Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 1:6

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

6. let him ask in faith ] The prominence thus given to faith at the very outset of the Epistle must be borne in mind in connection with the subsequent teaching of ch. Jas 2:14-26. Faith, i.e. trust in God, as distinct from belief in a dogma, is with him, as with St Paul, of the very essence of the spiritual life.

nothing wavering ] Better, “nothing doubting.” Another echo from our Lord’s teaching (Mat 21:21). The variations in the English version hinder us from seeing that St Paul, when he said that “Abraham staggered not at the promise of God but was strong in faith” (Rom 4:20), was reproducing the very thought and language of St James. The primary idea of the verb used, as here, in the middle voice, is that of the inner “debating” which implies doubt. It does not involve the absolute negation of unbelief, though, as in Rom 4:20, it tends to this, but represents the state of one who meets the question, “Will God keep His promise?” now with Yes, and now with No. The words of our own poet,

“Faith and Unfaith can ne’er be equal powers,

Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all.”

Tennyson’s Merlin and Vivien.

reproduce the substance of St James’s teaching.

he that wavereth is like a wave ] Better, he that doubteth. The English play upon the word, though happy in itself, has nothing corresponding to it in the Greek. Wycliffe gives “doubt”. Tyndal introduced “waver” in the previous clause, but kept “doubteth” in this.

driven with the wind and tossed ] Better, driven by the winds and blasts, both words describing the action of a storm at sea, the latter pointing especially to sudden gusts and squalls. The image, true at all times and for all nations, was specially forcible for a people to whom, like the Jews, the perils of the sea were comparatively unfamiliar. Comp. the description of the storm in Pro 23:34 and the comparison of the wicked to the “troubled sea” in Isa 57:20. Popular speech likens a man who has no stedfastness to a ship drifting on the troubled waves of life. St James goes one step farther and likens him to the unresting wave itself. Now he is in the depths, now uplifted high. In Eph 4:14 the same image describes those who are “carried about by every wind of doctrine.” So far as St James wrote from personal experience we trace, perhaps, a recollection of stormy nights upon the Sea of Galilee. If we could identify him with the son of Zebedee, we might think of him as remembering such a night as that of Mat 8:24 or Joh 6:18.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

But let him ask in faith – See the passages referred to in Jam 1:5. Compare the Mat 7:7 note, and Heb 11:6 note. We cannot hope to obtain any favor from God if there is not faith; and where, as in regard to the wisdom necessary to guide us, we are sure that it is in accordance with his will to grant it to us, we may come to him with the utmost confidence, the most entire assurance, that it will be granted. In this case, we should come to God without a doubt that, if we ask with a proper spirit, the very thing that we ask will be bestowed on us. We cannot in all other cases be so sure that what we ask will be for our good, or that it will be in accordance with his will to bestow it; and hence, we cannot in such cases come with the same kind of faith. We can then only come with unwavering confidence in God, that he will do what is right and best; and that if he sees that what we ask will be for our good, he will bestow it upon us. Here, however, nothing prevents our coming with the assurance that the very thing which we ask will be conferred on us.

Nothing wavering – ( meden diakrinomenos.) Doubting or hesitating as to nothing, or in no respect. See Act 20:20; Act 11:12. In regard to the matter under consideration, there is to be no hesitancy, no doubting, no vacillation of the mind. We are to come to God with the utmost confidence and assurance.

For he that wavereth, is like a wave of the sea … – The propriety and beauty of this comparison will be seen at once. The wave of the sea has no stability. It is at the mercy of every wind, and seems to be driven and tossed every way. So he that comes to God with unsettled convictions and hopes, is liable to be driven about by every new feeling that may spring up in the mind. At one moment, hope and faith impel him to come to God; then the mind is at once filled with uncertainty and doubt, and the soul is agitated and restless as the ocean. Compare Isa 57:20. Hope on the one hand, and the fear of not obtaining the favor which is desired on the other, keep the mind restless and discomposed.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Jam 1:6

But let him ask in faith

Faith in prayer

What is it to ask in faith?

To this some things are requisite as necessary conditions, though more remotely; some things as essential ingredients.

I. THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS RESPECTING THE PETITIONER, ASKER, THE THING ASKED, THE MANNER OF ASKING.

1. The asker must be in the faith, or rather faith in him; the petitioner must be a believer. How can he ask in faith who has no faith? (Joh 16:23.) How can he ask in Christs name who believes not in it? There is no answer for him that is not a believer, God heareth not sinners (Joh 9:31). A fervent prayer for a thing unlawful is a crying sin.

2. The thing asked for must be an object of faith; such things as you may upon good grounds believe that God will grant (1Jn 5:14).

3. The manner of asking must be faithful.

(1) With fervency. He does not ask in faith that asks not fervently (chap. 5:16). If we pray as if we prayed not, God will hear as though He heard not, take little notice except to correct. Strong cries only pierce heaven; such were Christs.

(2) With submission.

(3) With right intentions. We must pray to glorify God, make us serviceable to Him, capable of communion with Him.

II. THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS OF THIS DUTY ARE THE ACTINGS OF FAITH IN PRAYER, which are one or other of these four. He whose faith puts forth any one of these acts prays in faith.

1. Particular application. Believing the promises whereby God has engaged Himself to give what he asks; so to ask in faith is to pray with confidence the Lord will grant the petition, because He has promised.

2. Fiducial recumbence. Faith can read an answer of prayer in the name of God, and stay itself there, when a promise appears not, or, through faiths weakness, cannot support it (Isa 50:10-11).

3. A general persuasion that the prayer shall be heard. The prayer may be heard, though the thing desired be not presently bestowed, or not bestowed at all. And so a man may pray in faith, though he be not confident that what he prays for shall be given him, much more that it shall not be presently given.

4. A special confidence that the very same thing which is asked shall be given. Use: Take notice of the misery of unbelievers. They that cannot pray in faith must not expect to have their prayers heard. Of all duties and privileges, none more advantageous and comfortable than prayer; but it is faithful prayer: for without faith there is neither advantage by it, nor comfort in it. To pray, and not in faith, is to profane the ordinance. Pray as much, as often as you will, if not in faith, you lose your labour. The apostle is peremptory, Let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord (Jam 1:7).

Now to prevent this wavering, this doubting, so dishonourable and offensive to God; so prejudicial, dangerous, uncomfortable to you: let me prescribe some directions, the observance of which will establish the heart, and encourage faith, in your approaches to God.

1. Get assurance of your interest in the covenant; that Christ has loved you, and washed you from your sins in His blood; that He has given you His Spirit; that you are reconciled and in favour. If you be sure you are His favourites, you may be sure to have His ear.

2. Consider, the Lord is engaged to hear prayer. Faith may conclude He will hear, for He will not, He cannot, be false to His engagement; but He is engaged strongly, by His titles, attributes, dec. When you pray consider He is able to hear and give what you ask. It is gross atheism to doubt of this, to question omnipotency. Consider He can do abundantly (Eph 3:20). He can do more than we ask. Easily. He can do the greatest thing you ask more easily than you can do the least thing you think. Safely. Without any loss or damage to Himself, without any diminution of that infinite store that is in Himself. He is willing. Faith seldom questions Gods power; that which hinders its actings is doubts whether He is willing. But there is more reason to question this, for He is as willing as He is able.

3. Consider the nature and dignity of prayer, which affords divers arguments to confirm faith.

(1) It is Gods ordinance, instituted and enjoined for this end.

(2) He in Scripture adorns it with, and ascribes to it, many transcendent privileges, such as, considered, may fortify the most languishing faith. There is a strength in prayer which has power with God (Hos 12:3-4).

(3) Prayer is the Lords delight, the most pleasing service we can ordinarily tender; therefore He does not only most frequently command it, but importunately sue for it. Let me hear thy voice, says Christ to His spouse Son 2:14), for thy voice is sweet. It is sweet as incense Psa 141:2; Pro 15:8).

4. Consider the promises. The Lord has promised He will hear. If ye doubt He will hear, ye doubt He is faithful. Consider how many, how universal, how engaging.

5. Consider your relation to God. He is your Father; Christ teaches us to begin with this.

6. He gets glory by hearing prayer.

7. Consider the success of others, how effectual the prayers of Gods ancient people have been; this affords great encouragement.

8. Consider your own experiences, how many times God has answered your prayers formerly; that will be a great encouragement to trust Him for time to come. Those that have tried God are inexcusable if they will not trust Him.

9. Labour to remove those discouragements which hinder the exercise of faith in prayer, or weaken it in its actings. Try whether we pray in faith.

(1) Backwardness to pray is a sign that you pray not in faith.

(2) Carelessness in praying.

(3) Perplexity and solicitousness after prayer.

This was a sign Hannah prayed in faith (1Sa 1:1-28.).

(a) How can they believe their prayers will be accepted who see no ground to believe that their persons are accepted? There is a confidence to be found in unregenerate men in their addresses to God. The confidence of faith in prayer differs from this presumptuous confidence.

(1) In its rise. The carnal man arrives at this confidence he knows not how. He attained it with ease, it cost him nothing; it sprang up in him as a mushroom, on a sudden, without his care or industry. Whereas the confidence of faith is not in an ordinary way so soon, nor so easily, nor so insensibly attained.

(2) In the grounds. Presumption has either no ground at all, or else it is raised upon nothing but the sand; in some it springs from their natural temper. But now the confidence of faith is to be found in those who are most modest as to their natural constitutions, when once they are renewed and fortified by the power of grace. Christ and the promise is the ground of this confidence.

(3) In the attendants. Confidence of faith is accompanied with–

(a) Reverence; a filial and a holy fear of God.

(b) Resignation of his will and wisdom to the will and wisdom of God.

(4) In the effects. (D. Clarkson, B. D.)

Wavering prayer

1. The apostle condemneth it, first, from a comparison or similitude, wherein the doubtful person in prayer is compared to a wave of the sea. For as a wave or surge of the sea swelleth by the rising of the wind, and by the strength thereof is carried hither and thither, and never remaineth steady, but always is troubled, so is a wavering minded man; for his manifold imaginations, his sundry cogitations, his divers thoughts of heart, so toss him and carry him up and down, that his mind can never rest, but is always vexed and never surely fixed upon any one thing; for now he thinketh God will hear him, and by and by he mis-doubteth; now he persuadeth himself God can give him his hearts desire, and forthwith he mistrusteth; now he conceiveth hope, and immediately he fainteth; now he saith with himself, I will make sure to God; but straightway he feareth. Thus is he tossed and troubled by his own cogitations, and carried away with the wind of his own vanity, and never resteth: wherefore he is well compared to a wave, of the wind and moved air tossed and tumbled.

2. As by this plain similitude, de this doubtfulness and inconstancy is condemned, so in like manner, and secondly, by a reason from discommodity and disadvantage, which followeth this wavering, the reason is this: that which bringeth no good unto men, but procureth hurt rather, ought not to be used among the saints of God. If a man should come to his neighbour and say, Sir, I have a suit unto you, but I doubt I shall not obtain it, for I fear either you cannot, or at least you will not, perform my desire, doth he not stay the hand of the giver–doth he not make himself unworthy to receive anything that is so doubtful? Shall it not be replied, Shall I do for him that hath me in suspicion that I will not help him, and doubteth of my good nature and frank heart towards him?

3. The third and last way whereby he condemneth this is from a sentence generally received of all men, which he protested, as it were, proverbially. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, therefore wavering in prayer is condemned. Unstable, which is derived from the commonwealth, which, having laws and orders whereby it may be governed, and they carefully observed. The commonwealth thereby hath her quietness and stability, whatsoever hindereth the prosperous quietness of the commonwealth, whatsoever is against good laws and orders, as sedition, tumults, uproars, tyrannical empire and bearing rule, and the like is called unstable, so in like manner in the mind of man, whilst reason ruleth and executeth her office, the affections of man continue in their place, and mans mind resteth in her quiet constitution; but if the affections break the bonds which reason prefixeth, there ariseth disorderedness and instability. He therefore which, doubting and wavering, prayeth, hath a disturbed and disordered mind, and hath in himself an uproar and tumult of affections which follow another thing than faith prescribeth, therefore is said to be unstable in all his ways. The double and wavering minded man is like an old and tottering wall, which daily shaketh and is always in danger of falling; yea, like the foolish mans building in the gospel, whose foundation being but on the sand, at the rain falling, at the floods rising, at the wind blowing, and the tempest raging, is in daily danger of ruin. The inconstant and wavering minded man, like the weathercock, is always turning, never long staying. Sometimes the wind of vainglorious ambition carrieth him with mainsail to pride; sometimes the blast of filthy pleasure thrusteth him headlong to unclean conversation; sometimes the swelling waves and mighty surges of prosperous condition enforceth him to vain confidence; sometimes the woful state of adversity casteth him violently into utter desperation; sometimes by desire of gain he is carried into covetousness; sometimes as careless of his estate he lavisheth out at large, and spendeth his goods by prodigality; sometimes he is allured with fleshly pleasures, sometimes he is cast down with fear, sometimes he is carried away with contempt and arrogancy of his spirit; now his mind is set upon this thing, now upon another, that he may rightly say with St. James, that he is unstable in all his ways. The wavering minded man, subject to all affections that are evil, and to all dangerous alterations, may therefore be compared to the unstable reed, which boweth and turneth at every wind; his unstayedness and instability carrieth the wavering minded man now into this danger, now into that, and so is always near unto perdition. (R. Turnbull.)

How must we pray in faith

I. WHAT IS MEANT HERE BY ASKING IN FAITH.

1. TO ask in faith may be here spoken in reference to the person that prays; namely, he that prays must be in the faith, a faithful or righteous person (Psa 66:18). The prayer of a righteous man availeth much Jam 5:16).

2. To ask in faith is to believe that all we say in prayer is true. When we confess ourselves to be grievous sinners, we are to think ourselves to be as great sinners as we say we are; when we call God Almighty our Father, we are to believe Him to be so.

3. We are to believe that whatsoever we ask of God in prayer is according to His will.

II. As concerning the matter of our prayers we are to believe as hath been said, so AS TO GOD WE ARE TO BELIEVE SEVERAL THINGS. Indeed, scarce any of His attributes but some way or other we are to act our faith upon in prayer; but I shall choose some few on which the eye of faith is especially fixed in prayer.

1. The first is Gods omniscience; for else we shall be at a great loss. If we believe not this, how can we be assured that God hears our prayers?

2. We are to believe Gods providence, that He rules and orders all things. Whoso thinks that all things are ruled by second causes, by the power and policy of men, or by the stars, or chance, they will not pray at all, or go to God merely as a refuge: we shall pray to God, but trust to ourselves; or to medicines when we are sick, and to our food when we are well.

3. Gods omnipotence is to be believed. Else we will stagger through unbelief.

4. We must act our faith upon His goodness and bounty. If we do not believe that the goodness of God is as much above the love of our dearest friend, as we account His wisdom and power above our friends, we have unworthy thoughts of that attribute which God hath most abundantly manifested, and would have most glorified; and the love our friend bears us is but a drop from and of that ocean that is in God.

III. The third object of faith are THE PROMISES; and there are three kinds, some to prayer, some to the person praying. We are to act our faith upon all.

IV. The fourth and main object of faith which our faith must eye in our prayers, is CHRIST, in whom all the promises are Yea and Amen , who hath reconciled the person and attributes of God: and concerning Christ we are to believe–

1. The great love God bears to Christ. Which is doubtless greater than to the whole creation.

2. We are to believe the fulness of Christs satisfaction, and the greatness of the value and efficacy of the death of Christ. For if justice be not satisfied, we have no throne of grace, but a bar of justice, to come before.

The blood of Christ hath a pacifying, purifying, purchasing, perfuming, reconciling, satisfying, justifying, virtue.

3. We are to believe the efficacy and infallible success of Christs intercession. Christ doth four things as to our prayers.

(1) He indites them by His Spirit;

(2) He perfumes them by His merit; then–

(3) He presents our prayers and persons; for we have access through Him (Eph 3:12); and then–

(4) Superadds His own intercession, His blood crying louder than our sins, and better things than our prayers.

4. We are to believe and improve this truth; namely, that the Father exceedingly delights to Christ. And hereby God wonderfully honours Christ, by pardoning and receiving into favour such rebellious sinners as we are, for His sake, by forgiving anything for His sake.

5. We are to believe, improve, and obey Christs commands (Joh 14:13-14; Joh 16:23).

(1) We are to believe these things of God and Christ with an historical faith.

(2) With a faith, of recumbency. We are to rely upon the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, and upon Christs interest in God, &c.

(3) Saints are, by way of duty, but not by way of a necessary condition of obtaining whatsoever they ask, to believe with the faith of assurance of obtaining whatsoever we pray for. (Thos. White, LL. B.)

Man given to doubting

1. The trial of a true prayer is the faith of it.

(1) An actual reliance upon the grace and merits of Jesus Christ. We cannot lift up a thought of hope and trust but by Him. We must come humbly; we are sinners: but we must come in faith also; Christ is a Saviour: it is our folly, under colour of humbling ourselves, to have low thoughts of God. If we had skill, we should see that all graces, like the stones in the building, have a marvellous symmetry and compliance one with another; and we may come humbly, yet boldly, in Christ.

(2) We must put up no prayer but what we can put up in faith: prayer must be regulated by faith, and faith must not wander out of the limits of the word. If you have a promise, yon may be confident that your requests will be heard, though in Gods season: you cannot put up a carnal desire in 1Jn 5:14). All things are to be asked in faith; some things absolutely, as spiritual blessings–I mean, as considered in their essence, not degree. Degrees are arbitrary. Other things conditionally, as outward blessings. Let the prayer be according to the word, and the success will be according to the prayer.

(3) The soul must actually magnify Gods attributes in every prayer, and distinctly urge them against the present doubt and fear.

2. Mans nature is much given to disputes against the grace and promises of God. Carnal reason is faiths worst enemy. Then is our reason well employed, when it serves to urge conclusions of faith.

3. The less we doubt, the more we come up to the nature of true faith. Do not debate whether it be better to cast yourselves upon Gods promise and disposal, or to leave yourselves to your own carnal care; that is no faith when the heart wavers between hopes and fears, help and God (Luk 12:29). Get a clear interest in Christ, and a more distinct apprehension of Gods attributes. Ignorance perplexeth us, and filleth the soul with dark reasonings, but faith settleth the soul, and giveth it a greater constancy.

4. Doubts are perplexing, and torment the mind. An unbeliever is like the waves of the sea, always rolling; but a believer is like a tree, much shaken, but firm at root. (T. Manton.)

Faith necessary to successful prayer

While the prayer of faith, said an eloquent Welsh preacher, is sure to succeed, our prayers, alas! too often resemble the mischievous tricks of children in a town, who knock at their neighbours houses, and then run away. We often knock at mercys door, and then run away, instead of waiting for an entrance and an answer. Thus we act as if we were afraid of having our prayers answered (New Cyclopaedia of Illustrations.)

He that wavereth

Unstable men

Paul describes them as being driven about by every wind. You never know where to find them; they are scarcely ever two days alike. The chameleon is said to take its colour from its surroundings, and so would it seem do these religions changeabilities. But, after all, these are not so dangerous to other people as are those who for the most part are consistent, but who at rare intervals seem to fall into sin. A clock that ever varies is never trusted even when it is right, and therefore does but little mischief; but let the trusted time-keeper go wrong, and the whole town may be thrown into confusion. And this applies the more forcibly as our position may be more public and conspicuous. Your own watch in your pocket may be altogether wrong, and nobody may know it but yourself, but if the clock in the steeple be in error, the fact will be on every lip. What the good beacon is to the sailor, such should every Christian be amongst men. The pilot making his way towards the Thames is shaping his course by the lightship; but, alas! the lightship has broken from her moorings, and soon both the guide and the voyager are stranded on the Goodwins. I was sitting one day looking out on the beautiful Mediterranean as it was lashed by the gale, and I was struck by what appeared to be the hesitancy of a vessel to enter the harbour. She backed and filled and stood off and on, when, as I supposed, she might have entered forthwith. The secret, however, Soon explained itself. Amongst the breakers dashing along the shore, there was being tossed to and fro one of the large black buoys which had previously marked the channel entrance. During the gale it had been driven from its moorings, and from being a useful guide it had become a helpless log. Alas that any who have been guides to others should ever be found amongst the miserable breakers of sin, driven away from the moorings of Christian believing and of Christian living. (W. H. Burton.)

Doubts neutralise

Of course no blessing comes if the man doubts. God could not give in such a case, because the man could not receive. When the Father has promised His wisdom, a special spiritual gift, how can it rule me if I close all the avenues of my spirit by my unbelief? The object of the gift is to improve the relations between the Father and the child, but manifestly that cannot begin to be done if the child believes that the Father is a liar, or even if he fail to have the most perfect faith in the honour and good intentions of the Father. He must not doubt. If he is not willing to give God trust, how can he expect God to give him wisdom? (G. F. Deems, D. D.)

Wavering prayers

Place yourselves on the seashore in a storm; you see the billows rise up in varied form and size, but not one assumes its form or height independently of the rest. As the wind blows more or less violently, as it comes from this or that quarter, as the following wave presses on with greater or less force, will be the size and duration of each one that approaches you. And thus it is with the inclinations and wishes of men; they receive their direction from without, from this or that impulse, and fluctuate hither and thither as outward obstacles vary. Their wishes and resolves are never clear and determinate; their heart is always divided; they are fickle, wavering, inconstant, in all their ways. Is this the right condition of mind for prayer? For what are we especially to pray? To-day about one thing, to-morrow about another? At the present hour are we to pray ardently for a gift, about which at the next we shall be utterly careless? or shall we be earnestly interceding for an individual, to whose welfare in a few hours we are quite indifferent? Can this be what is meant by praying in faith? No; for in such a state of perpetual variation there is no faith, no certain assurance of the object of hope, no undoubting belief of that which we do not see. (B. Jacobi.)

A royal waverer

James the First of England, and the Sixth of Scotland, was a waverer. He was aware of this defect, and heard of a preacher who was singularly happy in his choice of texts. James appointed him to preach before him, that he might put his abilities to the test. The preacher, with the utmost gravity, gave out his text in the following words: James the First and Sixth [Jam 1:6], in the latter part of the verse, For he that wavereth, &c. He is at me already! said the king.

Want of application

An eminent Frenchman hit off in a single phrase the characteristic quality of the inhabitants of a particular district, in which a friend of his proposed to settle and buy land. Beware, said he, of making a purchase there; I know the men of that department; the pupils who come to it from our veterinary school at Paris do not strike hard on the anvil; they want energy, and you will not get a satisfactory return on any capital you may invest there. (S. Smiles.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 6. Let him ask in faith] Believing that God IS; that he has all good; and that he is ever ready to impart to his creatures whatever they need.

Nothing wavering.] . Not judging otherwise; having no doubt concerning the truth of these grand and fundamental principles, never supposing that God will permit him to ask in vain, when he asks sincerely and fervently. Let him not hesitate, let him not be irresolute; no man can believe too much good of God.

Is like a wave of the sea] The man who is not thoroughly persuaded that if he ask of God he shall receive, resembles a wave of the sea; he is in a state of continual agitation; driven by the wind, and tossed: now rising by hope, then sinking by despair.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

But let him ask in faith; with confidence of Gods hearing, grounded on the Divine attributes and promises, Mar 11:24; 1Jo 5:14.

Nothing wavering; either not disputing Gods power or promise; or rather, not doubting, not slandering through unbelief, Rom 4:20, where the same Greek word is used: so Act 10:20, nothing doubting; and Mar 11:23, where it is opposed to believing.

For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed: this notes either the emptiness and unprofitableness of faithless prayer, when mens minds are thus at uncertainties, tossed to and fro; the confidence they sometimes seem to have, like waves, falls down and fails, and their prayers come to nothing: or, the disquiet and torment distrust works in the minds of such waverers, which are never settled till faith come and fix them, Isa 57:20.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

6. ask in faiththat is, thepersuasion that God can and will give. James begins and ends withfaith. In the middle of the Epistle he removes the hindrancesto faith and shows its true character [BENGEL].

waveringbetween beliefand unbelief. Compare the case of the Israelites, who seemed topartly believe in God’s power, but leaned more to unbelief by”limiting” it. On the other hand, compare Act 10:20;Rom 4:20 (“staggered not. . . through unbelief,” literally, as here, “waverednot“); 1Ti 2:8.

like a wave of the seaIsa 57:20; Eph 4:14,where the same Greek word occurs for “tossed to and fro,”as is here translated, “driven with the wind.”

driven with the windfromwithout.

tossedfrom within, byits own instability [BENGEL].At one time cast on the shore of faith and hope, at another rolledback into the abyss of unbelief; at one time raised to the height ofworldly pride, at another tossed in the sands of despair andaffliction [WIESINGER].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

But let him ask in faith,…. Not only in the faith of the divine Being that God is; but in the faith of the promises he has made; and in the faith of his power and faithfulness to perform them; and in the faith of this, that whatever is asked, according to the will of God, and is for his glory, and his people’s good, shall be given.

Nothing wavering; about the thing asked for, whether it is right or no to ask for it; for that should be settled before it is asked for; nor about the power of God to do it; nor about his will, in things he has declared he will do; nor about his faithfulness to his promises; nor at all questioning but what is proper, suitable, and convenient, will be given in God’s own time and way.

For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed; he is troubled, restless, unquiet, and impatient; and he is fickle, inconstant, unstable, and unsettled; and is easily carried away with every wind of doctrine, temptation, and lust.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

In faith ( ). Faith here “is the fundamental religious attitude” (Ropes), belief in God’s beneficent activity and personal reliance on him (Oesterley).

Nothing doubting ( ). Negative way of saying (in faith), present passive participle of , old verb to separate () between (), to discriminate as shown clearly in Acts 11:12; Acts 15:9, but no example of the sense of divided against oneself has been found earlier than the N.T., though it appears in later Christian writings. It is like the use of in Lu 11:18 and occurs in Matt 21:21; Mark 11:23; Acts 10:20; Rom 2:4; Rom 4:20; Rom 14:23. It is a vivid picture of internal doubt.

Is like (). Second perfect active indicative with the linear force alone from to be like. Old form, but in N.T. only here and verse 23 (a literary touch, not in LXX).

The surge of the sea ( ). Old word (from to wash against) for a dashing or surging wave in contrast with (successive waves), in N.T. only here and Lu 8:24. In associative instrumental case after . In Eph 4:14 we have (from ), to toss by waves.

Driven by the wind (). Present passive participle (agreeing in case with ) of , earliest known example and probably coined by James (from ), who is fond of verbs in – (Mayor). The old Greek used . In Eph 4:14 Paul uses both and . It is a vivid picture of the sea whipped into white-caps by the winds.

Tossed (). Present passive participle also in agreement with from , rare verb (Aristophanes, Plutarch, Philo) from (a bellows or fire-fan), here only in N.T. It is a picture of “the restless swaying to and fro of the surface of the water, blown upon by shifting breezes” (Hort), the waverer with slight rufflement.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Doubting [] . Compare Mt 21:21. Not equivalent to unbelief, but expressing the hesitation which balances between faith and unbelief, and inclines toward the latter. This idea is brought out in the next sentence.

A wave [] . Rev., surge. Only here and Luk 8:24; though the kindred verb occurs at Eph 4:14. The word is admirably chosen, as by a writer who lived near the sea and was familiar with its aspects. The general distinction between this and the more common kuma, wave, is that kludwn describes the long ridges of water as they are propelled in horizontal lines over the vast surface of the sea; while kuma denotes the pointed masses which toss themselves up from these under the action of the wind. Hence the word kludwn here is explained, and the picture completed by what follows : a billow or surge, driven by the wind in lines, and tossed into waves. Both here and in the passage in Luke the word is used in connection with the wind. It emphasizes the idea of extension, while the other word throws forward the idea of concentrating into a crest at a given point. Hence, in the figure, the emphasis falls on the tossing; not only moving before the impulse of the wind, but not even moving in regular lines; tossed into rising and falling peaks.

Driven by the wind [] . Only here in New Testament.

Tossed [] . Only here in New Testament. From rJipiv, a fan. Anyone who has watched the great ocean – swell throwing itself up into pointed waves, the tops of which are caught by the wind and fanned off into spray, will appreciate the vividness of the figure.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) Divine petitions to God for wisdom must be made in faith, (Gr. diakrinomenos) (Not one thing doubting), not in indecision, not questioning, not criticizing, (Luk 11:13; Heb 11:6).

2) Frequently with clarifying illustrations, James compares a doubting person with a sea-weed, bounced about with the waves – unstable, tossed and uncertain, Plant yourself like a rock in stormy trials and keep on and on petitioning – and you, not the tumbling seaweed doubter, shall have victory. (1Co 15:57-58).

THE REWARD OF FAITH

Faith knows that God has His moment, and in that moment everything yields to His will. Faith can wait. If she comes to a prison gate, she can stand without until God touches the bars, and it flies open. If the enemy hurls rocks from the battlement, she stands unmoved and unharmed. Faith knows some Jerichos need to be compassed fourteen times, and she carries with her the word of victory to give the final shout.

– Selected

GREAT FAITH

A traveler crossed a frozen stream

In trembling fear one day,

Later a teamster drove across,

And whistled all the way.

Great faith and little faith alike,

Were granted safe convoy,

But one had pangs of needless fear,

The other all the joy!

– Selected

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

6 But let him ask in faith. He shews here, first the right way of praying; for as we cannot pray without the word, as it were, leading the way, so we must believe before we pray; for we testify by prayer, that we hope to obtain from God the grace which he has promised. Thus every one who has no faith in the promises, prays dissemblingly. Hence, also, we learn what is true faith; for James, after having bidden us to ask in faith, adds this explanation, nothing wavering, or, doubting nothing. Then faith is that which relies on God’s promises, and makes us sure of obtaining what we ask. It hence follows, that it is connected with confidence and certainty as to God’s love towards us. The verb διακρίνεσθαι, which he uses, means properly to inquire into both sides of a question, after the manner of pleaders. He would have us then to be so convinced of what God has once promised, as not to admit a doubt whether he shall be heard or not.

He that wavereth, or doubteth. By this similitude he strikingly expresses how God punishes the unbelief of those who doubt his promises; for, by their own restlessness, they torment themselves inwardly; for there is never any calmness for our souls, except they recumb on the truth of God. He, at length, concludes, that such are unworthy to receive anything from God.

This is a remarkable passage, fitted to disprove that impious dogma which is counted as an oracle under the whole Papacy, that is, that we ought to pray doubtingly, and with uncertainty as to our success. This principle, then, we hold, that our prayers are not heard by the Lord, except when we have a confidence that we shall obtain. It cannot indeed be otherwise, but that through the infirmity of our flesh we must be tossed by various temptations, which are like engines employed to shake our confidence; so that no one is found who does not vacillate and tremble according to the feeling of his flesh; but temptations of this kind are at length to be overcome by faith. The case is the same as with a tree, which has struck firm roots; it shakes, indeed, through the blowing of the wind, but is not rooted up; on the contrary, it remains firm in its own place.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

FITS OF WAVERING

Jas 1:6.

I WANT to talk to you this morning on Wavering. James, the most practical of the Apostles, thought it worth his while to write on that subject, and since the world is not yet cured of the failing, it is my duty as a minister to speak of the same. One purpose that a preacher must ever have in all his public addresses is the improvement of men.

Henry Drummond was correct in saying, The immediate need of the world at this moment is not more of us, but a better brand of us. To secure ten men of an improved type would be better than if we had ten thousand more of the average Christians distributed over the world. Whenever that man of an improved type appears, and wherever, he will not be a moral and spiritual invertebrate, but will be possessed with sufficient backbone to assume a position and hold it against all odds, whether of earth or hell. The only man before whom we. stand in admiration is the man who thinks and acts for himself, and thinks and acts as only a true man can. We may not agree with his opinions; we may radically hate them, but to him we are compelled to pay the highest possible compliment.

Wendell Philipps spoke at a time and in a way that excited no sort of sympathy and stirred all possible antagonism, and who now so untaught or prejudiced as not to name him as a hero, possessed of the noblest martyr spirit. It need not be said that we need a race of the Philipps sort, but we all know that those who wear his mantle of courage, over a tender heart, are the ones whose death the world can least afford. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

SOME OBJECTIONS TO FITS OF WAVERING

First of all

They argue weakness and effect failure. Go down to the seashore when a storm is brewing on its waters. Watch that storm until it breaks in fury over all and sends the great mountains of water rolling toward the shore as if they intend to drown the land, or rolling out to sea, as if they would pile themselves up into a liquid Matterhorn at its center, and see the vessels lying in harbor. Those that are anchored only sway to and fro with each throb of the oceans heart and are safe, but if any snap her chords and go to sea before the wind, she becomes at once a plaything in the fingers of the elements and all her boasted strength fades into weakness as she is driven by the wind and tossed.

So, no matter how excellent his physique, no matter how splendid his mental furnishing, that man who is unstable in all his ways, who runs with popular tides, as wild vessels do with the wind, is lacking in mental anchorage and can excite no other than our pity, at best, if indeed we suppress our contempt.

A man with a mind of his own is what the world needs; not one who is a mule in stubbornness, or a peacock in vanity; but one who doesnt have to inquire of his neighbors to learn how he dare think. In the country neighborhood where I was brought up, there lived a man who was quite a gentleman in his deportment. He was so far from being ignorant that few were better read. And yet, when questions came up over which the neighbors were dividedquestions of local interest, questions of school government, questions of church concern you never could get an opinion from him until he had consulted two wealthier men who lived on either side of him. If they agreed, he was solid as a rock in his notion; if they disagreed, he was undecided and his opinions vacillated between theirs, tipping most in the direction of that friend who happened to be holding conversation with him. It came to be a great joke at last. If you want to know what B thinks, get the mind of A and C. If they agree, you know just where he stands; if they dont, put him midway between and he will never move, save to teeter. Even the small boys of that district made a practice of speaking his name with contempt.

To meet such men reminds one of the politician who in a western state had delivered himself of an eloquent oration, setting forth his views touching the questions of that local campaign. When he was finishing his peroration he said: There, gentlemen, are my opinions as I am a candidate and an honest man! But if they dont suit you, only let me know and I will change them until they do! He got elected, for that principle is the play of politicians, but it also is the part of fools.

The man who does not think for himself cannot act for himself. Vacillate in mind and your morals are as shifting as a stormy sea. That is the reason that so many men in this world are subject to the caprice of bad company. A while ago a man whose besetting sin is intemperance told me that he knew what was right when alone, but when his drinking chums came around they always persuaded, ridiculed, and cajoled until he had neither mind nor morals left, and so before he knew it, he was at the cups or in the gutter.

We hardly know how to feel toward such men. To spurn them is only to drive them to greater shame; to pity them is in a measure to condone their sins; and so it has seemed it only remains to pray for them that God would give them brains enough to see the right and moral backbone enough to do it, despite all the possible persuasions of unprincipled and scheming fellows.

We need generations of teetotalers who could defend sobriety as did an Irishman of whom I read. He had just signed a card promising to leave all intoxicants severely alone. His fellow-laborer said to him: And so Pat, yeve taken the teetotal pledge, hev ye? Indeed I hev and Im not ashamed of it aither, was his ready reply. But did not Paul tell Timothy to take a little wine for his stomachs sake? said the dram-drinker. So he dade, answered the teetotaler, but my name is not Timoty and there is nothin the mather with me stomach. Brains and backbone will beat the Keely Cure.

People often excuse weak brothers from fault by saying, O, he is so good-hearted and so easily influenced that he cant say no. That is only another way of saying, Mentally he is inferior, and his moral vertebrae is but a gristle at best. Such a man can never succeed until God by His Spirit shall regenerate him and fill his mind and heart with that Divine element of eternal firmness.

We all remember how the gallant southern general, Jackson, got his honored title. It was on the day of the Battle of Manassas at 11 A. M. when Brigadier-General Bee was trying to rally his troops in the rear of the Robinson house, that Jackson drew: up his line in a copse of small pines. When the battle began Bees men broke into disorder, and after trying several times to recall them, Bee called out, Rally, men, rally! See Jacksons brigade standing there like a stone wall!

Such men never fall into the enemys power. While they live they do every battle with bravery, and when they die, it is not in the enemys prison-house, but in the arms of friends. To waver in the moral battles of life makes our eventual defeat just as certain as was that of disorganized and retreating troops in the hour of war, and it is more a sin.

Fits of wavering disgrace and degrade the man.

When James wrote, A double minded man is unstable in all his ways, he meant to so stigmatize that character that no Christian should ever emulate it. In reading history, whether sacred or profane, those characters that were best known for lack of fixed purpose are the ones who have brought the blush to our cheeks that divinely endowed life could ever be so irresolute and unmanly.

You have seen copies of the famous painting, Christ Before Pilate, and the longer you study that work of art, the more certainly you will see in it the lesson that Dr. William Taylor has declared: Pilate in the picture is its distinctive excellence. Here is a fit representative of the Roman Empire; massive in frame, powerful in intellect, strong in will, not usually wanting in decision, and commonly not troubled with many scruples; but he is perplexed now. On his face is an expression of mingled annoyance, humiliation, and reluctance. He never so wished to do right as he does now, and yet he feels himself drifting on helplessly to do the wrong, and despises himself for his own weakness. He has come to the grand opportunity of his life, but he has come to it fettered by the misdeeds of the past, and so he fails to rise to the occasion. That is the sermon of this picture. Let every young reader resolve as he looks at it, that he will not unfit himself for the critical occasions of life by the evil deeds of today.

It takes correct moral habits to make men of the moral type, and when men sacrifice morals they have cut the anchor-lines of life, and drifting and wavering must result. Why is it that Moses name will ever be loved despite all the possible fires of criticism, all the undermining work of infidels? Because it belongs to us as men, to admire such action as Hebrews records of him in saying:

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter;

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt? (Heb 11:24-26).

So long as men admire LaFayette for the assistance rendered the oppressed Colonists, and Abraham Lincoln for setting the Negro free, just so long will they admire Moses and love him above them all, because to do what he did was at a greater personal cost, and discovered that fixedness of purpose that is sanctified and full of soul.

Why do we admire Joseph so much? Because in the midst of the moral tempests that surged about him, he stood as unmoved as a stone whose foundations are fixed far beneath the surface of the soil.

Why do we love the name of Daniel? Because on the first page of his history we read, But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the kings meat, nor with the wine which he drank, and from that day all the powers of earth and hell never shook his purpose. No wonder we sing, Dare to be a Daniel, for Daniel never disgraced himself with wavering.

I have had an ardent admiration for George the III. since reading what he said in his speech on the question of Catholicism, in which he used this noble sentence: I can give up my crown and retire from power; I can quit my palace and live in a cottage; I can lay my head on a block and lose my life; but I cannot break my oath. The wickedest man that walks respects such heroism as that.

A young man that I love had long been disgraced and degraded by strong drink. At last an almost fatal sickness came and as he lay, in awful agony, face to face with death, he prayed saying, O God, spare me this one time more and I will reform and live for Thee and Thy work. God came down into that room and scourged out of it every demon of disease, and a few days later he was at his work.

Then the temptations came, but he said, No, I have quit! In Louisville one morning he met some old drinking chums and they said, Come and lets have something to drink. He politely declined. They broke into a laugh of ridicule and said, Quit! Quit!, and putting their arms about him, carried him in and ordered the glasses filled. He stood before the foaming cup a minute and then turning to one he said, Bob, if you think I will touch that you are mistaken. Put a thousand dollar bill beneath it and say drink the cup and take that money, and I would hate the offer, and then he walked out. Bob followed him and when they met without he said, God bless you, old fellow; that is the noblest stand I ever saw you take.

The devil himself must appreciate such heroism, and God and angels must fill Heaven with some sweeter song when men who have been wavering and have drifted long, become anchored at last, with the flukes beneath the Eternal Rock, the Christ.

Finally let us remember that

The man who so disgraces himself, by the same fit of wavering, dishonors God. One of the most potent influences against Christ and His Church is a vacillating profession of religionthe man who is on the mountain top when all goes well, but in the hour of temptation or trouble forgets that he ever had a God, or else concludes that He is either indifferent to the interests of souls, or else unable to help us.

Wavering is always in consequence of doubt. Strong faith never wavers, and only firm faith in Gods goodness and power, honors Him. You remember the case of the leper who came to Christ for help and he said, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. A little girl went with her mother to church when the lepers words were the text. She listened to the sermon and seemed unusually thoughtful as she trudged homeward at her mothers side. Upon reaching there, she went to the cupboard and took out the carving knife, and, with it in hand, she went for the family Bible. The mother saw her actions and, fearing for both the child and the Book, said, Why daughter, what are you doing? I was reading about that man who came to Jesus and said, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean, and I thought he ought not to have said if to Jesus, and so please mother, Im a scrapin it out.

That is the thing every Christian should do with his doubts, and then he could more nearly comply with Pauls injunction: Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised) (Heb 10:23).

But wavering is not confined to Christians. The biggest amount of it is indulged in by the unbelievers of the world. They more often lack the anchorage of moral principles, and always the steadfastness of faith. I once read with interest what Talmage said in his sermon just after the accident to the steamship Edam, which was tossing for awhile in the storm, with no lighthouse, no harbor, no help.

Talmage said: When I thought of that vessel I said, That is a skeptic, that is an infidel, drifting, drifting, drifting, not knowing where he drifts. In this assembly how many there arenot quite certain about the truth of the Bible, not certain about anything. Oh how I would like to tow them in! I throw you out the cable of the Gospel. Lay hold of it. Come in, oh, you wanderers on the deep! Look to the Lighthouse of Heaven, and remember that harbor is wide enough for us all, and once in, the waves of temptation break against its walls in vain, and the vessels of immortality are never more to be driven by the wind and tossed.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

(6) But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.Surely this verse alone would redeem the Apostle from the charge of slighting the claims of faith. It is here put in the very forefront of necessity; without it all prayer is useless. And mark the addition

Nothing wavering.Or, doubting nothing: reechoing the words of our Saviour to the wondering disciples, as they gazed at the withered fig-tree on the road to Bethany (Mat. 21:21). This doubting is the halting between belief and unbelief, with inclination towards the latter. But it may be asked by some one, whence and how is an unhesitating faith to be gained? And the reply to this will solve all similar questions: faith, in its first sense, is the direct gift of God; but it must be tended and used with love and zeal, or its precious faculties will soon be gone. In the hour of some besetting thought of unbelief the shield of faith will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked (Eph. 6:16), but that shield must be lifted up, as it were, in an act of faith. There is no Godat least, to care for me, may be the hopeless cry, responsive to a cruel wound of the enemy. Let the battle-hymn of the Christian make quick answer, I believe in God; and often, with that very effort, the assault will cease for awhile. Further, let us take comfort in the thought that intellectual is not moral doubt: the unorthodox are not as the adulterous. Nevertheless, intellectual doubt may spring from an evil habit of carping criticism and self-opinion, for the foundation of which, in so far as a man himself has been either the wilful or the careless cause, he must bear the curse of its results.

For he that wavereth (or, douhteth) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.Doubteth is preferable to wavereth; there is no play on the Greek words, as in the English textwavereth and wave. Like storm-beaten sailors, the doubtful are carried up to heaven and down again to the deep; their soul melteth away because of the trouble (Psa. 107:26). And who can describe the terror, even of the faithful, in those hours of darkness when the face of the Lord is hidden; when, as with the disciples of old, the ship is in the midst of the sea, tossed with the bitter waves. Nevertheless, the raging wind will clear the heavens soon from clouds, and by the radiance of the peaceful moon we too may behold our Helper nearthe Lord Jesus walking on the seaand if He come into the ship the storm must cease.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6. In faith The hearty and loving trust that God is ready and willing.

Nothing wavering The measure of waver is the measure of the want of faith. And the want of faith arises from the lack of real sympathy and communion with God and real wish for the perfect life. A half wish would ask, and a half not-wish would contradict and cancel the ask; so that nothing is really asked, and the man will be quite as unsteady in his practice as in his prayer.

Wave of the sea He is not a sailor, nor even a ship tossed on the waves; he is merely a pure wave. One wind blows this wave shoreward, and the next one drives it seaward, so that the shore is never reached. Vivid Greek epithets follow to finish the description.

Driven with the wind A single word in Greek; winded, blast-driven.

Tossed The Greek verb is derived from a word signifying to throw, to cast; hence, tossed or thrown by the winds.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting, for he who doubts is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and troubled.’

But those who would receive God’s wisdom must come to God with full confidence in His willingness to respond. They must ‘ask in faith, nothing doubting’. And as the writer in Proverbs tells us, they must do it by ‘choosing the fear of the Lord’ (Pro 1:29). In other words it requires a single eye (Mat 6:22). For ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and of true knowledge’ (Pro 1:7; Job 28:28), and results in riches beyond imagining (Pro 3:13-18). They must thus set their minds to experience this wisdom with hearts full of faith. For if they doubt (revealing it by the course they choose in their thinking and in their lives) they will be tossed to and fro like the waves in the wind, swirling this way and that, never at rest (Isa 57:20). They must therefore rather look to God with a single eye and a full assurance of faith, and not with one that turns this way and that, for they cannot serve God and Mammon (Mat 6:22-24).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jam 1:6. But let him ask in faith, &c. “But then let him take care that he ask in steadyfaith, nothing wavering, nor divided by the desires of obtaining, and the fears of not obtaining, the grace he asks, or doubting of God’s readiness to bestow it; for he that wavers, and has not a firm confidence in the Divine goodness and faithfulness, can have no other solid and substantial support; but is like a billow of the sea, driven on and tossed by the sea, in a restless and unsettled condition (Isa 57:20.) easily discomposed and agitated by every adverse blast, and in the greatest danger of being dashed to pieces.” Mr. Saurin paraphrases the passage thus: “He ought not to resemble the waves of the sea, which seem to offer to the spectator who is upon the shore, the treasure with which they are charged; but soon plunge it into the abyss, from which it cannot be recovered.” See Saurin’s Serm. vol. 9: p. 438. He elsewhere paraphrases it, “Like a wave which moves on, and seems to come to the shore, but immediately returns with impetuosity into the gulph from whence it came.” Vol. 5: p. 56, 57.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Jas 1:6 . A more particular statement how prayer must be made; ] With the in Jas 1:5 is resumed; indicates the carrying out of the thought.

The prayer, if it is to be heard, must be a , chap. Jas 5:15 (comp. Sir 7:10 : ).

] that is, in the confident assurance of being heard; on what this is founded is not here expressed. The explanation of Calvin: fides est quae Dei promissionibus freta nos impetrandi, quod petimus, certos reddit (similarly Baumgarten), expresses what is in itself true, but is not here indicated by James. Some ancient commentators incorrectly supply to as a more definite statement .

The object of the prayer (namely, ) is not here named, where only the necessary condition of prayer is treated of. The remarks made by many expositors on the manner in which the Christian should ask for external good things are here inappropriate.

] expresses the same idea as , only in a negative form; is here, as frequently, adverbial = on no account , nulla ratione. is, according to N. T. usage, to doubt; compare besides Act 10:20 ; Act 11:12 : particularly Mat 21:21 : , ; Rom 4:20 : ; Rom 4:23 ; it is not = (Luk 24:21 ), or (Joh 3:36 ), but includes in it the essential character of ; while says “Yes” and “No,” is the conjunction of “Yes” and “No,” but so that “No” has the preponderance; it is that internal wavering which leans not to , but to . The deep-lying ground of it is pride , and so far Theophylact is right in saying , , ; whereas Oecumenius, in the words: , , , brings out a point which belongs not to , but to a yet weak faith. [49] Comp. with this passage Hermas James 29: tolle a te dubitationem et nihil omnino dubites petens aliquid a Deo.

The following words: . . . , are annexed to the preceding , more clearly explaining it (in figurative language) with reference to the exhortation . . . ; but the reason of this exhortation is given in Jas 1:7 . The first , accordingly, has the meaning of namely , whereas the second has that of for. According to this interpretation, the relation of the thoughts expressed in Jas 1:6-7 is more correctly recognised than when we say that the first assigns the reason why we should pray nothing doubting, but that this thought is only brought to a conclusion in Jas 1:7 (Wiesinger, and so in the earlier edition of this commentary, where it is said that the sentence taken together would read: , , . . . ). Lange incorrectly supposes that the first has a more limited meaning, whilst it declares the as incapable of praying aright; whereas the second refers in a wider sense to the unbelieving condition of the man to God, and therefore is to be rendered by also.

] only here in the N. T. and in Jas 1:23 .

] only here in the N. T. and in Luk 8:24 ( . ); usually . The verb occurs in Eph 4:14 ; Isa 57:20 , LXX. The point of comparison is contained in the subjoined words: ] The verb is entirely an . occurring nowhere else, equivalent to , found in classical language (see Hegesippus James 6: ) = agitated, i.e. agitated by the wind. The verb (only here in N. T.) is also elsewhere used to denote the agitation or excitement of water by the wind; see Dio Chrysostom, xxxiii. p. 368 B: , ; Philo, de mundo: . Heisen incorrectly explains as equivalent to calefieri et accendi; the word never has this meaning, although used of the kindling of fire. [50] The two expressions (which Lange incorrectly denies) are synonymous, and are placed together only for the sake of strengthening the idea. The opinion that . refers to agitation coming from without , and . to agitation coming from within (Bengel), is without foundation; also the assertion that the former word denotes the cause and the latter the effect (Theile, Wiesinger) is not entirely correct, as itself expresses the effect.

By this image the mind of the doubter is characterized as unsteady and wavering, to which a calm and sure rest is wanting. [51] Comp. Isa 57:20-21 , LXX.: , ( ) . [52]

[49] As weak faith is to be distinguished from , so also is the doubt, of which the believer is conscious as a trial. Calvin strikingly remarks: Fieri quidem non potest in (hac) carnis infirmitate, quin variis tentationibus agitemur, quae sunt veluti machinae ad labefactandam nostram fiduciam: ita nemo reperietur, qui non sensu carnis suae vacillet ac trepidet. Sed oportet ejusmodi tentationes fide tandem superari, quemadmodum arbor, quae firmas radices jecit, quatitur quidem venti impulsu, sed non revellitur, quin potius suo loco stabilis manet. Whilst the , according to the proper meaning of the term, will not believe, it is the longing of the tried to be confirmed in the faith.

[50] Theile correctly rejects this explanation, saying: “Hoc, quamquam undae spumantes ventis revera incalescunt Latinisque etiam ebullire aestusque dicuntur, longius tamen petitum est.” The verb comes either from = (1) follis (a bellows); (2) flabellum , having the meaning both of kindling (the fire) and of fanning (for the sake of cooling); or from = vibration, which is also used of wind; thus , Il. xv. 171; , Sophocles, Ant. 137; also = storm, Pind. P. ix. 49. The original import of the German verbs schwingen, bewegen , is thus entirely equivalent to .

[51] “A doubtful petitioner offers not to God a steady hand or heart, so that God cannot deposit in it His gift,” Stier.

[52] Lange supposes that James has used these expressions with a conscious reference to the O. T. symbols, according to which the sea is “the emblem of the national life, agitated hither and thither in pathological sympathies,” whilst in his time “these waves of the sea” had already begun to roar.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Ver. 6. But let him ask in faith ] See Trapp on “ Heb 11:6 “

Nothing wavering ] We are too ready in temptation to doubt, yea, to hold it a duty to doubt. This (saith one) is to light a candle before the devil, as we use to speak.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

6 .] But let him ask in faith (persuasion that God can and will give: cf. Mat 21:22 , : and cf. , ch. Jam 5:15 ), nothing ( is adverbial, as in Mar 5:26 ; Luk 4:35 ; Act 4:21 ; Act 10:20 , as here: so also Act 11:12 al. In all these places it will of course admit of being understood ‘in nothing,’ the accus. of reference: but it is simpler to believe that it had got past this and become an adverb) doubting (cf. Mat 21:21 , from which this is evidently taken, , &c. Huther says well, “ is not = ( Luk 24:11 ), but includes in it the essential character of : while says ‘Yes,’ and ‘No,’ is the union of ‘Yes’ and ‘No,’ but so that ‘No’ is the weightier: it is that inward giving way which leans not to , but to . The deep-lying ground of it is pride , and so far Thl. is right in saying, : whereas c. in the words, , , brings out a point which belongs not to , but to a yet weak faith”): for he that doubteth is like (reff.) a wave of the sea (reff. The verb occurs Eph 4:14 and Isa 57:20 , ) driven by the wind (a word no where else found. The corresponding occurs in Hippocr., Plato (Tim. p. 83 A), lian, Lucian, al. It explains itself) and tossed about ( , from ( , Pind. Pyth. ix. 85: Soph. Antig. 137 al.; , Pind. Pyth. iv. 346), to be blown about by wind: so , , Philo de Mundo, 18, vol. ii. p. 620: , , Dio Chrys. Orat. xxxii. p. 368 B. The more usual meaning of the verb (from ), to kindle ( , , Hesych.), is not applicable here. The word forms a synonym with ; and the use of these synonymous expressions so close to one another is again a characteristic of St. James. A good explanation of the figure is quoted by Wiesinger from Heisen: “Modo ad litus fidei speique jactatur, modo in abyssum diffidenti revolvitur; modo in sublime tollitur fastus mundani, modo imis arenis miscetur nunc desperationis nunc afflictionis” &c.):

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Jas 1:6 . : , as used in this Epistle, refers to the state of mind in which a man not only believes in the existence of God, but in which His ethical character is apprehended and the evidence of His good-will towards man is acknowledged; it is a belief in the beneficent activity, as well as in the personality, of God; it includes reliance on God and the expectation that what is asked for will be granted by Him. The word here does not connote faith in the sense of a body of doctrine. This idea of faith is not specifically Christian; it was, and is, precisely that of the Jews; with these ( Emnah ) is just that perfect trust in God which is expressed in what is called the “Creed of Maimonides,” or the “Thirteen principles of faith”; it is there said: “I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the Author and Guide of everything that has been created, and that He alone has made, does make, and will make all things”. In Talmudical literature, which, in this as in so much else, embodies much ancient material, the Rabbis constantly insist on the need of faith as being that which is “perfect trust in God”; the mch sar ’amanah , i.e. , “those who are lacking in faith,” ( cf. Mat 6:30 , = ) are held up to rebuke; it is said in Sotah , ix. 12 that the disappearance of “men of faith” will bring about the downfall of the world. Faith therefore, in the sense in which it is used in this Epistle, was the characteristic mark of the Jew as well as of the Christian. In reference to : Knowling draws attention to Hermas, Mand. , ix. 6, 7; Sim., Jas 1:4 ; Jas 1:3 . : means to be in a critical state of mind, which is obviously the antithesis to that of him who has faith; it excludes faith ipso facto; Cf. Mat 21:21 , If ye have faith and doubt not ( ) ; Aphraates quotes as a saying of our Lord’s: “Doubt not, that ye sink not into the world, as Simon, when he doubted, began to sink into the sea”. : a very vivid picture; the instability of a billow, changing from moment to moment, is a wonderfully apt symbol of a mind that cannot fix itself in belief. occurs only here and in Jas 1:23 in the N.T., only elsewhere in Luk 8:24 . : a number of verbs are used in this Epistle ending in – , viz. , , , , , , , , , , , , ; the word before us is one of the sixteen used in the Epistle which do not occur elsewhere in the N.T., nor in the Septuagint. : from a “fan”; it occurs here only in the N.T., but cf. Dan 2:35 (Septuagint), ; the word is not used in Theodotion’s version. With the verse before us cf. Eph 4:14 . .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

nothing. Greek. medeis, as Jam 1:4.

wavering. App-122. Compare Mat 7:7, Mat 7:8.

is like. Greek. eoika. Only here and Jam 1:23. The root (obs.) is eiko; compare eikon, image.

wave. See Luk 8:24.

driven. Greek. anemizomai. Only here.

tossed. Greek. rhipizomai. Only here.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

6.] But let him ask in faith (persuasion that God can and will give: cf. Mat 21:22, : and cf. , ch. Jam 5:15), nothing ( is adverbial, as in Mar 5:26; Luk 4:35; Act 4:21; Act 10:20, as here: so also Act 11:12 al. In all these places it will of course admit of being understood in nothing, the accus. of reference: but it is simpler to believe that it had got past this and become an adverb) doubting (cf. Mat 21:21, from which this is evidently taken, , &c. Huther says well, is not = (Luk 24:11), but includes in it the essential character of : while says Yes, and No, is the union of Yes and No, but so that No is the weightier: it is that inward giving way which leans not to , but to . The deep-lying ground of it is pride, and so far Thl. is right in saying, : whereas c. in the words, , , brings out a point which belongs not to , but to a yet weak faith): for he that doubteth is like (reff.) a wave of the sea (reff. The verb occurs Eph 4:14 and Isa 57:20, ) driven by the wind (a word no where else found. The corresponding occurs in Hippocr., Plato (Tim. p. 83 A), lian, Lucian, al. It explains itself) and tossed about (, from ( , Pind. Pyth. ix. 85: Soph. Antig. 137 al.; , Pind. Pyth. iv. 346), to be blown about by wind: so , , Philo de Mundo, 18, vol. ii. p. 620: , , Dio Chrys. Orat. xxxii. p. 368 B. The more usual meaning of the verb (from ), to kindle (, , Hesych.), is not applicable here. The word forms a synonym with ; and the use of these synonymous expressions so close to one another is again a characteristic of St. James. A good explanation of the figure is quoted by Wiesinger from Heisen: Modo ad litus fidei speique jactatur, modo in abyssum diffidenti revolvitur; modo in sublime tollitur fastus mundani, modo imis arenis miscetur nunc desperationis nunc afflictionis &c.):

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Jam 1:6. , in faith) James also begins and ends with faith. Comp. ch. Jam 5:15. In the middle of the Epistle he merely removes the hindrances to faith, [and shows its true character.-V. g.]-, is like) The same word occurs in Jam 1:23.- , a wave of the sea) Such is the man who is destitute of wisdom, not obtained by prayer.-, which is driven by the wind) from without.-, which is tossed) from within, by its own instability.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

let: Mat 21:22, Mar 11:22-24, 1Ti 2:8, Heb 11:6

he: Gen 49:4, Eph 4:14, Heb 10:23, Heb 13:9, 2Pe 2:17, Jud 1:12, Jud 1:13

Reciprocal: Exo 17:12 – stayed up his hands Deu 22:9 – shalt not sow 1Ki 3:5 – Ask what Mat 7:7 – and it Mat 11:7 – A reed Mat 14:31 – O thou Mat 21:21 – If ye have Mar 11:23 – and shall Mar 11:24 – What Luk 7:24 – A reed Luk 9:62 – No Rom 8:27 – according 2Co 6:13 – be Heb 10:22 – in full Jam 4:3 – and Jam 5:15 – the prayer 1Jo 5:14 – if

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE WAVERER

He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea.

Jam 1:6

The picturesque imagery of this Epistle discloses the mind of one who communed with God as the God of human life, and also as the God of nature. The practical, almost proverbial mould of instruction which the writer employs gives to many of the sentences the familiar shape of the so-called Sapiential Books of the Old Testament. Wisdom is the Christian grace especially specified (Jam 1:5). This is a thoroughly Hebrew sentiment.

I. The sign of instability and purposeless motion.The soul that is not settled in a firm faith is like this storm-driven wave, driven at the mercy of the wind, heaved to and fro by every tide, in continual and wasting agitation. Isaiah uses this illustration as representing the life of the sinner (Isa 57:20), but here St. James is speaking of the weakness which is the result of uncertainty. He that waverethhe that is doubting and of two minds, hesitating, undecided, vacillatingnot perhaps willingly and knowingly a hypocrite, but sunk in the duplicity of trying to serve two masters; not wicked and denying God or forsaking truth altogether, but halting between two opinions, weak in faith, not relying on Gods will. Woe to fearful hearts and faint hands, and the sinner that goeth two ways (Ecc 2:12). Unstable in all his ways, disorder, confusion, unrest are his portion in life.

II. This unrest is one of the familiar characteristics of modern life.In all ages of transition, not knowing ones own mind is the trap that fronts every thinker and all that seek for righteousness. Fulness of faith and devotion seem impossible amid the complexity of thought and feeling. There are so many aims, so many gospels, so many answers to the questions of life; and side by side with this genuine wish for truth, there are so many human beings who seem to live quite contented without any answers to the questions at all, even unwilling to be disturbed by the asking of them. These souls, who believe in nothing, and want to believe in nothing, satisfied with their worldly state of mind, show an attitude of perfect indifference to the reality of things in this world or the world to come. But the soul that wills to know, that wishes to win, that cannot live without arriving at some truth, without touching the hem of the vesture of Gods garment of life, this soul must find some certain shore and limit in the ebbing and flowing ocean of human existence.

III. The causes that lead to the wavering and the disturbance are suggested by the Apostle.Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. He who asks without a full trust in Gods eternal steadfastness will naturally find his mind full of many misgivings.

(a) Want of reliance in God. Without the conviction that the universe is being rationally and morally governed by a loving Creator, the meaning of the world is largely unrealised. Without the conviction that the individual life is under the particular, discriminate, and ever-loving eye of a watchful Father, the whole complexity and entanglement of the things of life seem ruled by a godless, hopeless chance.

(b) Selfish dissatisfaction. However pleasant outward circumstances may be, the question comes at times to all persons in all conditions and in all ages, Why am I where I am?

(c) But those only ask in unrest and confusion who rack their minds with a false opinion of their worth and the state of life into which God has called them.

Illustration

Let even a polished man, says George Eliot in Silas Marner, get into a position he is ashamed to avow, and his mind will be bent on all the possible issues that may deliver him from the calculable results of that position. Let him live outside his income, or shirk the resolute honest work that brings wages, and he will presently find himself dreaming of a possible benefactor, a possible simpleton who may be cajoled into using his interest, a possible state of mind in some possible person not yet forthcoming. Let him neglect the responsibilities of his office, and he will inevitably anchor himself on the chance that the thing left undone may turn out not to be of the supposed importance. Let him betray his friends confidence, and he will adore that same cunning complexity called chance, which gives him the hope that his friend will never know.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Jas 1:6. Regardless of what may be said as to how or when God answers prayer, we are sure He will not grant any petition that is not in harmony with His word. Therefore to ask in faith means to ask for such favors that are in harmony with that word since faith comes by hearing it (Rom 10:17). Furthermore, we must believe that word after we hear it or else our attitude will be a wavering one. James likens such a mind to a wave that is unsteady because It changes its position every time the wind changes.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jas 1:6. But, as an essential prerequisite to our obtaining an answer to our prayers.

let him ask in faith; that is, not believing that God will give us the precise thing that we ask, for we may ask for what is pernicious to us, but believing that God hears prayer. The object of prayer is here presupposed, namely, wisdom; and this we may ask without limitation, as it is a blessing which is always proper for God to give, and fit for us to receive.

nothing wavering, or more simply and correctly, doubting nothing. It is the same expression as occurs in Act 10:20 in the address of the Spirit to Peter: Arise, get thee down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. Here the expression means not doubting that God hears prayer. The nature of this doubting is well stated by Huther in his excellent commentary: To doubt is not equivalent to disbelieve, but includes in it the essential character of unbelief; whilst faith says yes, and unbelief no, to doubt is the conjuction of yes and no, but so that no has the preponderance; it is an internal wavering which leans not to faith, but to unbelief.

For he that wavereth, or doubteth, is like a wave of the sea: there is in the original no play upon words, as in our English Version.

driven of the wind and tossed. These terms are synonymous, and do not, as some think, refer to outward and inward temptations (Erdmann). The figure which St. James employs is striking. The mind of the doubter is unsteady and wavering; like a wave, sometimes advancing and sometimes receding; there is wanting rest and calmness. It is in stillness that God communicates His grace; unrest is adverse to His operations.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

6. But let him ask in faith doubting nothing for he that doubteth is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed by the tempest. Faith is the hand by which we receive the salvation of the Lord. Doubt is a paralysis, more or less affecting that hand, and defeating our efforts to receive the needed grace. Sanctification is the only doubt-killer. We here have a nautical metaphor presented by the Holy Ghost for our instruction. The unsanctified man, beleaguered with doubts, is the ship on the stormy sea, tossed by the merciless waves and driven by the angry tornadoes, while the sanctified soul is the ship safe in the harbor, secure from the raging tempest, never again to drift, the sport of the stormy billows.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 6

In faith; with confidence in the goodness and mercy of God.–He that wavereth; vibrating between faith in divine protection, and anxious distrust.–Like a wave of the sea; never at rest.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Ask in faith without doubt might be the thought of the text. Wavering means to doubt or as a wave of the arm, might indicate turning from one end of the spectrum to the other. This is not faith; this is totally with doubt. Asking with faith is asking with the steadfastness of the pointer hunting dog that varies not from his position once he has found the quarry.

Faith simply is that quality of our mind that allows us to believe without a doubt that God will do as He has said. If you ask for wisdom with a “hope” that you will get it, you are wavering. If you ask with little hope of getting it, you are also wavering. Ask with confidence, the confidence that Almighty God, the creator of all that there is has promised to give you wisdom.

The “driving” and the “tossing” are verbs that have action from without. The winds drive and toss the man that wavers in His request of the Lord. He is like a wave – this is a perfect tense, something that is and always will be this way. If you ask wavering, you are the type that is driven as a wave in the sea. You will be driven whatever way the wind desires, and you will have no control.

Faith is illustrated by the Lord in Mat 17:20 “…if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, move from here to yonder place; and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

Quite a mouthful even for the Lord Jesus. Move a mountain by faith! Some would scoff at such a principle. Indeed, some did when Christ said it. Luke gives the other side of the story when he tells of the other peoples reaction. Luk 9:43 “And they were all astonished at the mighty power of God.” One might observe that they were astonished, but the indication is that they believed it His power.

Faith is a powerful tool of the believer if we will only use it.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

1:6 But let him ask in faith, {f} nothing wavering. {6} For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

(f) Why then, what need is there of another mediator or priest?

(6) A digression or going aside from his matter, as compared to prayers which are conceived with a doubting mind, but we have a trustworthy promise from God, and this is the second part of the epistle.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

In Scripture asking in faith always means one of two things. It means either believing God will do what He has promised or, if He has not promised, believing that He can do what the person requesting asks (cf. Mat 8:1-4; Mar 4:35-41).

"James teaches that faith is the essential condition of prayer." [Note: Adamson, p. 57.]

The NASB translation "without any doubting, for the one who doubts" is unfortunate. The Greek word diakrinomenos, used twice in this verse, is better translated, "let him ask in faith, free from divided motives and divisive attitudes, for such a person is like an ocean wave . . ." [Note: See David DeGraaf, "Some Doubts about Doubt: The New Testament Use of Diakrino," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:8 (December 2005):741-43. Cf. 2:4.]

Lack of confidence in God’s faithfulness or power manifests a lack of consistency in the believer’s life. James compared the instability that this inconsistency produces to the surf of the sea. Something other than itself drives it. The surf corresponds to the Christian who by not submitting consistently to the will of God is driven by forces outside himself or herself rather than by the Holy Spirit within. The surf (Gr. kludon) may refer to the tops of the waves that the wind blows off (cf. Luk 8:24). The low and high-pressure conditions of life tend to blow us around in a similar fashion.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)