James Expounds on Faith Volume 11

 Listen to God's Word; Speak Less; Be Slow to Wrath

James 1:19-20 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. KJV

Having received what we just read above, the Apostle James now begins to give us some direction in how we should yield to God the Holy Spirit. Despite the grace of our undeserved salvation from our Father in Heaven, we still have that old man 👨 (Ephesians 4:22) inside of us and therefore we need to hear what God's will for us is in all matters of life in our flesh as we sojourn our way home to heaven, so we find the Apostle giving us these instructions next to give us illumination on what we should be doing and not doing to keep our old man 👨 in check ☑ and keep disaster, dissappointment 😞, and 😒 dissatisfaction from coming into our 🌏 world, as it is written 📝, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20) (KJV). When the Apostle says first, 'swift to hear', he is prioritizing our need for time spent reading 📖 and studying the Word of God, as it is written 📝 in these following verses of Scripture, "And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God." (Nehemiah 9:3) (KJV) and also "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil." (Ecclesiastes 5:1) (KJV) and finally these words, "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17:11) (KJV). When the Apostle says 'slow to speak', he is ⚠ warning us again just as some of the other 📝 writers of the Books 📚 of the Bible have also done exhorting us to be wise in the use of our words, as it is written with these passages of Scripture, "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction." (Proverbs 13:3) (KJV) and also "He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit." (Proverbs 17:27) (KJV) and also "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." (Proverbs 21:23) (KJV) and finally these haunting words from our Lord Jesus Christ, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37) (KJV). When the Apostle says 'slow to wrath', he means that not every confrontation needs to be resolved with violence (however, self-defence with deadly force is necessary in some occasions to keep yourself from being hurt or killed) and this is why he says be slow because intense anger (usually on an epic scale) does not allow for the assessment of the situation to see if it can be resolved without any problems, as it is written in these Scriptures, "He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly." (Proverbs 14:29) (KJV), and also "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." (Proverbs 16:32) (KJV), and also "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." (Proverbs 25:28) (KJV) and finally these words from the Apostle Paul, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:26-27) (KJV).

Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of James 1:19-20, "To restrain the workings of passion. This lesson we should learn under afflictions; and this we shall learn if we are indeed begotten again by the word of truth. For thus the connection stands - An angry and hasty spirit is soon provoked to ill things by afflictions, and errors and ill opinions become prevalent through the workings of our own vile and vain affections; but the renewing grace of God and the Word of the Gospel teach us to subdue these: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, James 1:19. This may refer, 1. To the Word of Truth spoken of in the verse foregoing. And so we may observe, It is our duty rather to hear God's word, and apply our minds to understand it, than to speak according to our own fancies or the opinions of men, and to run into heat and passion thereupon. Let not such errors as that of God's being the occasion of men's sin ever be hastily, much less angrily, mentioned by you (and so as to other errors); but be ready to hear and consider what God's Word teaches in all such cases. 2. This may be applied to the afflictions and temptations spoken of in the beginning of the chapter. And then we may observe, It is our duty rather to hear how God explains His providences, and what He designs by them, than to say as David did in his haste, I am cut off; or as Jonah did in his passion, I do well to be angry. Instead of censuring God under our trials, let us open our ears and hearts to hear what He will say to us. 3. This may be understood as referring to the disputes and differences that Christians, in those times of trial, were running into among themselves: and so this part of the chapter may be considered without any connection with what goes before. Here we may observe that, whenever matters of difference arise among Christians, each side should be willing to hear the other. People are often stiff in their own opinions because they are not willing to hear what others have to offer against them: whereas we should be swift to hear reason and truth on all sides, and be slow to speak any thing that should prevent this: and, when we do speak, there should be nothing of wrath; for a soft answer turneth away wrath. As this epistle is designed to correct a variety of disorders that existed among Christians, these words, swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, may be very well interpreted according to this last explication. And we may further observe from them that, if men would govern their tongues, they must govern their passions. When Moses's spirit was provoked, he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. If we would be slow to speak, we must be slow to wrath. II. A very good reason is given for suppressing: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God, James 1:20. It is as if the Apostle had said, 'Whereas men often pretend zeal for God and His glory, in their heat and passion, let them know that God needs not the passions of any man; His cause is better served by mildness and meekness than by wrath and fury.' Solomon says, The words of the wise are heard in quiet, more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools, Ecclesiastes 9:17. Dr. Manton here says of some assemblies, 'That if we were as swift to hear as we are ready to speak there would be less of wrath, and more of profit, in our meetings. I remember when a Manichee contested with Augustine, and with importunate clamour cried, Hear me! hear me! the father modestly replied, Neither let me hear thee, nor do thou hear me, but let us both hear the Apostle.' The worst thing we can bring to a religious controversy is anger. This, however it may pretend to be raised by a concern for what is just and right, is not to be trusted. Wrath is a human thing, and the wrath of man stands opposed to the righteousness of God. Those who pretend to serve the cause of God hereby show that they are acquainted neither with God or His cause. This passion must especially be watched against when we are hearing the Word of God."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…