James 4:7

“Submit yourselves therefore to God, etc.] To the will of God, with respect to worldly things, and be content with such things as are enjoyed, and be satisfied with the portion that is allotted; it is right and best for the people of God to leave themselves with him, to choose their inheritance for them, since by all their anxious cares, their striving and struggling, their impatient desires, wars and fightings, as they cannot add one cubit to their stature, so nothing to their worldly substance; and it becomes them to submit to God in all afflictive dispensations of his providence, and be still and know that he is God; as well as to submit to his way and method of salvation by Christ, and…”

“Submit to . . . God--so ye shall be among "the humble," Jam 4:6; also Jam 4:10; Pe1 5:6. Resist . . . devil--Under his banner pride and envy are enlisted in the world; resist his temptations to these. Faith, humble prayers, and heavenly wisdom, are the weapons of resistance. The language is taken from warfare. "Submit" as a good soldier puts himself in complete subjection to his captain. "Resist," stand bravely against. he will flee--Translate, "he shall flee." For it is a promise of God, not a mere assurance from man to man [ALFORD]. He shall flee worsted as he did from Christ.”

“Submit yourselves therefore to God - That is, in his arrangements for obtaining his favor. Yield to what he has judged necessary for your welfare in the life that is, and your salvation in the life to come. The duty here enjoined is that of entire acquiescence in the arrangements of God, whether in his providence or grace. All these are for our good, and submission to them is required by the spirit of true humility. The object of the command here, and in the succeeding injunctions to particular duties, is to show them how they might obtain the grace which God is willing to bestow, and how they might overcome the evils against which the apostle had been endeavoring to guard them. The true…”

“Therefore by humbly submitting yourselves to God, resist the devil - The father of pride and envy. James 4:8”

“4:7 Resist the devil: See also Eph 6:11; 1 Pet 5:8.”

“Submit: Sa1 3:18; Sa2 15:26; Kg2 1:13-15; Ch2 30:8, Ch2 33:12, Ch2 33:13; Job 1:21; Job 40:3-5, Job 42:1-6; Psa 32:3-5, Psa 66:3, Psa 68:30; Jer 13:18; Dan 4:25, Dan 4:32, Dan 4:34-37; Mat 11:29; Act 9:6, Act 16:29-31, Act 26:19; Rom 10:3, Rom 14:11; Eph 5:21; Heb 12:9; Pe1 2:13 Resist: Mat 4:3-11; Luk 4:2-13; Eph 4:27, Eph 6:11, Eph 6:12; Pe1 5:8, Pe1 5:9; Rev 12:9-11 James 4:8”