Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Ver. 35. Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool] A fault so common among this people, that St James saw cause to warn the believing Jews of it, to whom he wrote. They had taken up such a custom of swearing by the creatures, that after conversion they could not easily leave it. It is a poor plea to say, "I have gotten a custom of swearing, and must therefore be borne with." For who is it but the devil that saith to such, as the Jews to Pilate, "Do as thou hast ever done?" Mark 15:8. The Cretians, when they wished worst to any one, they wished that he might take delight in an evil custom. a Break off, therefore, this ill use by repentance; and though you cannot suddenly turn the stream, yet swim against it, bite in thine oaths, and with bitterness bewail them; swear to God, as David did, thou wilt swear no more, and by degrees outgrow this ill custom.
For it is his footstool] And should be ours. For he hath "put all things under our feet," Psalms 8:6. He saith not, under our hands, but under our feet, that we might trample upon them in a holy contempt, as the Church is said to tread upon the moon, Revelation 12:1; and the way of the righteous is said to be on high, to depart from hell below, Proverbs 15:24. It is a wonder, surely, that treading upon these minerals, gold, silver, precious stones, &c. (which are but the guts and garbage of the earth), we should so admire them. God hath hid them in the bowels of the earth, and in those parts that are farthest off from the Church. Where they grow, little else grows that is aught; no more doth grace in an earthly heart. But to return from whence we are digressed: earth is God's footstool. How ought we then to walk circumspectly, that we provoke not the eyes of his glory! there is an honour due even to the footstools of princes, when they are on the throne especially. Oh, "be thou in the fear of the Lord all day long," saith Solomon, walk in the sense of his presence and light of his countenance, Proverbs 23:17; "He is not very far from any one of us," saith the apostle, not so far as the bark from the tree, or the flesh from the bones, Acts 17:27. This one God and Father of all is not only above all, and from his throne beholdeth all that is done here below, but "also through all, and in you all," Ephesians 4:6. Therefore no corner can secrete us, no cranny of the heart can escape his eye; all things are (for the outside) naked and (for the inside) open, dissected, quartered, and, as it were, cleft through the backbone, as the word signifieth, before the eyes of him with whom we deal (γυμνα, τετραχηλισμενα), Hebrews 4:13 .
Neither by Jerusalem: for it is the city of the great King] The place of his rest, the seat of his empire, and they the people of his praise and of his purchase (λαος της περιποιησεως, Sept.), Exodus 19:5. Glorious things are spoken of thee, thou city of God. There was "the adoption, and the glory, the covenants, and the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises," &c., Romans 9:4. Constantinople was acknowledged by Tamerlane to be, for her situation, an imperial city, and such as was made to command the world. Strasburg in Germany is called by some compendium orbis, an abridgment of the world. But Jerusalem, by a better author, is styled princess of provinces, the joy of the whole earth, the pleasant land, &c. Lamentations 1:1; Psalms 48:2; Daniel 8:9. It must needs be pleasant where God himself was resident. But how is the faithful city become a harlot! It was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. Her silver is become dross, her wine mixed with water, Isaiah 1:21,22. Bethel is become Bethaven, and Jerusalem turned into Jerushkaker. It fell again into the power of the Turks and Infidels, A. D. 1234 (after that the most warlike soldiers of Europe had there, as it were, one common sepulchre, but an eternal monument of their misguided valour), and so remaineth still, a poor ruinous city, governed by one of the Turk's Sanzacks, and for nothing now more famous than for the sepulchre of our Saviour, again repaired and much visited by the Christians, and not unreverenced by the Turks themselves. There are not to be found there at this time 100 households of Jews, and yet there are ten or more churches of Christians there.
Of the great King] The Jews much admired the greatness of Herod, and especially of the Romans, whose tributaries they were at this time. b Our Saviour mindeth them of a greater than these, one that is greater, greatest, greatness itself. Nebuchadnezzar styleth himself the great king, and brags of his Babel. The rich miser thinks himself no small thing, because of his country of grain. c Ahasuerus taketh state upon him, because he reigned from India to Ethiopia. Darius's flatterers held it meet that no man should ask a petition of any god or man, for thirty days, save of him. Diocletian would needs be worshipped as a god, and was the first that held forth his feet to be kissed, after Caligula. Amurath III, Emperor of the Turks, styled himself god of the earth, governor of the whole world, the messenger of God, and faithful servant of the great prophet. And the great Cham of Tartary is called by the simple common people, the shadow of spirits, and son of the immortal God; and by himself he is reputed to be the monarch of the whole world. For which cause every day (if all is true that is reported of him) as soon as he hath dined, he causeth his trumpets to be sounded, by that sign giving leave to other kings and princes to go to dinner. These be the grandees of the earth, and think no mean things of themselves. But compare them with the great King here mentioned, and what becometh of all their supposed greatness "All nations before him are but as the dust of the balance or drop of a bucket." Quantilla ergo es tu istius guttae particula? saith a Father: if all nations are to God but as the drop of a bucket, oh, what a small pittance must thou needs be, how great soever, of that little drop? d And as he is great, so he looketh to be praised and served according to his excellent greatness. We should, if it were possible, fill up that vast distance and disproportion that is between him and us, by the greatness of our praises, and sincerity, at least, of our services, in presenting him with the best. "For I am a great King," saith God, Malachi 1:14; and he stands upon his seniority: offer it now to thy prince, will he accept thy refuse breadstuff? &c. It is verily a most sweet meditation of St Bernard, whensoever we come before God in any duty, we should conceive ourselves to be entering into the court of heaven wherein the King of kings sitteth in a stately throne, surrounded with a host of glorious angels and crowned saints. With how great humility, therefore, reverence, and godly fear, ought a poor worm crawling out of his hole, a vile frog creeping out of his mud, draw nigh to such a Majesty! e The seraphims clap their wings on their faces when they stand before God, Isaiah 6:2,3, as men are wont to do their hands when the lightning flasheth in their faces; the nearer any man draws to God, the more rottenness he findeth in his bones, Habakkuk 3:16. Abraham is dust and ashes; Job abhorreth himself in dust and ashes; Isaiah cries, Woe is me, for I am undone; Peter, Depart from me, I am a sinful man. All these had right conceptions of God's greatness, and this is that which is required so often in Scripture under the term of magnifying God; when we get him into our hearts in his own likeness, and enlarge his room there; when we take him into our thoughts under the notion of a great King, when we get so far as to conceive of him above all creatures, far above all the glory that can be found in earthly princes and potentates. Think of God as one not to be thought of, and when you have thought your utmost, as Cicero affirmeth concerning Socrates described by Plato, and desireth of his readers concerning Lucius Crassus, that they would imagine far greater things of them than they find written, f so assure yourselves, your highest apprehensions of God fall infinitely short of his incomparable and incomprehensible greatness. And if he could add, if any think me overly lavish in their commendation, it is because he never heard them, or cannot judge of them, g how much more may we say the same of this "blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." 1 Timothy 6:15,16 .
a Cretenses cure acerbissima exceratione adversus eos quos oderunt uti volunt, ut mala consueludine delectentur optant; modestoque voti genere efficacissimum ultionis eventum reperiunt. Val. Maximus.
b Si animalibus (dixit Xenophanes) pingere daretur Deum proculdubio sibi similem fingerent, quia scilicet nihil animal animali superius cogitat. Sic et homo animalis, 1 Corinthians 2:14 .
c Luke 12:16. ευφορησεν η χωρα. regio, non χωριον, ager.
d Sol reliqua sidera occultat, quibus lumen suum faenerat. Plin. lib. ii. c. 6. So doth the God of glory. Acts 7:2 .
e Quanta ergo cum humilitate accedere debet e palude sua procedens et repens vilis ranuneula? Bern.
f Ut maius quiddam de iis, quam quae scripta sunt, suspicarentur. Cicero, De Oratore.
g Intelligat se ex iis esse, qui aut illos non audierint, aut iudicare non possint. Ibid.