Prayer and Comfort
Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. (5:13)
The objects of James’s pastoral care are identified first as the weary, suffering believers. Suffering is from kakopatheō, the verb form of the noun translated “suffering” in verse 10. As noted in the discussion of that verse in chapter 19 of this volume, the word refers to enduring evil treatment by people—not physical illness (cf. its only other New Testament uses in 2 Tim. 2:9; 4:5). James addresses not those suffering from physical diseases, but those being persecuted, abused, and treated wickedly.
As an antidote to their suffering, James exhorts them to pray. As noted above, prayer is essential to enduring affliction. God is the ultimate source of comfort, leading the apostle Paul to describe Him as the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Cor. 1:3–4). Similarly, Peter wrote, “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). From the stomach of a great fish the disobedient prophet Jonah prayed, “While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple” (Jonah 2:7). The present tense of the verb translated he must pray suggests a continual pleading with God in prayer; it could be translated “let him keep on praying.” When life is difficult, when believers are weak in faith, weary with persecution, and crushed by affliction, they must continually plead with God to comfort them. That is a basic spiritual truth, but one often forgotten. In the words of the beloved hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,”
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Those who manage to maintain a cheerful attitude in their suffering are to sing praises. Cheerful is from euthumeō and describes those well in spirit, or having a joyful attitude—not those who are physically well. The suffering and the happy, the wounded, broken spirits and the whole, rejoicing spirits are both to pray. The one is to plead with God for comfort, the other is to sing praises to God for comfort given. Psallō (sing praises) is the verb from which the noun translated “psalm” derives (cf. Acts 13:33; 1 Cor. 14:26; Eph. 5:19). Praise and prayer are closely related; praise is actually a form of prayer (Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2). Both are essential for the spiritual strength of those undergoing persecution.[1]
13 With this verse James shifts the focus to prayer, a focus he will maintain through v. 18 and one with which many of the NT books move to their conclusions (e.g., Ro 15:30–32; Eph 6:18–20; Php 4:6; Col 4:2–4; 1 Th 5:16–18, 25; Phm 22; Heb 13:18–19; Jude 20). In this verse he addresses two common conditions of life. The first, expressed with the verb kakopatheō (the nominal form of which is used of the prophets in 5:10; GK 2802), can mean to experience the distress of various difficulties (2 Ti 2:9) or, on the other hand, to endure in the face of such suffering (2 Ti 4:5; cf. TLNT 2:238–40). Given that the word is set over against euthymeō (GK 2313), which means to be cheerful, the former meaning perhaps gets the nod. James has been concerned with appropriate Christian responses to trials from the very beginning (1:2–4), and here he emphasizes that difficulties are to be addressed with prayer. Perhaps, given the broader context, in which James has focused on oppression of the poor at the hands of the rich (5:1–6), he counters our natural human tendency to respond with hatred and even violence. Rather, we should respond with the godly posture of prayer, trusting God for justice and vindication (Davids, 192).
The other life experience, then, is to be “cheerful” (NASB) or joyful. The term could also mean to be encouraged (Ac 27:22, 25, 36). Here is a picture of one who presently feels positive about life (Johnson, 329). Such joy should prompt the believer to “sing songs of praise” (see Ro 15:9; Eph 5:19). Consequently, whether one’s life feels laden with trouble or buoyed with joy, the right response is to turn to God, praying in the face of the former and praising in face of the latter.[2]
13 In the end of his Epistle, James comes round to where he began. He had begun with trials; and now having spoken of various afflictions and adversities, including “hardship of the poor,” he continues the same theme: in affliction, do not grumble at others (as in v. 9), but pray; in joy, prosperity, and the like, do not boast (as in 3:13–16), but “sing psalms” to God.
Affliction is comprehensive, “calamity of every sort” (Ropes). Grumbling is the natural response to trouble; but the Christian is exhorted to pray. “Praise and prayer are great comforters,” wrote Bishop Chavasse; and so after prayer James goes on to speak about praise. He knows the value of doxology. For the Jew singing psalms characterized, and was required of, the righteous man. “It seems natural,” Mitton writes (p. 196), “to give expression to high spirits in singing, but it is characteristic of Christians that their singing takes the form of praises to God.” Sing praises56 is found frequently in the LXX, and is, strictly, to twang the harp or similar instrument; it is used also for singing to the harp, or even for singing without any instrument (Ropes, p. 303). This passage in James shows that from the earliest days the Church possessed a rich treasury of praise.[3]
8.3.1. Suffering and Prayer (5:13a)
One condition James perceives in the messianic community is suffering: “Are any among you suffering?” As noted above, the singular subject and verb, even if applicable to anyone (and therefore to more than one person), leads more naturally to a translation like “Is anyone suffering among you?” Just what kind of suffering James has in mind is not immediately clear. The verb kakopatheō44 appears twice in 2 Timothy (2:9; 4:5), where it appears to describe physical persecution. But the word is broader than that meaning and often describes hardship in war as well as ordinary hardships in life. It could be synonymous with “is sick” in James 5:14. Josephus, a contemporary of James, says “the soul, by being united to the body, is subject to miseries (kakopathei), and is not freed therefrom again but by death” (Apion 2.203). If one looks into James for concrete evidence for suffering, one would have to think of the various trials of 1:2–4, the implication of oppression in 1:9–11, the need for perseverance in 1:12–14, and the suffering of the marginalized in 1:26–27; 2:1–4, 14–17; and 5:1–6. And the appearance of the cognate noun in 5:10 (“suffering and patience”) suggests a connection with the marginalized who were enduring oppression at the hands of the rich farmers. Thus, “suffering” in 5:13a most likely refers to the suffering of the poor at the hand of the abusively powerful, and it would also describe the suffering inherent to persevering patience.
James calls the suffering person to pray. The prayer of the suffering, and one could take any number of passages from the prayerbook of Israel, might look like Psalm 30, and a prototypical experience with suffering and prayer is seen in Psalm 77. Psalms of Solomon 15:1 expresses the intent of James 5:13a: “When I was persecuted I called on the Lord’s name; I expected the help of Jacob’s God and I was saved. For you, O God, are the hope and refuge of the poor.”
8.3.2. Cheerfulness and Songs of Praise (5:13b)
The second condition, at the other end of the spectrum, is cheerfulness: “Are any cheerful?” Once again, the singular should perhaps be given more attention: “Is anyone cheerful?” We should avoid thinking of “is cheerful” (euthymeō) in terms of a happy, smiley face because life is good. This term evokes enthusiasm, courage, and a confident faith and these often in the context of stress. Thus, in a storm at sea and after experiencing hunger, the apostle Paul urges the sailors to “keep up your courage [euthymein]” (Acts 27:22, 25). And when Antiochus recognizes the persistence of the Jews in the face of attempts to Hellenize them, he publicizes his decision to allow them to continue the temple worship “so that they may know our policy and be of good cheer and go on happily in the conduct of their own affairs” (2 Macc 11:24–26). Later, Ignatius can say that he has “become more encouraged in a God-given freedom from anxiety” (Polycarp 7.1). The contrast here is not between suffering and the good life49 but within a group where everyone is undergoing persecution or suffering, some of whom are struggling and others who have taken courage.
James exhorts this person to “sing songs of praise.” This translates one word, psallō (the imperative psalletō), a cognate with the word “psalm,” which appears twice in 1 Corinthians 14:15. Most often it is used of direct praise to the name of God (e.g., Pss 7:17; 18:49). Those who suffer are to pray to God; those who are encouraged in the conditions of the messianic community are to sing praise to God, and we are probably to think that James intends for the “cheerful” (or “encouraged”) to give credit to God for the strength they find to carry on faithfully. If we are accurate in thinking of a single condition—oppression—giving rise to two sorts of response, suffering and cheerfulness, then we should perhaps notice the connection to the “testing” or “tempting” (peirasmos) in 1:12–15, where the same condition (peirasmos) is perceived as either a “test” or a “temptation,” depending in part on how a person responds to “desire” (epithymia). And we could consider how the teachers use the tongue—either to bless God or to denounce those made in God’s image (3:9). The letter thus repeatedly forces on the audience a fork-in-the-road kind of decision, but here the rhetoric is shaped less for decision and more to how different people respond to the same conditions.[4]
Life in general (v. 13)
Life consists of two parts: the bad and the good. Alec Motyer writes,
Here, then, in two words, are all life’s experiences, and each of them in turn can so easily be the occasion of spiritual upset. Trouble can give rise to an attitude of surly rebellion against God and the abandonment of spiritual practices. Equally, times of ease and affluence beget complacency, laziness and the assumption that we are able of ourselves to cope with life, and God is forgotten.
James has a word for us no matter what life brings our way. When things are bad, he tells us to pray. When things are good, he tells us to praise.
We can put it like this: Christians should find themselves naturally gravitating towards God in every situation of life.
With that in place, James turns to …[5]
5:13 / The second topic of a closing in a Greek letter was health; James pursues it extensively, setting the topic within the context of verbal responses to life. First, is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. The trouble James refers to is the misfortunes of life: persecutions, like those the prophets suffered (5:10; cf. 5:1–6); external misfortunes, like Job suffered (5:11); or being slandered by a community member (3:1–12; cf. 2:6–7). All of these are external misfortunes, which one could easily see as outside of God’s will, for they stem from the evil in the world and are attacks upon the righteous. The response to such evil is not counterattack (fighting violence with violence) or resignation (as the Stoics advised) but prayer. The psalmist appealed to God to deal with his persecutors (Pss. 30; 50:15; 91:15), and this is also the Christian response.
Second, is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Too often happiness or joy is taken for granted. James reminds Christians that there is a proper use of the tongue in joy as well, for the New Testament constantly commands Christians to be full of the praise of God, at home or at work, as well as in Church (e.g., 1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Phil. 4:4).[6]
5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. The opening question marks the thematic transition from 5:7–12. Instead of grumbling (5:9) and trying to take control of difficult situations (5:12), believers should not only wait patiently for the Lord’s coming but also pray for God’s help now. “Trouble” is a general category intended to cover a broad range of issues, just like “trials of many kinds” in 1:2.
sing songs of praise. These four English words translate one verb in Greek. It is used three other times in the New Testament, all connected to corporate worship (Rom. 15:9; 1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 5:19). Note especially 1 Corinthians 14:15, where singing and prayer are tightly linked, as they are here. Singing songs of praise is a form of prayer.[7]
Ver. 13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.—
Affliction’s resource:—The apostle here suggests the grand resource for affliction—it is God. We would render the word “pray,” not in its narrower import of mere petitioning, but in its more enlarged construction, of converse, of fellowship, with God.
I. God, the exchange, the compensation, for forfeited joys. If the poor child of adversity would be persuaded to lift himself from that scene of his sore travail to the fountain of supreme blessedness, to soar from that shipwreck of his creature joys to the uncreated centre of joy, then would he solve the grand moral of affliction. There is nothing but mockery in those spurious expedients of relief to which the worldling resorts. But there is ineffable beatitude in God. What a transition! From “broken cisterns, which can hold no water,” to “the fountain of living waters”; from fallacious and treacherous joys to the fountain of perennial joy; from the very wreck and demolition of earthly hopes to Him who is the sun and consummation of all hope. Even believers are slow to make God their prime solace. They are prone to transfer themselves to some new idol when one has been taken away; to doat with a morbid tenacity on visions of the past; to feed on the dust and ashes of their own profuse lamentations—the morose wakings of excessive grief. To all such the watchword prescribes itself—Betake you to God.
II. God, the centre of the soul’s fellowship. It is very marked, in the history of affliction, what a charm communion of mind with mind exerts. If there be any unison of sentiment at all, the reciprocity which occurs is most congenial; in point of fact it is one of the expedients to which affliction betakes itself to arrest the converse of kindred minds. There is probably no more potent creature resource. And we have only to estimate what a transcendent charm must lie in fellowship with God, in communion with Him who is consummate wisdom and excellence, and truth and benignity.
III. God, the fountain of exhaustless sympathies. There is nothing which exerts such a charm in the hour of adversity as tender, sensitive fellow-feeling. And hence the downcast and sorrowful seek some sympathetic bosom into which they may pour their griefs. But for a sympathy surpassing all other sympathies, we point you to Christ. Repair to that bosom, all fraught with fellow-feeling; throw thyself into the embrace of that yearning tenderness.
IV. God, a present help in trouble. There are two aspects in which this holds good. On the one hand, God is specially ready to lend His ear in the day of His people’s affliction; and, next, the succour which He supplies is specially adapted to their emergency. (Adam Forman.)
Prayer in affliction:—The family of the afflicted is a large one, and a wide-spread one. It forms a great nation on the earth; and its members are to be found in every country, and in every rank and condition of life. It is an old nation. The first human beings were the first members of it; and an unbroken succession has kept it up ever since. This is the one nation in the world that shows no symptom of decline or fall. It is an honourable nation. There was One belonged to it whose name hallows it: our Blessed Redeemer was a Man of sorrows. The wisest of men found that in much wisdom is much grief. Great forms of majesty: the just whose memory is blessed, the kind whose memory is loved, the ancient seer, the inspired apostle, the crowned martyr rise before the mind as it recalls the past, and reads the long roll of afflicted men. It is our own nation. Affliction is the birthright of all. Some of you feel it is so at this moment. Many have found it so, in the experience of departed days. All will find it so, sooner or later. “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.” This is not the prescription of mere worldly wisdom, for the cure of great grief. There is no difficulty in this world in finding people who will give you advice as to what you ought to do, when great sorrow comes your way; Try change of scene, they will say; Go to places that suggest no sad associations and call up no bitter thoughts: Open your heart to the tide of cheerfulness that is flowing all around you. Or perhaps they may say, Go into society. Mix with your fellow-men. Or they will bid you trust to time—time the never-failing comforter. Or, if nothing else will do—if your affliction be one that clings to your life, and makes the condition of your being—then the worldly counsel would be to bear your grief like a man. Now I do not mean to say, nor did the apostle mean to say, but what there is some wisdom and some good in all these things. Still, the good man did not think that any of these ways of meeting affliction was the best. His way is very shortly named. “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray!” No matter what be the cause of your affliction: no matter what be the particular pang with which it rends your heart: no matter what be the constitution of your body, or the complexion of your mind: here is a remedy which the apostle prescribes, without explanation or restriction, for all sorts and conditions of men. Surely then, if the apostle be right, there must be something very strange about prayer. The diseases of the body are many; but then the remedies which physicians prescribe for their cure are very various. But it seems that St. James was of opinion that no afflicted man could ever do wrong when he turned to prayer. And probably we may find the reason why the apostle attached such a mighty efficacy to prayer, when we consider two things about it. 1. First, the afflicted person should pray, because prayer is the best way to bring about the removal of his affliction. In speaking to Christian people, it is needless to say that prayer does not consist of words vaguely cast adrift with no clear end: prayer is a real speaking to a God who hears: a real asking Him for something, about which He will consider whether or not it be good for us: and then our asking, if it be good for us, will truly induce Him to give it us. And yet, I fear that all of us are often very far from properly feeling what a great reality there is in the power of prayer. When a friend you loved lay sick of some dangerous malady, tossing restlessly on a sleepless pillow; and when you had mixed the composing draught and given it to his feverish lips, and then lifted up your heart to God on his behalf, did you feel that that prayer might be just as real a cause of repose or of convalescence as anything that medical skill could suggest, or careful love supply? When you were involved in some perplexing entanglement, were you sure that the silent moments you spent in prayer to your Maker, were just as useful towards clearing up the way before you, as all the address and prudence you were master of? Or, when sickness came your way, and you counted weary days of unrest and suffering, were you then sure that the morning and evening supplication might stand you in better stead than all your physician’s skill? Do you, in short, remember every day of your life, that prayer is the best step towards any end you are aiming at; and that, of all the means that tend to bring about the purpose you are seeking to accomplish, prayer is the very last that you can in prudence omit? If you fail to do all this, you are showing by your practice that you do not truly feel the power of the agency which by prayer you can set in motion. 2. But I dare not say that prayer will certainly take away the affliction for the removal of which you ask. It will do so only if it be God’s will it should; and He knows best whether your prayer should be directly granted. It cannot be, then, that St. James would have the afflicted pray, merely because by prayer they might reasonably expect to get quit of their affliction: there must be something about prayer even more salutary than its virtue to change the natural course of events: and apart altogether from the hope that thus he may find escape from the cause of his sorrow, there must be good reason in the nature of things why the afflicted man should pray. And such reason there is. Prayer has been the talisman that has made years of constant pain to be remembered as the happiest period of life; prayer is that which has made many a poor sufferer tell that it was good for him or her to be afflicted, for affliction had been the sharp spur to turn those feet into the narrow way, which otherwise might have trodden the broad road to perdition. Prayer, earnest prayer offered in the Saviour’s name, never yet went for nothing. If it did not bring the thing it asked for, it brought the grace to do without it: but it never went to the winds. These sufferers found it so. Day by day, gentle resignation kept stealing into their soul, till not a thought ever disturbed their quiet, of what they might have been and were not: and till, from the bottom of their heart, they could pity the worldling that pitied them. For their affliction had been the severe discipline by which God had schooled them for a better country, and weaned their affections from the things of time and sense. (A. K. H. Boyd, D.D.)
Christian varieties:—
I. Christians are subject to a variety of experience. “Afflicted.” “Merry.” Suffering. Enjoyment. 1. They imply the existence of two opposite principles: good and evil. 2. The susceptibility of the human heart to the influences of circumstances. Like Æolian harp swept by wind. Emotions rise and fall with events. 3. The unsettledness of human life. (1) All are subject to them. (a) Both are found at the same time in different persons. (b) Both are found at different times in the same persons. (2) No one rests long in either. (a) The change from the one to the other is sometimes sudden. (b) The change from one to the other is sometimes extreme. (3) They are necessary—(a) To prevent evil. Pride on the one hand; despair on the other. (b) To promote good. Complete development of character. (4) They are under Divine control.
II. Christians have a corresponding variety of religious duty to discharge. “Pray.” “Sing psalms.” This teaches—1. The naturalness of religion. Instinctively men pray in troubles and sing in joy. Nothing arbitrary in piety. 2. The permanence of religion. Whether God “gives” or “takes away,” the response is, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 3. The value of religion. (1) In affliction it teaches prayer. This means communion with God. He is almighty, loving, unchangeable. (2) In prosperity it teaches praises. (a) Acknowledgment of the Author of it. (b) Satisfaction with the measure of it. (c) Enjoyment of the possession of it. Happiness is a religious duty; recommends religion; most resembles heaven. Conclusion: 1. Misery is possible in prosperity. Belshazzar, &c. 2. Joy is possible in adversity. “Rejoice in tribulation.” 3. Uniformity of experience and duty in heaven. No prayer; no affliction. All prosperous; all sing. (B.D. Johns.)
Discipline of affliction:—When one considers the amount of affliction which exists in the world, we may well wonder that the simple remedy in the text is as yet an untasted medicine to so many. Can it be that it is too simple? Can it be that, as there are so many who rate the efficacy of drugs by their loathsomeness to the taste, so men would rather seek some painful process or mighty labour than the simple means which God’s Word provides? Such, indeed, was the temper of Naaman (2 Kings 5:11, 12). And it is no uncommon temper; for men do not like to be treated like children, and they forget that unless they are so treated they lose the children’s blessing, the children’s kingdom! He who struggles with affliction without prayer struggles in his own strength alone, and rejects every other. And what is this but struggling against God; wrestling with Him, but not as Jacob did; and, therefore, coming off from the contest crippled indeed, but without the blessing which the patriarch won? Thus, indeed, a heart may be in some measure and in a few cases (for in the great number nature will rebel and revenge herself) hardened, rather than strengthened, under suffering. But a miserable comfort it would be, even though one did achieve a heart of stone! God grant that such an one may yet be smitten of God until the waters of healing gush forth! And in what spirit can affliction be received by persons who must believe, whether they will or no, that it comes from the hand of God? If not in the spirit of prayer, in what spirit besides? Must it not be even in the spirit of cursing? And cursing is a kind of miserable prayer; a prayer for evil, and not for good; a prayer, in fact, to the evil one instead of God. Those who have earnestly and perseveringly tried will not be at a loss to know the advantage of obeying the precept. But it will not be without use and interest even for them to recall the times of their trial—how they prayed, and how they were heard, in those extremities which brought them, as it were, immediately before the footstool and the mercy-seat of the Lord. It may be that they have never so prayed again—so passionately, so faithfully, so importunately! And it may be that this will explain many a failure in faith and duty, many a relapse into sin, which seemed impossible—ay, and was impossible—in the fervour of their devotion then I But there are many besides who have never tried. And these may ask the question, half-wondering, half-scoffing, “What will the afflicted man gain by praying? will he obtain the removal of his affliction?” In some cases he may obtain even this, but for the most part he will not. He must not expect it. Why should he expect it? How can he expect it, when he has once understood that his affliction comes from God? For what purpose but for good does God afflict those who pray to Him? And if for good, then, what good would it be to have the tribulation removed before it has had its perfect work? 1. The first answer to our prayers is patience under the trial. This is but little, indeed, in itself; but it is much when compared with anything that any other comforter can give. It makes a Christian look into his own heart; and it tells him—yea, makes him tell himself—how far less than his sins have deserved are all the chastisements which are laid upon him—how well, how mercifully he is dealt with by the God against whom he has sinned. And he has the conviction borne in upon his soul that he will not be tried above that he is able to bear, but that with every trial there will be given either the grace to withstand or a way to escape. 2. From patience, such patience as the mourner receives in answer to his prayer, there is a short, a scarcely perceptible step to comfort; and yet, short as the step is, this is a new gift, a most precious additional blessing. It dwells and reflects on the visitation which has called it forth; it realises His presence in the cloud; and, behold, the cloud becomes a pillar of fire giving light in the darkness! It sees the particular points in which mercy has tempered His judgments, and it feels, even if it cannot see, His lovingkindness interfused throughout the whole. And those who are thus comforted have a further and most precious privilege—to comfort others as none else can (2 Cor. 1:3, 4). It is the privilege of those who have been themselves cast into the furnace to give assurance of the Son of God walking with them in the midst of the fire. But comfort is not all we want; and God therefore gives us more. 3. More guidance we need, because our duties become by every trial new and multiplied. More strength we feel that we need, because our affliction has taught us our own weakness. But He has said that “His strength is sufficient for us; for in our weakness is His strength made perfect.” He has taught His apostle, and us through him, to say, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me”; as surely as Christ Himself taught us that “apart from Him we can do nothing.” 4. And thus we are led on to look to the future: and that further blessing is revealed to us which our affliction is to work—the blessing of faith in God. By this we become no more servants, but friends, not only believing, but knowing what God doeth; not only obeying, but working with Him, through Christ, in His work. 5. And this brings hope with it; a hope unlike the earthly hopes which we have seen mocking us and coming to nought; or, if fulfilled, mocking us still more, till we loathed their fulfilment, and despised ourselves for indulging in them; but this, a hope that maketh not ashamed; for its root is in the love of God and the Holy Spirit which He has given us; its blossom is in the multiplying graces with which the Saviour rewards every step in our sanctification; and its fruit is found in the certainty of that heavenly region where hope itself can no longer find a place, but dies into fruition, as the night dies into the morning. And can more still be said? Yes! there is one blessing further vouchsafed even in this world to those who are sanctified and purified by suffering, so much beyond all comfort and all hope, that the Christian who recognises it in the saints who are with Christ trembles and shrinks from appropriating it to himself, lest the very chastisements of God should minister to unchristian presumption. Yet it is written—written for our comfort and our glory—written, too, for our warning, lest we fall from such privilege and grace—that the children whom God chastises are thereby even conformed to the likeness of that only begotten Son who is the brightness of His Father’s glory and the express image of His person. And if these are the earthly fruits of God’s chastisements when sanctified by prayer, what are the heavenly? If these are even the earthly fruits—as most truly, most assuredly they are—who that has once tasted their power would pray for the withdrawal of his affliction, for the removal of the earthly trial which is working the eternal blessing? As we could not, as no Christian could pray—even though it were possible—to do away with the redeeming sufferings of His Saviour; so we may not, cannot wish deliverance from the sufferings whereby we are made unto Him. But as He prayed more earnestly in His agony, so must we in ours—not that the cup be removed, unless it be God’s will, but that all His visitations may have their perfect work in us; that we may be indeed conformed to His likeness here; and that, with those who as joint-heirs with Him have entered into their inheritance, we may have our final consummation and bliss in His glory hereafter. (Dean Scott.)
Piety in unequal temporal conditions:—1. Our temporal condition is various and diverse; now afflicted, and then merry. Our prosperity is like glass, brittle when shining. The complaint of the Church may be the motto of all the children of God (Psa. 102:10). 2. This is the perfection of Christianity, to carry an equal pious mind in unequal conditions (Phil. 4:12). Most men are fit but for one condition. Some cannot carry a full cup without spilling. Others cannot carry a full load without breaking. Sudden alterations perplex both body and mind. It is the mighty power of grace to keep the soul in an equal temper. 3. Several conditions require several duties. The Christian conversation is like a wheel—every spoke taketh its turn. God hath planted in a man affections for every condition, grace for every affection, and a duty for the exercise of every grace, and a season for every duty. The children of the Lord are “like trees planted by the rivers of water, that bring forth their fruit in due season” (Psa. 1:3). There is no time wherein God doth not invite us to Himself. It is wisdom to perform what is most seasonable. 4. It is of excellent advantage in religion to make use of the present affection; of sadness, to put us upon prayer; of mirth, to put us upon thanksgiving. The soul never worketh more sweetly than when it worketh in the force of some eminent affection. With what advantage may we strike when the iron is hot! When the affections are stirred up on a carnal occasion, convert them to a religious use (Jer. 22:10). When the affections are once raised, give them a right object, otherwise they are apt to degenerate and to offend in their measure, though their first occasion was lawful. 5. Prayer is the best remedy for sorrows. Griefs are eased by groans and utterance. We have great cause in afflictions to use the help of prayer. (1) That we may ask patience. If God lay on a great burden, cry for a strong back. (2) That we may ask constancy (Psa. 125:3). (3) That we may ask hope, and trust and wait upon God for His fatherly love and care. (4) That we may ask a gracious improvement. The benefit of the rod is a fruit of the Divine grace, as well as the benefit of the Word. (5) That we may ask deliverance, with a submission to God’s will (Psa. 34:7). 6. Thanksgiving, or singing to God’s praise, is the proper duty in the time of mercies or comforts. It is God’s bargain and our promise, that if He would “deliver us,” we would “glorify Him” (Psa. 50:15). Mercies work one way or another; they either become the fuel of our lusts or our praises; either they make us thankful or wanton. Your condition is either a help or a hindrance in religion. Awaken yourselves to this service; every new mercy calleth for a new song. 7. Singing of psalms is a duty of the gospel. (T. Manton.)
Prayer in affliction:—Who doubteth but God did mitigate the heaviness of Joseph, although He sent not hasty deliverance in his long imprisonment; and that as He gave him favour in the sight of the jailer, so inwardly also He gave him consolation in spirit? (John Knox.) Prayer and praise v. oaths (ver. 12):—Prayer and praise, or (in one word) worship, according to St. James, is the Christian remedy for “allaying or carrying off the fever of the mind.” (A. Plummer, D.D.)
Use of sickness:—During Dr. Payson’s last illness, a friend coming into his room said, “Well, I am sorry to see you lying there on your back.” “Do you not know what God puts us on our backs for?” said Dr. Payson, smiling. “No,” was the answer. “In order that we may look upward.” Is any merry? let him sing psalms.—
Religious worship a remedy for excitements:—Indisposition of body shows itself in a pain somewhere or other—a distress which draws our thoughts to it, impedes our ordinary way of going on, and throws the mind off its balance. Such, too, is indisposition of the soul, of whatever sort, be it passion or affection, hope or fear, joy or grief. It takes us off from the clear contemplation of the next world, ruffles us, and makes us restless. In a word, it is what we call an excitement of mind. Excitements are the indisposition of the mind; and of these excitements in different ways the services of Divine worship are the proper antidotes. How they are so shall now be considered. 1. Excitements are of two kinds—secular and religious. First, let us consider secular excitements. Such is the pursuit of gain, or of power, or of distinction. Amusements are excitements; the applause of a crowd, emulations, hopes, risks, quarrels, contests, disappointments, successes. In such cases the object pursued naturally absorbs the mind, and excludes all thoughts but those relating to itself. Thus a man is sold over into bondage to this world. He has one idea, and one only before him, which becomes his idol. The most ordinary of these excitements, at least in this country, is the pursuit of gain. A man may live from week to week in the fever of a decent covetousness, to which he gives some more specious name (for instance, desire of doing his duty by his family), till the heart of religion is eaten out of him. Now, then, observe what is the remedy. “Is any afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” Here we see one very momentous use of prayer and praise to all of us; it breaks the current of worldly thoughts. And this is the singular benefit of stated worship, that it statedly interferes with the urgency of worldly excitements. Our daily prayer, morning and evening, suspends our occupations of time and sense. And especially the daily prayers of the Church do this. It is impossible (under God’s blessing) for any one to attend the daily service of the Church “with reverence and godly fear,” and a wish and effort to give his thoughts to it, and not find himself thereby sobered and brought to recollection. What kinder office is there, when a man is agitated, than for a friend to put his hand upon him by way of warning, to startle and recall him? It often has the effect of saving us from angry words, or extravagant talking, or inconsiderate jesting, or rash resolves. And such is the blessed effect of the sacred services on Christians busied about many things, reminding them of the one thing needful, and keeping them from being drawn into the great whirlpool of time and sense. 2. Next, let us consider how religious excitements are set right by the same Divine medicine. If we had always continued in the way of light and truth, obeying God from childhood, doubtless we should know little of those swellings and tumults of the soul which are so common among us. Men who have grown up in the faith and fear of God have a calm and equable piety; so much so, that they are often charged on that very account with being dull, cold, formal, insensible, dead to the next world. Now, it stands to reason that a man who has always lived in the contemplation and improvement of his gospel privileges, will not feel that agitating surprise and vehemence of joy which he would feel, and ought to feel, if he had never known anything of them before. The jailer, who for the first time heard the news of salvation through Christ, gave evident signs of transport. This certainly is natural and right; still, it is a state of excitement, and, if I might say it, all states of excitement have dangerous tendencies. Now, this advice is often given: “Indulge the excitement; when you flag, seek for another; live upon the thought of God; go about doing good; let your light shine before men; tell them what God has done for your soul.” By all which is meant, when we go into particulars, that they ought to fancy that they have something above all other men; ought to neglect their worldly calling, or at best only bear it as a cross; to join themselves to some particular set of religionists; to take part in this or that religious society; go to hear strange preachers, and obtrude their new feelings and new opinions upon others, at times proper and improper. If there was a time when those particular irregularities, which now are so common, were likely to abound, it was in the primitive Church. Men who had lived all their lives in the pollutions of sin unspeakable, who had been involved in the darkness of heathenism, were suddenly brought to the light of Christian truth. Their sins were all freely forgiven them, clean washed away in the waters of baptism. A new world of ideas was opened upon them, and the most astonishing objects presented to their faith. What a state of transport must have been theirs! And what an excited and critical state was theirs! Critical and dangerous in proportion to its real blessedness; for in proportion to the privileges we enjoy, ever will be our risk of misusing them. How, then, did they escape that enthusiasm which now prevails, that irreverence, immodesty, and rudeness? If at any time the outward framework of Christianity was in jeopardy, surely it was then. How was it the ungovernable elements within it did not burst forth and shiver to pieces the vessel which contained them? How was it that for fifteen hundred years the Church was preserved from those peculiar affections of mind and irregularities of feeling and conduct which now torment it like an ague? Now, certainly, looking at external and second causes, the miracles had much to do in securing this blessed sobriety in the early Christians. These kept them from wilfulness and extravagance, and tempered them to the spirit of godly fear. But the more ordinary means was one which we may enjoy at this day if we choose—the course of religious services, the round of prayer and praise, which, indeed, was also part of St. Paul’s discipline, as we have seen, and which has a most gracious effect upon the restless and excited mind, giving it an outlet, yet withal calming, soothing, directing, purifying it. Let restless persons attend upon the worship of the Church, which will attune their minds in harmony with Christ’s law, while it unburdens them. Did not St. Paul “pray” during his three days of blindness? Afterwards he was praying in the temple, when Christ appeared to him. Let this be well considered. Is any one desirous of gaining comfort to his soul, of bringing Christ’s presence home to his very heart, and of doing the highest and most glorious things for the whole world? I have told him how to proceed. Let him praise God; let holy David’s psalter be as familiar words in his mouth, his daily service, ever repeated, yet ever new and ever sacred. Let him pray; especially let him intercede. Doubt not the power of faith and prayer to effect all things with God. However you try, you cannot do works to compare with those which faith and prayer accomplish in the name of Christ. (J. H. Newman, D.D.)
A spirit religiously cheerful:—When the poet Carpani inquired of his friend Haydn how it happened that his church music was always so cheerful, the great composer made a most beautiful reply. “I cannot,” he said, “make it otherwise. I write according to the thoughts I feel; when I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit.”
A poor voice for psalm singing:—Old Thomas Fuller, who was as noted for his quaintness as for the wisdom of his remarks, had a defective voice; but he did not refuse to praise on this account. “Lord,” he said, “my voice by nature is harsh and untunable, and it is vain to lavish any art to better it. Can my singing of psalms be pleasing to Thine ears, which is unpleasant to my own? Yet, though I cannot chant with the nightingale, or chirp with the blackbird, I had rather chatter with the swallow than be altogether silent. Now what my music wants in sweetness, let it have in sense. Yea, Lord, create in me a new heart, therein to make melody, and I will be contented with my old voice, until in due time, being admitted into the choir of heaven, I shall have another voice more harmonious bestowed upon me.” So let it be with us. Let us ever sing in the same spirit and in the same joy and hope.
True merriment:—Gr. εὐθυμεῖ—is he right set, well hung on, as we say? All true mirth is from the rectitude of the mind, from a right frame of soul that sets and shows itself in a cheerful countenance. (J. Trapp.)[8]
[1] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1998). James (pp. 275–276). Moody Press.
[2] Guthrie, G. H. (2006). James. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 269–270). Zondervan.
[3] Adamson, J. B. (1976). The Epistle of James (pp. 196–197). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[4] McKnight, S. (2011). The Letter of James (pp. 432–434). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
[5] Ellsworth, R. (2009). Opening up James (p. 159). Day One Publications.
[6] Davids, P. H. (2011). James (p. 122). Baker Books.
[7] Samra, J. (2016). James, 1 & 2 Peter, and Jude (M. L. Strauss & J. H. Walton, Eds.; p. 83). Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group.
[8] Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: James (pp. 468–474). Jennings & Graham.
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