doubt of God’s Word and doubt of God’s goodness. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’” (Genesis 3:1). The serpent sowed doubt in God’s Word into order to sow doubt of God’s goodness. Eve knew she may eat of trees of the garden, but subtly a thought had been planted that God may be holding back.

Is it not just such a lie that we are prone to believe? We may trust that Jesus loves us and the Spirit abides in us, but how often do we doubt the Father’s love? Dear children, do not be deceived about God, the Father. Every good and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Blessedness and Trials (James 1:12–15)

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

—James 1:12

“Blessed” is a familiar yet distant term. We might occasionally speak of being blessed, but we don’t go around pronouncing beatitudes like “blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.” Though prosperity preachers may speak much of being “blessed,”  I’m afraid it is not just they that have an impoverished idea of blessedness.

To understand blessedness we need to understand both the God of the covenants and the covenants of God. First then, the God of the covenants. 1 Timothy 1:11 might contain my favorite phrase in all the Bible. There Paul writes to Timothy of “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.” Paul writes of the good news of the radiance of the happy God. The reference point for what blessedness means is God Himself. He is the blessed God. Our God is eternally, unchangingly, and infinitely delighted in Himself. Father, Son, and Spirit are so joyful, that their happiness overflows into good news for man.

This leads us to our next consideration, the covenants of God. God’s blessedness overflows. God purposes for His blessedness to overflow onto man. These purposes are covenantal in structure. What is implicit in the covenant of creation made with Adam, is explicit in the Mosaic Covenant made with Israel. Moses explained that if Israel remained faithful (steadfast) to the covenant, blessedness would overtake them. 

“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl” (Deuteronomy 28:1–5).

Inversely, if they failed to keep covenant, they would be cursed. 

“But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out” (Deuteronomy 28:15–19).

Blessedness and cursedness have to do with our relation to the Triune blessed God and that relation is covenantal.

What is the covenant context for the blessedness James speaks of here? What specific covenant is in view when James speaks of being blessed for remaining steadfast under trial? It is remaining steadfast to Christ in the New Covenant. Jesus spoke of this blessedness when He said, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12). Hear again the New Covenant connotations for blessedness to those who remain steadfast in Hebrews 12:1–2. “[L]et us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Oh how shallow is our conception of blessedness! Yes, many of us are richly blessed with many earthly joys for which God is due all praise and thanksgiving, but this is neither the foundation nor pinnacle of blessedness. Blessedness is covenantal union and communion with the blessed God and this blessedness comes to us as good news in Jesus Christ.

It is for our shallow conceptions of blessedness that we might have to think hard on Thomas Manton’s commentary on these verses.

“Afflictions do not make the people of God miserable. …Afflictions cannot diminish his happiness: a man is never miserable till he hath lost his happiness. Our comfort lieth much in the choice of our chiefest good. …they that say, ‘Happy is the people whose God is the Lord,’ that is, that count it their happiness to enjoy God, when they lose all, they may be happy, because they have not lost God. Our afflictions discover our choice and affections; when outward crosses are the greatest evil, it is a sign God was not the chiefest good.”

For those who love God, not only can trials not diminish our blessedness, James would have us understand, they can only serve to make it greater.

When the Lowly and Rich Sing in Harmony (James 1:9–11)

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation…

—James 1:9–10a

James’ two commands in this passage “rhyme” with his first command: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” The “rhyme” becomes more apparent to your ears as you acclimate to this “heavenly language,” but for now, this much should be clear, all of these commands are for brothers, all are odd, and all of them concern joy.

The word you have as “boast” in v. 9 is the same word translated “rejoice” in Romans 5:3; a text which proves especially significant in linking all these commands together. “[W]e rejoice [boast] in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice [boast] in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.” Christian brothers are commanded rejoice in their trials. Those who are lowly are commanded to rejoice in their exaltation and those who are rich are commanded to rejoice in their humiliation. All commands for brothers. All odd commands. All commands to rejoice.

But “rejoice” doesn’t quite capture the fullness of this word. It does have the sense of boasting or glorying. To get some idea of what James calls on us to do here, lets observe Paul doing it in Philippians 3:3–11. What Paul says there doesn’t directly concern poverty and riches, but I believe you will be able to hear again the same “rhyme” in Paul as we have here in James.

“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory [boast, rejoice] in Christ Jesus and put no confidence [i.e. we don’t boast or glory] in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted [a similar kind of accounting as that presented in James 1:1] as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection [exaltation], and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death [humiliation], that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Do you see Paul, your brother in the Lord, both boasting in his exaltation and in his humiliation? This is the odd, peculiar kind of boasting James is calling us to here, whether we be rich or poor in this life. What Paul does helps you see the single essence that underlies both of these commands in James. That something singular does indeed underlie both boastings is also evident when Paul speaks of the wisdom that trials have taught him in Philippians 4:11–13.

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

A singular secret underlies meeting both situations with contentment. What is this singular foundation? One’s union with Christ. The poor, in particular, are to glory in their unity with Christ in His exaltation, while the rich, in particular, are to glory in their unity with Christ in His humiliation. If the poor share in Christ’s exultation in heaven, the rich share in Christ’s humiliation on earth.

There is a singular, foundational, fundamental reality behind both of these boastings.

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD’” (Jeremiah 9:23–24).

How is it that we come to know Yahweh who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth? Supremely, it is through the cross of Christ. “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). Here, the poor are being called on to boast in the riches gained by the cross of Christ and the rich are called on to boast in their sharing in the humiliation of the cross of Christ. Fundamentally, both are called on to rejoice in Christ—the Christ who humbled Himself on earth and who is now exalted in heaven.

Magnanimous Munificence (James 1:5–8)

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

—James 1:5

“Ask God.” How does this command sit with your soul? Honestly? How it really sits with your soul is determined by your reaction to the next phrase, “ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach.” Is this how you think of God? Generous, benevolent, giving, big-hearted, bounteous, free-handed, liberal, lavishly kind, munificent. Munificent is a word rarely used because it is rarely displayed—by man. Munificent means characterized by or displaying great generosity, giving more than is usual or necessary. But with God, do you feel all those adjectives are too few and too small? Do you believe His munificence to be constant and unavoidable? Do you sense the truth of Newton’s lyric?

Thou art coming to a King,
large petitions with thee bring,
for his grace and pow’r are such,
none can ever ask too much.

Or, do you believe the serpent’s crafty lie? “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan’s craft was to plant the thought of God as holding back. Do you think God powerful and wise, but perhaps reserved, cautious, or even miserly, stingy, tight. You may say “No,” but do you ask? Do you think of the Father as rich in grace and overflowing in love, eager to give? How do you think of His commands? Do you think they constrain or liberate? We serve a God who said “Yes” to a forrest and “No” to a tree. “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16–17). This is our God. A God who liberally says “Yes” to life, and whose every “No” is a no to that which is death or not good for us.

Do not doubt the Father’s liberality and munificence! Jesus teaches us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7–11). James will soon go on to tell us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (1:17).

Look around you! Oh how lavishly our Lord gives, not only to believers, but to His enemies. Oh but look to the gospel! He has given you His Son. He has given you the Holy Spirit. Paul asks, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Look at His giving of Christ and the Spirit and know He does not change.

Ask! Ask knowing of whom you ask—God, God who gives generously to all. God who in Christ is your Father. God who as your Father gives generously and gives without reproach. God gives without making you feel guilty about the asking. He delights in your asking. He delights in the giving. Ask knowing he does not scold, upbraid, insult, or reprimand those who ask. He may rebuke sinful requests. In which case He still gives better than you ask. He may so “No” to good requests in order to give us something better, and yes, it may be a peculiar better. But He will never reproach such a righteous request as this. 

Ask! Ask James tells us, and “it will be given.” Not “it might be given;” but “it will be given.” Thomas Manton comments, “He bringeth an encouragement not only from the nature of God, but the promise of God. It is an encouragement in prayer, when we consider there is not only bounty in God, but bounty engaged by promise. What good will the general report do without a particular invitation? There is a rich King giveth freely; ay! but he giveth at pleasure; no, he hath promised to give to thee.”

Heavenly Arithmetic (James 1:2–4)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”

—James 1:2

This is heavenly arithmetic. No earthly computation can can account for meeting all kinds of trials as all joy. Only the resurrection makes sense of this. The resurrection is the “x” variable that allows you to solve this problem. “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). But we do not hope in this life only. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

We are to weigh the things of this earth according to the gravity of the new earth. We are to weigh the things of this earth according to the atmospheric pressure of heaven above. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18). Thomas Manton wrote, “A Christian liveth above the world, because he doth not judge according to the world.” Because the Christian’s soul flies to heaven while his body endures earthly flames, he is a rare bird. Manton said, “A Christian is a bird that can sing in winter as well as in spring.”

The slave of Christ can “count is all joy” when he meets “trials of various kinds.” This command to do heavenly arithmetic is one that involves the whole of us. We are exhorted to exercise our will (you count) to use our mind (count) to steer the affections (rejoice).

The use of the mind to do this heavenly computation can be seen in the King James translation of Romans 8:18. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” We are to reckon—to compute, reason, calculate, tabulate, or account the sufferings of this present time, not as nothing in themselves, but as nothing in comparison with the glory that lies ahead.

Moses knew how to do this kind of math: “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:24–27).

Paul understood this math: “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 4:8).

We are to exercise our will to do this kind of math to steer the affections. We are not just to reckon it joy, we are to rejoice! This is no call for an exercise in theoretical mathematics, but applied arithmetic. It is not enough to do the math in our mind. We must apply it to it our heart. We have to show our work. Our counting should show in our countenance. “And they [the apostles] departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41). The saints find that the afflictions of this world sever their ties to earth and endear their hearts for heaven. Thomas Brooks declared, “Afflictions are the saints’ best benefactors to heavenly affections; where afflictions hang heaviest, corruptions hang loosest.”