Psalm 119:41-48 The Word of God brings about changes in us, the more we take in of God's precepts and testimonies and commands, the more we trust what He has revealed to us; the more we will know His mercy.   Salvation comes according to the Word of God.  It is in His Word that we find truth and freedom, delight and love. The psalmist says" I shall lift up my hands to Thy commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on Thy statutes." v48.   To "lift up" ones hands means to accept, bear, bring forth, desire, receive, raise, swear.  I get the picture of a person raising their hand to take an oath.   It is a complete commitment to live by the Truth of God's Word.  The psalmist commits to live by the Word  "continually, forever and ever".   He commits to speaking of the Word even in the presence of authority, "before kings".  And once again the psalmist calls on The Lord to help him to do this.  He waits on The Lord and prays for His divine help.
What an encouragement to stay in the Word, to memorize and meditate and practice living by His Words.  Help me Father to also walk in these Truths. Forever and ever. Amen.

James 4
James continues to pack great truths into each chapter.  This section unpacks some of what it means to have wisdom from above as opposed to the earthly, natural wisdom which is demonic.  Godly wisdom will be seen in us by our good behavior and deeds of gentleness.  It is a life of purity. It is a life of peace, gentleness, reasonableness, mercy, and goodness.  It is consistent and without hypocrisy.  Earthly wisdom is selfish and bitterly jealous.  It brings disorder and evil.  There are many who are "wise" in the ways of the world, I'm sure you can think of many right now.  But there are few of those who walk completely in godly wisdom.
James gives some advice about how to help us walk more consistently in godly wisdom.
v1-3  Our prayer life matters.  " You do not have because you do not ask."  Or we ask with wrong motives, selfishly.  We are jealous, we quarrel, we lust, we murder.  It is a downward spiral that starts because we don't trust God enough to pray.  And if we do pray, we miss the fact that it is not about us, but about the God Who made us and knows what we need.  James will tell us more about the power of prayer in chapter 5.  Right now we must just realize that we must pray unselfishly and humbly.
v4-5 Our allegiances matter.   We can have a friendship with the world or a friendship with God.  We can't do both.  "do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?"  God wants our full allegiance.  If we raise our hands and pledge to follow Jesus, then we must not think that we can live like the "world" with earthly wisdom, self-centered and evil.
v6-10 Our attitudes matter.  Pride or humility.  "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  The proud person thinks only of himself.  But God calls us to humble ourselves.  And He gives the grace for us to do so.  We must submit to Him, draw near to Him,  repent before Him,  mourn before Him. We must realize that the throne is God's, not ours.  If we get off the throne and let Him be Lord, He promises us blessing.  He gives us help to resist the devil.  And the devil will flee from us when we are in right relationship with our King.
v 11-12  Our relationships matter.  We our not the judge of others.  God is the Lawgiver and the Judge.  He decides.  He is the "One who is able to save and to destroy."  Our place is to love and be merciful, peaceful, pure, reasonable, and good.  He alone judges the heart of mankind.
v13-17 Our  outlook matters.  Are we arrogant, making plans, doing our own things, boasting in our own plans for the future?  James says that is an evil outlook.  We can't know what tomorrow holds.  Our lives are like a vapor.  A godly outlook will say "If The Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that."  It is not that we don't make plans, it is that we submit out plans to Him and let Him lead.  "Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6.   It is interesting that verse 7 says "Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear The Lord and turn away from evil."  The same message that James is trying to give us.