Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 5:13
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
13 16. Affliction Sickness Confession
13. Is any among you afflicted, let him pray ] The precepts point to the principle that worship is the truest and best expression of both sorrow and joy. In affliction men are not to groan or complain against others, or murmur against God, but to pray for help and strength and wisdom. When they are “merry” (better, of good cheer) they are not to indulge in riotous or boastful mirth, but to “sing psalms.” The verb is used by St Paul (Rom 15:9; 1Co 14:15; Eph 5:19). Primarily it was used of instrumental string music, but, as in the word “Psalm,” had been transferred to the words of which that music was the natural accompaniment. It is, perhaps, specially characteristic of St James that he contemplates what we may call the individual use of such music as well as the congregational, as a help to the spiritual life. We are reminded of two memorable instances of this employment in the lives of George Herbert and Milton. Compare also Hooker’s grand words on the power of Psalmody and Music ( Eccl. Pol. v. 38).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Is any among you afflicted? – By sickness, bereavement, disappointment, persecutions, loss of health or property. The word used here refers to suffering evil of any kind, ( kakopathei.)
Let him pray – That is, prayer is appropriate to trial. The mind naturally resorts to it, and in every way it is proper. God only can remove the source of sorrow; he can grant unto us a happy issue out of all our afflictions; he can make them the means of sanctifying the soul. Compare 2Ch 33:12; Psa 34:4; Psa 107:6, Psa 107:13, Psa 107:28. It matters not what is the form of the trial, it is a privilege which all have to go to God in prayer. And it is an inestimable privilege. Health fails, friends die, property is lost, disappointments come upon us, danger threatens, death approaches – and to whom shall we go but to God? He ever lives. He never fails us or disappoints us if we trust in him, and his ear is ever open to our cries. This would be a sad world indeed, if it were not for the privilege of prayer. The last resource of millions who suffer – for millions suffer every day – would be taken away, if men were denied the access to the throne of grace. As it is, there is no one so poor that he may not pray; no one so disconsolate and forsaken that he may not find in God a friend; no one so broken-hearted that he is not able to bind up his spirit. One of the designs of affliction is to lead us to the throne of grace; and it is a happy result of trials if we are led by our trials to seek God in prayer.
Is any merry? – The word merry now conveys an idea which is not properly found in the original word here. It refers now, in common usage, to light and noisy pleasure; to that which is jovial; to that which is attended with laughter, or which causes laughter, as a merry jest. In the Scriptures, however, the word properly denotes cheerful, pleasant, agreeable, and is applied to a state of mind free from trouble – the opposite of affliction – happy, Pro 15:13, Pro 15:15; Pro 17:22; Isa 24:7; Luk 15:23-24, Luk 15:29, Luk 15:32. The Greek word used here ( euthumei) means, literally, to have the mind well ( eu and thumos;) that is, to have it happy, or free from trouble; to be cheerful.
Let him sing psalms – That is, if anyone is happy; if he is in health, and is prospered; if he has his friends around him, and there is nothing to produce anxiety; if he has the free exercise of conscience and enjoys religion, it is proper to express that in notes of praise. Compare Eph 5:19-20. On the meaning of the word here rendered sing psalms, see the notes at Eph 5:19, where it is rendered making melody. It does not mean to sing psalms in contradistinction from singing hymns, but the reference is to any songs of praise. Praise is appropriate to such a state of mind. The heart naturally gives utterance to its emotions in songs of thanksgiving. The sentiment in this verse is well expressed in the beautiful stanza:
In every joy that crowns my days,
In every pain I bear,
My heart shall find delight in praise,
Or seek relief in prayer.
– Mrs. Williams.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jam 5:13
Is any among you afflicted?
let him pray
Afllictions 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 dear 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 SOULS 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 ]end His ear in the day of His peoples 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 steal than all your physicians 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 Gods 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 Saviours 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 -AEolian 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 Gods Word provides? Such, indeed, was the temper of Naaman (2Ki 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 childrens blessing, the childrens 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 (2Co 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 Fathers glory and the express image of His person. And if these are the earthly fruits of Gods 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 Gods 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 (Php 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 Gods will Psa 34:7).
6. Thanksgiving, or singing to Gods praise, is the proper duty in the time of mercies or comforts. It is Gods 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.)
Prosper 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 voaths
(Jam 5:12)
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. Paysons 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 eases 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 Gods 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. Pauls 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 Christs 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 Christs 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 Davids 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
Greek. –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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray] The Jews taught that the meaning of the ordinance, Le 13:45, which required the leper to cry, Unclean! unclean! was, “that thus making known his calamity, the people might be led to offer up prayers to God in his behalf,” Sota, page 685, ed. Wagens. They taught also, that when any sickness or affliction entered a family, they should go to the wise men, and implore their prayers. Bava bathra, fol. 116, 1.
In Nedarim, fol. 40, 1, we have this relation: “Rabba, as often as he fell sick, forbade his domestics to mention it for the first day; if he did not then begin to get well, he told his family to go and publish it in the highways, that they who hated him might rejoice, and they that loved him might intercede with God for him.”
Is any merry? let him sing psalms.] These are all general but very useful directions. It is natural for a man to sing when he is cheerful and happy. Now no subject can be more noble than that which is Divine: and as God alone is the author of all that good which makes a man happy, then his praise should be the subject of the song of him who is merry. But where persons rejoice in iniquity, and not in the truth, God and sacred things can never be the subject of their song.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Is any among you afflicted? either troubled or afflicted in mind, as appears by the opposite being
merry, or more generally afflicted any way. Not that we need not pray at other times, but when under afflictions God calls us more especially to it, and our own necessities put us upon it.
Let him pray; for support, patience, sanctification of afflictions, &c.
Is any merry? let him sing psalms; express his mirth in a holy manner, by praising God with psalms or spiritual songs for mercies received from him, 1Co 14:15; Eph 5:19; and so keep up his spiritual mirth by a spiritual exercise, lest his cheerfulness degenerate into vanity and frothiness.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. afflictedreferring to the”suffering affliction” (Jas5:10).
let him praynot”swear” in rash impatience.
merryjoyous in mind.
sing psalmsof praise.Paul and Silas sang psalms even in affliction.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Is any among you afflicted?…. As the people of God generally are; they are commonly a poor, and an afflicted people; at least there are many among them that are so, and many are their afflictions: those whom Christ loves, as he did Lazarus, are not free from sicknesses and diseases; and these are rather signs of love than arguments against it; and when this is the case of any of the saints, what is to be done?
let him pray; to God that can save him; in the name of Christ; under the influence of the Spirit; believing in the word of promise. Times of afflictions are proper times for prayer; there is then more especially need of it; and God sometimes lays his afflicting hand upon his people, when they have been negligent of their duty, and he has not heard of them for some time, in order to bring them near to him, to seek his face, pay him a visit, and pour out a prayer before him; see Ps 50:15.
Is any merry? in good heart and spirit, in a good frame of mind, as well as in prosperous circumstances, in soul, body and estate:
let him sing psalms; let him not only be inwardly joyful, as he should be in prosperity, and be thankful to God for his many mercies, temporal and spiritual, he enjoys; but let him express it vocally, and melodiously, by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs: not that these are the only persons that are to sing psalms, or this the only time, any more than that afflicted persons are the only ones that are to pray, or the time of affliction the only time of prayer; but as affliction more especially calls for prayer, so spiritual joy, and rejoicing in prosperous seasons, for singing of psalms: weeping, and singing of psalms, were thought, by the Jews, inconsistent. Kimchi, on the title of the third psalm, observes, that their Rabbins say, that when David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, he wept; and if he wept, why is this called a psalm? and if a psalm, , “why did he weep?”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Is any suffering? ( ;). See verse 10 for . The verb in N.T. occurs only here and in 2Tim 2:3; 2Tim 2:9; 2Tim 4:5. The lively interrogative is common in the diatribe and suits the style of James.
Among you ( ). As in 3:13.
Let him pray (). Present middle imperative, “let him keep on praying” (instead of cursing as in verse 12).
Is any cheerful (;). Present active indicative of , old verb from (Ac 27:36), in N.T. only here and Acts 27:22; Acts 27:25.
Let him sing praise (). Present active imperative of , originally to twang a chord as on a harp, to sing praise to God whether with instrument or without, in N.T. only here, 1Cor 14:15; Rom 15:9; Eph 5:19. “Let him keep on making melody.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Is afflicted [] . See on the kindred word kakopaqeia, suffering, ver. 10. Only here and 2Ti 2:3, 9; 2Ti 4:5.
Let him sing psalms [] . The word means, primarily, to pluck or twitch. Hence of the sharp twang on a bowstring or harp – string, and so to play upon a stringed instrument. Our word psalm, derived from this, is, properly, a tune played upon a stringed instrument. The verb, however, is used in the New Testament of singing praise generally. See 1Co 14:15; Rom 14:9.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) Any afflicted or in trouble is called upon to pray, relying on the promises of God, without murmuring. The heart that is laughing and glad is to sing with merriment from the Psalms, praising God for the true source of all true joy, Eph 5:19; Psa 100:1-2.
2) The implication is that true worship is the best manner of expressing both joy and sorrow to the Lord, and to one’s fellow man, Joh 4:24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
13 Is any among you afflicted? he means that there is no time in which God does not invite us to himself. For afflictions ought to stimulate us to pray; prosperity supplies us with an occasion to praise God. But such is the perverseness of men, that they cannot rejoice without forgetting God, and that when afflicted they are disheartened and driven to despair. We ought, then, to keep within due bounds, so that the joy, which usually makes us to forget God, may induce us to set forth the goodness of God, and that our sorrow may teach us to pray. For he has set the singing of psalms in opposition to profane and unbridled joy; and thus they express their joy who are led, as they ought to be, by prosperity to God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
WHEN THE SAINT SUFFERS
Text
Jas. 5:13 a.
Is any among you suffering? let him pray.
Queries
429.
Does not every Christian, even every person, suffer? Then why the question?
430.
What does the King James translation say instead of suffering?
431.
To whom is this question addressed (i.e. to what group of people?) How do you know?
432.
For what do you think the suffering saint should pray?
433.
The real problem with the sufferer is not the suffering, but something else that arises out of the suffering. What is the real problem with the sufferer?
434.
Do you think James is referring to private prayer, public prayers, or both?
435.
Do you think this solution applies to all types of suffering the Christian may meet, or only to certain cases?
436.
Would this instruction to pray also apply to the Christian situations that follow in the epistle?
Paraphrases
A. Jas. 5:13 a.
Is there any among you Christians suffering a calamity of any sort? Then he should pray concerning it.
B.*Jas. 5:13 a.
Is anyone among you suffering? He should keep on praying about it.
Summary
When you suffer, pray!
Comment
James here bridges the instruction formerly given about suffering because of wages with-held and the instruction to follow about sickness, contention, and sin. The bridge is general instruction about suffering or being in good spirits.
The instruction about suffering seems to cover a calamity of any sort whatever. Anything that would cause the Christians spirit to sink would be a calamity of sorts. Psychological turmoil, work pressure, physical pain and sickness, spiritual shortcomingthese all would be included. Calamity caused externally would also cause this suffering; a loss of money, an enforced move, a job transfer, out of work, evil accusations, persecutions, etc.
When we look at the number of situations that would be covered by this general instruction, the amazing thing is that Christians do not pray far more often. It is almost as if the Holy Spirit had made a doctors call and had prescribed a medicine to be taken constantly.
The King James version here tends to limit the type of suffering intended: but most certainly affliction is included. Of all suffering, affliction is one of the hardest to bear. This is the type of suffering Paul refers to in Heb. 10:32 ff when he says, But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of sufferings . . .
Many of the early Jews received affliction at the hands of their family and the Jewish religious leaders when they became Christians. Some were disinherited and disowned, losing their family standing. Paul goes on to describe the affliction; partly, being made a gazingstock both by reproaches and affliction; and partly, becoming partakers with them that were so used. (Heb. 10:33).
It is not uncommon in this age for young people, especially teenagers, to suffer hardship akin to this when they decide to put on Christ. It would seem that parents often fear the light of the gospel that shines through their children, thus exposing their own disobedience to God. With the prospect that their children might become Christians, parents many times will forbid their children to attend church services, or summer Christian youth camps. It is not uncommon for parents to forbid their children to be baptized into Christ; often with threats ranging all the way to disinheritance.
This type of hardship, which we call affliction, is especially hard to bear. It is suffering for righteousness sake. It is suffering that has not been earned. It is suffering at the hands of gainsayers and sinners who strike out at the light of Christ Jesus. It is the suffering of punishment where there was only love and good will given. It is the suffering of Christ. It is His cross!
Naturally, the remedy for such a hard affliction would be found through Him who showed us the way. No man ever suffered with such innocence and such intensity as did Christ. Being completely without sin, He suffered as if He had all sin. He bore the results of every mans sin on His innocent shoulders. He knows how to bear this cross, for He bore it. If any among you Christians suffer, let him pray to God through Jesus Christ who understands all our suffering.
WHEN THE SAINT IS HAPPY
Text
Jas. 5:13 b
Is any cheerful? let him sing praise.
Queries
437.
Can this saint who is cheerful be the same one who is suffering in the first part of the verse? (Think carefully)
438.
About what can the saint be cheerful?
439.
Will singing help a person even when he might not feel as cheerful as he would wish in the beginning?
440.
What other good will singing about it do?
441.
Isnt one song as good as another to sing? Why so or why not?
442.
Just what do you think the Christian should sing when he sings praises?
443.
What do you think Paul and Silas were singing about in Act. 16:25?
444.
What did they have to pray about? (Note that they were both singing and praying).
Paraphrases
A. Jas. 5:13 b
Do any among you Christians have joy in your hearts? Then let your joy in Christ spill out in song so that you can share it with others.
B.*Jas. 5:13 b
Those who have reason to be thankful should continually be singing praises to the Lord.
Summary
When you are happy in Christ, sing it!
Comment
This admonition to sing seems to be in contrast with the first part of the verse. As such it would be a simple statement: When you suffer, pray; when you are happy, sing. Such a simple approach might seem trite, or unnecessary for it is so natural and obvious. Doesnt the whole world of people sing when they are happy? Will not most people turn to God in the time of suffering?
There is more here than the superficial joy that the man of the world may have in the moment when he forgets the seriousness of life and death. Often the first taste of sin may appear to bring joy, and the drugs and drink people take because of their unsolved problems may seem to bring a moment of cheer in the process of dulling the conscience and erasing the memory temporarily. It is not this giddy forgetfulness or temporary involvement in sensuous pleasure that brings the joy about which James speaks. It is the abiding joy that comes from a contemplation of a saints family relationship with God. It is a deep-seated rejoicing in the glory that is to come to all of Gods own people. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory.
This joy comes from a peace a man has in his heart because he is right with his Maker. The peace is so great his soul is tranquil in the midst of suffering and persecution. Sickness does not remove it. Prisons, swords, and bullets do not kill it. Water will not quench it, nor fire consume it. It is a peace that passeth all understanding.
Paul and Silas has this kind of joy in their hearts. With flesh bleeding and some of their very back muscles torn from the terrible lashing, they lay on the damp prison floor. Their feet were enclosed in miserable stocks that prevented their moving about. The darkness of the inner prison pressed down upon them as if to smother them with the very lack of light. And the Scripture says of them about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them. (Act. 16:25). What a testimony concerning the extent of joy in Christ Jesus!
What is to be sung should also be considered. The Greek word (psalleto) from which we get the phrase let him sing praise has the significance of to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song (Thayer, Greek Lexicon) in its New Testament usage. Properly, the word meant to play on a harp, but in the New Testament, as in Jas. 5:13 sing a hymn (Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament).
The usage here, is to sing praises unto God. The Christian who is happy in Christ would properly and naturally want to share his joy with others. If he would do this in song, then the words he sings should carry this meaning.
How many times do Christians forget this simple truth? Feeling an elation and peace because of their relationship with God, they pick from the radio or television the most popular hit of the day to express their joy. What they say through their song is not joy in Christ Jesus, but joy in sensuous pleasure. This they may not mean, but it is what they testify. Is any cheerful? let him sing praise.
Then again, how careless we often are with the words of even the hymns we sing. All kinds of doctrines and religious beliefs are put to song, and many of them can be found in most hymn books. Some are related to pantheism, with the I see God everywhere theme. Others, though honoring the person of Christ Jesus, will dishonor His Lordship by denying the necessity for the surrendered and obedient life. We can dishonor Him by using a tune that reminds the world of sensuousness or we can dishonor Him by failing to see that the words we often sing are contrary to His teaching.
The point of the text is not limited to what is sung during worship services, but what is sung at any time. What kind of joy do we exhibit with our singing? Our joy is in whom? Why are we joyful? Let us be honest with the messages we tell through what we sing!
WHEN THE SAINT IS ILL
Text
Jas. 5:14
Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15.
And the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.
Queries
445.
What sick people are addressed here, Christians, non Christians, or both? How do you know?
446.
In this case who is it that asks for help?
447.
Whom does he ask?
448.
Is this instruction for a healing meeting?
449.
If not, why not?
450.
Does the sick man go to the elders, or the elders to the sick man?
451.
For what do you think the elders pray?
452.
Does this Scripture indicate whether or not the healing will be through natural means or through miraculous instantaneous recovery?
453.
How many other reasons for anointing a person with oil can you recall from the Scriptures? (Name them, if any).
454.
What does the word anoint mean? (First, give what you think is the first meaning, then look up the word in a good English dictionary and see what first meaning is given. Then note the second meaning).
455.
Is it possible that the kind of oil used might contribute to the healing? (If so, in what way?).
456.
What is anointing in the name of the Lord? (i.e. tell what a person would do when he anointed in the name of the Lord that would be different from anointing without the name of the Lord).
457.
In verse fifteen, we are told that something shall save him. Save him from what?
458.
What is it that the verse says shall save him?
459.
Will this thing actually do the saving, or does something else do the saving through this thing? (Read the rest of the verse before you answer).
460.
Does this verse imply that sin has caused the illness?
461.
Could it be possible that this sick person does not have sins at this time for which he needs forgiveness? (What in the verse might imply so?).
462.
Do you think the elders might have prayed for his forgiveness as well as his healing?
463.
Does this text indicate yes or no to the last question?
464.
Is this forgiveness automatic because he is sick, or could some condition apply before he is forgiven? (What conditions, if any?)
465.
How could conditions to which he must conform before he is forgiven really apply, when this verse does not state it to be so?
466.
Who will do the forgiving?
Paraphrases
A. Jas. 5:14
Are any of you Christians sick? If you are, then ask for the elders of the church, having applied oil in the name of Jesus, to come and pray over you.
15.
And the prayer of those who trust in God shall be answered in that Jesus will heal the sick and raise him from the sick bed; and if he needs forgiveness and spiritual strengthening at the same time, this too shall be given him.
B.*Jas. 5:14.
Is anyone sick? He should call for the elders of the church and they should pray over him and pour a little oil upon him, calling on the Lord to heal him.
15.
And their prayer, if offered in faith, will heal him, for the Lord will make him well; and if his sickness was caused by some sin, the Lord will forgive him.
Summary
When Christians are sick they should ask the elders to come and pray for them, for it is God that heals.
Comment
Verses fourteen and fifteen present a problem in that it is difficult to determine the exact meaning intended. There are several possibilities of meaning, and it seems that some of the various interpretations given go beyond proper exegesis. The problems involve exactly what is meant by anointing with oil; and in what way God will heal the sick. If the healing is miraculous, then we have the question of whether or not the instruction was intended for the church today. If so, then miraculous healing is valid today, or at least intended to be.
Momentarily discounting the problems, there is here some very valuable information. For one thing, this is not a healing meeting. Nowhere does God instruct the church concerning a meeting where the sick people are told to attend for miraculous healing. There is no example of the New Testament church having such a meeting. The sick Christian is not instructed to attend a church meeting where he will be publicly healed. The elders do not call for the sick, but the sick for the elders.
Among you is a phrase that indicates the sick person who is asking for such help is a Christian. He calls for the elders of his local congregation with whom he has, and has had, mutual fellowship and spiritual guidance. Prayer is not a strange thing to this sick person and he is not requesting healing from a stranger-God, but from a heavenly Father and a personal Savior. The sickness is illness of body and not a figurative representation of some spiritual need.
Concerning the anointing of the oil; this may be applied in a figurative sense representing medicine given, or the oil may be the medicine itself, or the oil may be applied as a ceremonial function, as when kings and priests were appointed to office.
The first two instances seem the most likely as the application of oil to the sick and wounded was, and still is, done for medical purposes. Mar. 6:13 is such an instance in the New Testament. Here the oil is either applied representative of the medicine given, or is the medicine itself.
In Luk. 10:34 there can be no question but that the anointing oil is medicine applied directly in the wound. The wine was poured into the wound because of the alcohol content. The antiseptic qualities in the wine served to cleanse the wound and kill the infection. This procedure is often painful (as we know from the application of alcohol today) and continues to burn for some time since the wound is exposed to the air. Application of oil, or any type of ointment that is not readily dissolved by water, serves to cut off the exposure to the air and air-borne infections. The oil feels soothing as well as being medicinal.
The fact that God does the healing in Jas. 5:15 in no way implies that medicine could not be given. Medicine does not have power to heal within itself that operates outside the jurisdiction and blessing of God. In fact, it is the writers opinion that any sick person who overcomes his illness does so only because he has received such blessing from God. From the moment a person becomes a sinner, he is under the spiritual death penalty. The penalty of physical death we have inherited from Adam; every descendant of Adam is subject to the dying process. Any delay in this death process is by the mercy of God that there might be time remaining either to repent or to do His work.
Then, why need the Christian pray? you may ask. God does answer prayer, and may give the Christian healing in answer to his prayer when healing would not have been given otherwise. In addition to this, the Christian knows who is his Great Physician, and has the specific responsibility both for seeking the blessing of healing from its source, and of giving Him thanks when the blessing is given.
Just as important, the Christian is not to tempt God by refusing to do his part in the acquisition of the blessing. God helps those who help themselves is an old saying that has much truth. Satan tempted Jesus by asking Jesus to cast Himself down, thus deliberately seeking the interference and help of angelic beings where such help was unnecessary. If Christians should deliberately refuse to consult a physician or apply medicine, demanding that God do it all and that they will do nothing, this is a form of tempting God.
Some go even further by deliberately injuring themselves and demanding that God do the healing. This is such an outright tempting of God that it is a wonder that God does not immediately leave them all to die on the spot. An example of this is the handling of poisonous snakes. Such handling is not necessary and has no purpose other than to demonstrate Gods care, thus repeating the devils temptation of Jesus. Refusing to summon a doctor or to apply medicine would have much in common with this type of temptation.
Whether miraculous or by providence, the healing is still accomplished by God. If the healing is miraculous, it probably is a part of the spiritual gifts described in 1Co. 12:9 the gift of healing. As such, this gift would have vanished with the ceasation of all the gifts described in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul did say that these gifts would cease and be done away (1Co. 13:8-9); and a more excellent way for guiding the church and motivating Christian action would be given (1Co. 12:31; 1 Corinthians 13.).
If the healing is by providence, the admonition is proper for the Christians today. Since the other instruction within the same section is applicable to all saints, this writer tends to prefer the interpretation that makes this calling for the prayers of the elders applicable today. The instruction, however, is seldom followed by most churches. This results in most Christians failing to acknowledge God as the author of their healing, and failing to give Him thanks when this blessing is given. When this happens, the Christian misses so much in spiritual growth and nearness to God that it probably contributes much to the laxity and lack of spirituality in the churches today.
The sins forgiven are probably sins that contributed to the illness. The admonition could, no doubt, apply to any sins for which the sick person needed forgiveness. The forgiveness of sins is not an automatic result of the mans illness, but comes as a result of the intercessory prayer of the elders as well as the petition for forgiveness by the sick person. Such forgiveness conditioned upon the repentance of the sinning Christian, as is taught elsewhere in the scriptures.
If the one calling for the help of the elders turns out to be a sinning Christian, he should be encouraged to become conscious of his spiritual condition that he would be encouraged to confess his sins to God and seek forgiveness. This is probably meant as a condition upon which such a person would seek healing from God for his physical sickness.
WHEN THE SAINTS SIN AGAINST ONE ANOTHER
Text
Jas. 5:16.
Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.
17.
Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months.
18.
And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
Queries
457.
Therefore ties two things together. What two things in this instance?
468.
What does the King James Version say instead of sins in verse sixteen?
469.
Which version includes the most, the sins of the American Standard (above) or the word used in King James?
470.
It is generally understood by many saints that confession of sins is made to God and confession of Christ is made to people. Generally speaking, what sins should be confessed to another person?
471.
Since the elders were praying for the sick Christian who had sinned in Jas. 5:15; do you think the another in verse sixteen should be limited to the elders? Why so or why not?
472.
In the light of the Roman Catholic view of confession to the priest, does this passage suggest that a church official (minister, priest, elder, etc.) has the right to forgive these sins that are confessed to him?
473.
What if the sins in question No. 472 were committed against the person who hears the confession of them; does he then possess the sole right to forgive them? (Remember what Jesus said on the cross about forgiving them (who crucified Him) and what Stephen said about who should forgive them (who stoned him).
474.
What are two possibilities of the word healed in verse sixteen?
475.
Because of the therefore in verse sixteen, the healed would probably refer to healing of what?
476.
What does supplication mean? (Look it up if you do not know).
477.
What is a righteous man?
478.
Restate the meaning of the last sentence in verse sixteen; in the negative form; (i.e. in your statement, refer to an unrighteous man instead of a righteous man).
479.
In the phrase its working, just what is working, and who does the work?
480.
Can you substitute another word for passions that might be clearer for our English today?
481.
The original language in verse seventeen says he prayed with prayer; how could this be translated (correctly) he prayed fervently?
482.
Look up the passage in 1Ki. 17:11. Did Elijah in the Old Testament account pray for rain?
483.
Then how do you know he really did pray for rain?
484.
How do you harmonize three years and six months with the Old Testament reference to in the third year in 1Ki. 18:1?
485.
How many times did Elijah pray before the servant saw a small cloud coming? (1Ki. 18:20-45).
486.
When the text says that Elijah was like us, does this mean we can, with Gods help, do miracles like Elijah? In what way then was he like us?
487.
Since the heaven gave the rain, what did God have to do with it? (Can not God in the same way give us healing today?).
Paraphrases
A. Jas. 5:16.
Since God is ready to forgive your sins, then confess them to one another and also pray for each other that your sickness will be healed. The petitions of a righteous man avail so much they usually win out.
17.
Elijah was a natural man like us, and he prayed with intensity that it would not rain; and for three and a half years it didnt rain.
18.
After that he prayed for rain, and rain came from the sky, and growing things were green again.
B. Jas. 5:16.
Since it is true that God forgives you your sins, then confess to your brother your sins against him, and each of you pray for the other that your sins will be healed. God usually grants requests made through the prayers of sincere Christians.
17.
Elijah had the same kind of desires and troubles we do, and when he sought with prayer that it wouldnt rain, it didnt for three and a half years.
18.
Then when he prayed for rain, God gave it and the drought was broken.
C.*Jas. 5:16.
Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results.
17.
Elijah was as perfectly human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and one half years!
18.
Then he prayed again, this time that it would rain, and down it poured and the grass turned green and the gardens began to grow again.
Summary
Since God forgives at the request of a righteous man we should confess our sins to each other. God heard Elijahs prayers, and He will hear ours.
Comment
Therefore ties the previous thought with that which follows. Although the word is not in all the MSS, it does seem to be genuine and belongs in the text as given. The idea is that since God forgives at the prayer requests of saint, we should confess our sins to each other so that we would pray specifically and intelligently for one another.
The problem in the verse concerns what is healed in this instance. Since the subject of verse sixteen is primarily the forgiveness of sins, there is a distinct possibility that the healing of this verse is spiritual and concerns the Christians soul, sick with sin. The therefore ties the entire thought of confessing, praying for, and forgiving of sins in verse sixteen with the fact mentioned in verse fifteen that God does forgive sins.
If this be the case, then we have one major thought in verse fifteen: God will heal the body of the sick Christian; and another thought in verse sixteen: God will heal the soul of the sinning Christian. The two thoughts are connected with the phrases: and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. Therefore. . . .
Another possibility which may in some ways seem even more plausible is that James is talking about one major problem in the entire section, verses thirteen to twenty. Those who hold to this view generally claim the central thought to be the healing of the body of the sick Christian. Singing, prayer, suffering, and sinning are all thus related to the central concern, the sick Christian.
To this writer the latter view seems to be an over-emphasis on the importance of sickness of body, there is a sickness that is more serious. Jesus did heal the body and forgive sins in the same instance, but His healing was at times stated to be for the purpose of showing He had authority to forgive sins. Of the two, sin-sickness of soul is by far the more serious. When the information of this section (Jas. 5:13-20) is carefully analyzed James has far more to say about sin than about physical sickness.
And now, supposing the main subject of verse sixteen to be sin, what kind of sin is to be confessed to the brother? All kinds? This could be, and if so it would call for a far greater amount of love, compassion, understanding, and earnest desire for the welfare of each other than many Christians show. The thought would then be that the Christian should not only confess his faults (King James) but all his sins. The idea is to unburden the general sinful trials on one another and join in prayers to God that these burdens will be lifted.
However, confession of sins one to another generally concerns a sin where one man has wronged another. Before a gift is acceptable to God, there must be a reconciliation with the brother (Mat. 5:24). When a brother has sinned against another, the two should discuss it between themselves (Mat. 18:15 ff). A detailed confession of sins, on the other hand, is to be done before God. Nor is a church official, priest or elder, the mediator through which a Christian must go in order to confess to God.
So it would seem quite possible the sin confessed to the brother is the sin committed against the brother. This is the confession that must be made in order to restore harmony. Even as with God forgiveness is conditioned upon repentance, so in the commandments to forgive one another, repentance is implied. A brother who is penitent enough to confess his guilt touches the heart-strings of him who has the responsibility of forgiving. God requires confession and repentance for restitution of the Christian. (Act. 8:22; 1Jn. 1:7-9).
If we only knew what power there is available through prayer! God has a very sympathetic ear, and He is very reluctant to hold anything back which we as sincere Christians would request of Him. The supplication (entreaty) of a righteous man is like the earnest imploring of an obedient son to his father. The request availeth much in its working, means the way that it is very powerful or mighty in bringing about the desired result. This is the literal meaning of the passage. A man after Gods own heart has a great influence with God through his petitions.
This is true both with petitions for the healing of a sick brother and for requests for compassion on a soul-sick brother that has wronged that one who is praying. Jesus prayed for those who had wronged Him even as He died at their hands. Stephen likewise asked for the compassion of God upon those who stoned him to death.
James present subject, however, is that the petitions of Gods loving sons really do have a tremendous influence with God. James illustrates this with the case of Elijahs prayers for drought. The Old Testament account does not actually say that Elijah prayed for the period in which it did not rain, but the thought in no way contradicts the account. The same Holy Spirit that inspired the writing of the Old Testament account also inspired the revealing of this additional information in James: it rained not for three and a half years because of Elijahs prayers.
Some, without thinking it through, might think that the period of three and a half years contradicts the passage in 1Ki. 18:1 which says that in the third year Elijah was told to go show himself to Ahab. The Old Testament does not say how much longer it was before the drought was broken. (It could have been six months!) Nor does the Old Testament account say from what time the three year period was measured. It could have been counted from some event that happened six months before the drought started. In other words, we could not know for certain how long the drought lasted if the Holy Spirit had not revealed it to us in the James passage, and in the account in Luk. 4:25.
The account of Elijahs prayer for rain is told in detail in the Old Testament. In 1Ki. 18:20-45 we find that Elijah prayed seven times before the answer was visible. This is truly an example of a righteous man praying with prayer, or fervently praying. But it is the result that James wants the reader to notice. The drought was in effect because of the fervent request; and the rain came to break the drought for the same reason.
But, one may ask, do we have a right to pray for rain today? Most certainly! This would especially be true if the rain were for a righteous purpose. And God would answer the prayer as He answered Elijah: through natural means. Some may call it miraculous because God actually sends the thing asked. If this is the definition of a miracle, then God performs miracles today as much as He ever did, for He continues to answer prayer. We might note that a cloud (in Elijahs case) came from the horizon and grew larger. Then when the heavens opened up, they really had a rain! Strictly speaking, this is God working through providence (or through His normal way of working). Had there been no cloud in the sky with the sun shining sparkling and clear, and at the same time a tremendous rain was falling, this would have been God working through the miraculous (or through something other than His normal way of working). Although God sometimes answered prayers through miraculous means in the period when new revelations were being given through the prophets, we have no right to demand that God answer through His miracles today.
Since there are no new revelations being given (Gods Word is complete and final), it is enough that He grants our petitions.
In the same way God will grant our requests for healing of the sick. Our petitions are heard and avail much with our heavenly Father. But we would have no right to demand that He must do the healing through miraculous means. There is no new revelation being given to be proved by the miracle. It is enough that He grants our requests and gives the healing. Is not this what we sought? (If we were really looking for a miracle rather than the healing, then our prayers were not honest!)
This brings us another thought; is it proper for a Christian to request something of God and remain passive, doing nothing to help, expecting that God will do it all? If God should give us our requests lying at our feet to be picked up, do we have the right to say: God this is your doing and not mine. Therefore, I am not going to stoop over to pick up the blessing. You must place it in my hand so that I will know You did it! How often we tempt God with this attitude! We ask God for healing, but at the same time demand that it must be a miracle; that God must do all of it; and that we shall do nothing. We fervently pray for healing, but refuse to wash the wounds with disinfectant (somehow claiming that God would not be doing the healing if we did). We ask God to heal the broken arm but will not see the doctor to have it set. Is this not tempting God even as the devil tempted Jesus to cast Himself down?
Our prayers for spiritual help and blessings are often no better. To pray that God would save a soul while we do nothing to bring it about, is insulting to God in that we are ignoring His revealed scheme of redemption. God has ordained to comfort others primarily through His saints. He desires to help others through making His children givers, even as He is a giver. His plan is that souls will be saved by the witness of His Word through those who already know Him. The New Testament abounds with such phrases as Ye are my witnesses, and through the foolishness of that which is preached. In both parable and commandment we have the admonition to go into all the world. If we could only realize the vanity of asking God for help but demanding that He not work His help through us, nor through natural means, nor through any means He has already chosen. And when He has already revealed His choice of working, it is for us to know and follow that revelation.
WHEN THE SAINT ERRS FROM THE TRUTH
Text
Jas. 5:19.
My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one convert him;
20.
let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.
Queries
488.
Who is specifically addressed in these two verses? 489. Is the person who errs from the truth a Christian, or non Christian? How do you know?
490.
From what truth is this brother erring?
491.
When he is converted, he is changed from what to what? (See Jas. 5:20 for a clue to the answer).
492.
Is the expression let him know in Jas. 5:20 a commandment? If so, whom do we let know this truth?
493.
The expression could also be second person plural, and as such would read know ye (indicative) or we know (imperative). Which reading makes the most sense in the context: let him know or know ye?
494.
Who is the sinner in verse twenty? (Has he been mentioned before?)
495.
What soul is saved from death?
496.
Whose sins are covered? (Look carefully to see whose sins need covering).
497.
From what kind of death is this soul saved?
498.
Does this passage indicate anything about the value of a human soul?
499.
Explain how a man who held to the once in grace always in grace doctrine might have difficulty with understanding this passage.
500.
How many times in chapter five has James addressed his readers with the affectionate title of brethren?
Paraphrases
A Jas. 5:19.
My dear brothers, if any of you have fallen in sin, and someone changes him back to his former life with Christ;
20.
Let this someone know that anyone who leads a sinning Christian back to the Lord has saved that soul from death and has covered his many sins.
B.*Jas. 5:19.
Dear brothers, if anyone has slipped away from God and no longer trusts the Lord, and someone helps him understand the Truth again,
20.
That person who brings him back to God will save a wandering soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of his many sins.
Summary
Brethren, if any of you sin then turn that one back to the Lord that his soul will be saved.
Comment
James here is referring to the sinning Christian. He is not speaking of someone who has sinned and has already repented. Nor is he speaking of someone who is sinning and has never been a Christian. He is speaking concerning the Christian who has erred from the truth and is now a sinner. If he is not converted, he is in danger of eternal death. His many sins are no longer covered by the blood of Christ because he has departed from Christ. His state is desperate for his soul is in as much danger as one who has never known the Lord Jesus.
The cause of this mans rejection of the blood of Christ is indicated by the expression err from the truth. He has either deceived himself or has been deceived until now he no longer believes nor follows the plain teaching of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. He knows to do good, but is not doing it. He knows the teaching of Christ, but has departed from it. Not only has he departed in heart, but he has departed in deed. He needs to be converted from the error of his way.
Some people believe that once a man is a Christian he can never again become in danger of eternal death. They claim that a Christian, though he may sin, cannot sin to the point of damnation. They believe God guarantees his repentance before death.
The doctrine is Calvanistic and contrary to the plain teaching of the New Testament. Heb. 10:26 makes it clear that a Christian who continues to sin willfully is fallen from grace. In Heb. 6:1-6 it is clear that while a former Christian remains in the state of sin he cannot be renewed to repentance. The warning is not an idle gesture about something that can never happen. Gal. 5:4 plainly states that Christians who put themselves back under the law system have fallen from grace. Paul warns of the danger of falling away in 1Co. 9:27. All of the epistles of the New Testament are filled with warnings to Christians that they can go back into the mire of sin and lose their souls.
With this fact in mind, the Jas. 5:19-20 passage is very clear in meaning. One who was once a Christian may need conversion as desperately as any other man. When the saint errs from the truth, the brethren should be most concerned to convert him to save his soul from death. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Gal. 6:1).
The first phrase in verse twenty offers some difficulty in translation. The MMS do differ, but the let him know of our text is the best reading. The meaning would thus be: If any of you Christians err from the truth, and one man converts him, let that man know that he who converts a sinner . . . The Vatican MMS reading would be: If any of you Christians err from the truth, and one converts him ye know that he who converts a sinner. . . .
In either case the intention is clear. James wishes to publicize the knowledge that a sinning Christian who is brought back to Christ is a soul saved from death. The death is eternal damnation, the second death of which the Bible warns. Most certainly repentance would not save a man from dying the death of this life, else no sincere Christian would die.
The multitude of sins that are covered are the sins of the sinner. Some hold to a peculiar doctrine of doing good to others to cover their own sins, but to so interpret this verse would be a twisted application. James has made it quite clear that the fallen saint has erred from the truth and is a man of sin that needs converting. When he repents, it is the sinner who is saved from death, so quite properly it is the sinners sins that are covered by this repentance.
CHAPTER XI
FIVE REMEDIES FOR THE CHRISTIAN
Jas. 5:13-20
Introduction
The trying situation in which the greedy rich have with-held wages from the poor has already been discussed by James. Following this, he admonishes the saint to be patient in his Christian life during this suffering. Christ will soon come, and the suffering will not be long.
Having given this general instruction, James now proceeds to list five differing situations of this life in which the Christian might find himself. In each situation, James gives a recommended action. Four of the five situations are adverse, so the action recommended may be said to be a remedy. One of the situations (happy, or merry) recommends an action that will enhance the situation rather than remedy it.
In all of these situations, Christ is the author of the solution. Whether giving Him praise, requests in prayer from Him, asking His intercession, or requesting strength and wisdom, He remains the Great Physician. He lifts the burden, heals the wounds of the soul, administers to the sick, and patches up the broken remains of quarreling saints. In Him, truly, the saint can live and move and have his entire existence. To live in, with, and for Christ is to have the peace that passes all understanding. There is no joy that compares to the joy unspeakable, and no hope other than hope through Him.
It is very fitting that this practical instruction from the pen of James should come to its conclusion with the most useful admonition of all. Here is real help for the saint in need. We not only have the source of the medicine given, but are told how to mix and apply it. It is like a string of jewels, each one beautiful as it fills its place on the string. Then, hanging at the end, are five of the most beautiful gems of all. Each one, clear and sparkling, promises joy and peace to its wearer. This is a necklace whose value is more than rubies. It is a chain of jewels for the child of the King!
Many commentators prefer to read this portion of the book as partly applying to Christians of all times, and partly applying to only the early church under the guidance of the special spiritual gifts. This author prefers the view that if a large part of these special instructions apply to the church of all times, then it is probably intended that the entire instruction applies to the church until Christ again comes.
EIGHT THREE-POINT SERMON STARTERS
WHEN THE SAINT SUFFERS Jas. 5:13 a
Let Him Pray:
1.
To God who controls all.
2.
Through Christ who suffered in all points as we.
3.
For strength to bear it, if it need be.
WHEN A CHRISTIAN IS MERRY Jas. 5:13 b
1.
Let him express his joy.
2.
Sing his praise unto God before men.
3.
Refuse to sing words and tunes that promote sensuousness and non-Christian influences.
ANOINTING WITH OIL Jas. 5:14
1.
Practiced when appointed one to office (O.T. examples).
2.
An application upon the sick (Medicinal).
3.
Done in the name of Jesus.
ARE YOU SICK, BROTHER? Jas. 5:14-15
1.
Call the elders of the church
(Doctor and medicine does nothing unless God consents).
2.
Let them pray over him, anointing with oil.
3.
God grants the healing; not the oil, nor the medicine, nor the doctorthough these have their part.
DIVINE HEALING Jas. 5:13-15
1.
The sick call for the elders. (No healing meeting).
2.
God heals the sick. (In answer to prayer, through providence, to give more opportunity for service and/or repentance.
3.
God forgives sins of the sick (When they meet the New Testament requirements for forgiveness).
WHEN WE SIN ONE AGAINST ANOTHER Jas. 5:16
1.
Desire to change the matter.
2.
Confess the fault to the person wronged.
3.
Pray for one anothers repentant life and forgiveness.
WHEN THE CHRISTIAN ERRS Jas. 5:19-20
1.
Our duty is to teach and let all know what to do when a Christian sins.
2.
A Christians duty at the time one sins: to convert the sinner.
3.
The sinners duty is to repent from the error of his ways.
A CHRISTIAN IN DANGER OF DEATH Jas. 5:19-20
1.
Cause: (a) To err from the truth; (b) To become a sinner.
2.
Remedy: To convert the sinner.
3.
Result: (a) A soul saved from death; (b) A multitude of sins covered.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(13) We now pass on to advice of different kindsto the heavy-laden or light-hearted, to the suffering and afflicted. Prayer is to be the refuge of one, praise the safeguard of another; the whole life is to revolve, as it were, around the throne of God, whether in the night of grief or day of joy.
Let him pray.No worthier comment can be found than Montgomerys hymn
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
Long petitions, or many, cannot be always made; mind and body may be too weak and ill; but ejaculationsArrows of the Lords deliverance, as Augustine called them, shot out with a sudden quicknessthese are ever in the power of the beleaguered Christian. And
More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of.
Let him sing.The word originally applied to instrumental music, the Eastern accompaniment of psalms. Praise, like prayer, ought to be individual as well as congregational. Hymns might be used by all in their devotions, and could not fail to be a blessing; while for those who have Gods great gift of music, it were surely better to singas the Apostle urgesthan to say. There is a sadness latent in the most jubilant of earthly tunes, but not so with the heavenly; and quiring angels do not scorn to catch our humblest notes, and weave them in their endless song, if they be raised in thankfulness to Him Whom they and all creation praise.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
CONCLUSIONS
1. Consolations for the sad, the merry, the sick; the prayer of faith, Jas 5:13-18.
13. Our apostle now shows better methods than swearing to give vent to our moods.
Afflicted Suffers one any evil? Let him not swear, but pray! Merry Cheery, in good spirits? Let him not blaspheme, but sing psalms. These are the richest methods of letting forth our abounding nature within the sphere of the blessed and divine. No need of oaths, or bacchanalian riot, in order to the most joyous and happy activities of our souls and voices.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Is any among you suffering? Let him pray.’
The first injunction is concerning those who are ‘suffering, afflicted, going through hard times’ (compare the use of the word in 2Ti 2:2 ; 2Ti 2:9; 2Ti 4:5). They are suffering and enduring trials (compare Jas 1:2-12). And what they are to do is pray (compare Jas 1:5-8). For prayer will keep them in close touch with God which will enable them to patiently endure. It is the very opposite of the cavalier attitude of the travelling businessmen in Jas 4:13-17.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise.’
The second injunction concerns those who are not at present undergoing trials, and who are not burdened down by failure. They are ‘cheerful’. Life is going well for them. What must they do? They must sing praises (compare Eph 5:18-19; Col 3:16; Rom 15:9). They must worship their God and express their gratitude in song.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Practical Advice in the Midst of Trials – When we face trials and afflictions, we have two choices. We can either choose to rejoice, or we can sorrow. In order to learn how to rejoice in the midst of trials, which is the theme of this epistle (verse 2), we are taught in Jas 5:13 to sing psalms and worship the Lord in an act of faith. This effort to worship God will lift us out of our sorrows. As we learn to practice this action of faith, it becomes easier for us to maintain our joy during these trials.
However, if we do not learn to walk in joy, then we will be overcome by sorrow. It is this sustained sorrow that will lead to sickness (Jas 5:14). But thanks be unto God for His endless grace. He has made a way for us to be healed if we do not learn to rejoice. If we will simply call the elders of the church to pray for us (Jas 5:15) and acknowledge our sins (verse 16), then God will forgive us and heal our bodies. This is because sin has been the root cause of the sickness in the first place. Jas 5:17-18 gives us an example of how effective prayer is despite our human frailty if we will only believe. Then Jas 5:19-20 tell us to watchful to know when our brethren fall into sorrow and sin, so that we may help them escape this entrapment before it leads them into sorrow and ultimately sickness. In this world of wrong suffering, it is easy to allow sin to creep in. The church has been ordained by God to help one another overcome sin, not to condemn the brethern. Thus, the epistle of James opens and closes with the same exhortation to rejoice during trials of afflictions.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Different ways to Pray Jas 5:13-16
2. Elijah an Example Jas 5:17-18
Jas 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Jas 5:13
2Ti 2:9, “Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.”
Paul tells Timothy to endure such afflictions also:
2Ti 4:5, “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions , do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”
An example of affliction in today’s society would be someone who is going through a divorce.
Jas 5:13 “let him pray” – Comments – We are to pray whether things are good or bad. Many Christians tend to pray only when things go bad for them.
Jas 5:13 “Is any merry” – Comments – Joy is not reserved for the good times and comfortable circumstances, but to be merry in difficult times as well. Note:
Jas 1:2, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;”
Act 27:22, “And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.”
Act 27:25, “Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.”
Jas 5:13 “let him sing psalms” Comments – Note:
Act 16:25, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”
1Co 14:15, “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”
Praise is a weapon in spiritual warfare:
Psa 8:2, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.”
2Co 10:4, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)”
This leaves no room for worldly music of any type, only God inspired music. Note:
Eph 5:19, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”
Col 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
Jas 5:13 Illustration:
Psalms 42
Jas 5:13
Pro 15:15, “All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.”
Jas 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
Jas 5:14
Jas 5:14 “let him call for” Comments – This is an act of faith by the church member in obedience to God’s Word.
Jas 5:14 “the elders of the church” – Comments – An elder must keep sin out of his life in order to have a prayer of faith. Note 1Ti 3:1-13, Tit 1:5-9.
Jas 5:14 “and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” Comments – Oil, seen as a symbol of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture, is used with prayer to demonstrate to those observing that it is the Holy Spirit, as God’s power, doing the healing and not man.
Jas 5:14 Comments – A. B. Simpson notes that this passage was authored by James, the bishop of the mother church in Jerusalem, a leader who had the authority to confirm the decrees at the first Council of Jerusalem, to which the apostles and elders submitted and accepted. In this verse, this great leader of the early church commits the power to lay hands on the sick to the elders in foreign cities, to those who are in touch with the flock, who are within reach of suffering humanity.
This verse is more than just a suggestion to the church when they are sick. It is a decree that establishes the healing ministry to pass from the apostles to the church leaders. The decree that Jesus first handed down to the apostles in Mar 6:13 and then to the seventy elders, James now passes down to all of the elders of “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (Jas 1:1).
Mar 6:13, “And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.”
Jas 1:1, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”
This fact is seen in that the early apostles saw themselves as ministers of the new covenant. They realized that they had been given the authority to reveal this new covenant with as high authority as they held the Jewish Old Testament Scriptures. According to 2Co 3:1-11, they were appointed ministers of this new covenant.
2Co 3:6, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
They gave commandment by divine authority.
1Co 7:17, “But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches .”
1Co 14:37, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
1Th 4:2, “For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.”
These apostolic epistles began to be read at church gatherings along with the Old Testament Scriptures.
Col 4:16, “And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.”
1Th 5:27, “I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.”
Thus, these writings began to hold equal authority to the Old Testament Scriptures.
2Pe 3:16, “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
Therefore, as this epistle from James, the bishop of the church in Jerusalem, began to be distributed to other churches, the elders scattered throughout the known world began to receive this decree as a commission for them to begin praying for the sick in their churches, believing that God would honor this decree and heal the sick. This ordinance became a standard practice in the early church and is still used today in almost all Christian circles.
Finally, note that when the Scriptures mention a matter two or more times, it is confirmed as a practice for the New Testament Church. This is because a matter is confirmed in the mouth of two or three witnesses (2Co 13:1).
2Co 13:1, “This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”
Thus, it was necessary for the New Testament Scriptures to refer to the anointing with oil twice (Mar 6:13, Jas 5:14) in order to establish this practice as an ordinance in the Church, just as foot washing is mentioned twice in the New Testament (Joh 13:1-17, 1Ti 5:10) and has become an ordinance in some churches.
Joh 13:14, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
1Ti 5:10, “Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.”
This is also why we bless our meals before we eat, because we are following the examples of Jesus in the Scriptures.
Jas 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Jas 5:15
A skeptic may reason that if sin has caused this sickness, and God’s chastisement is being applied to this poor soul in order to teach him obedience, what gives the elders of the church the right to undo this curse. The answer is easy. Jesus gave the New Testament Church the authority to both judge sin and to forgive sin.
Joh 20:23, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”
Because this same authority rests under the divine power of His name, He has given this same authority to the Church when we use His name. We see this authority given to the Church again in 1Jn 5:16.
1Jn 5:16, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.”
An illustration of this authority is seen is Paul’s two letters to the Corinthians. In the first epistle, Paul told the church to deliver a sinner over to Satan.
1Co 5:4-5, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
In his second epistle, Paul gave the church the authority to forgive his sin, and receive such a one back into the body of Christ.
2Co 2:7, “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”
Therefore, when a sick person comes to church and asks for the elders to pray over him, this faith is also an act of repentance and humility before God. God is quick to forgive, even quicker to forgive that person than a man or woman who knows of the sin is the sick person’s life. So, we are to be careful not to judge others too quickly.
Note these insightful words from Frances J. Roberts regarding sin and sickness:
“How can I give you healing for your body whilst there is anxiety in thy mind? So long as there is dis-ease in thy thoughts, there shall be disease in thy body. Ye have need of many things, but one thing in particular ye must develop for thine own preservation, and that is an absolute confidence in My loving care.
“‘Come unto Me’, it is written, ‘all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’ (Mat 11:28) Only when your mind is at rest can your body build health. Worry is an actively destructive force. Anxiety produces tension, and tension is the road to pain. Anger throws poison into the system that no anti-biotic ever can counter.
“‘Be sure your sin will find you out’, the Bible states. One of the most common ways that hidden sin is revealed is through the maladies of the body. More arthritis is brought about by resentments and r than is caused by wrong diet. Moe asthma is caused by repressed fury than by pollen or cat fur.
“There was no illness in the body of Jesus because there was no sin in His soul. There was weariness as a natural result of labor and sacrificial service, but there was no undue fatigue and exhaustion brought on by anxiety.” [121]
[121] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 92-3.
Jas 5:15 Comments – If we believe that fear and worry can cause sickness in our bodies, then why is it hard to believe that faith can heal the body. This is because faith is the opposite of fear.
Jas 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Jas 5:16
Jas 3:2, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”
Illustration – A word of knowledge can point out someone who has a certain infirmity in a congregation. If that person stands and acknowledges his need, God can have the church pray for them and God will heal them quickly.
Jas 5:16 Comments – Note that the command to confess our faults is found within the context of asking the elders for the prayer of faith for healing (verses 14-15). We then see in verse 16 that this confession precedes the healing, “Confess your faults one to another.that ye may be healed.” The order in verse 16 is confession, prayer from others, followed by healing. This is because sin has to be dealt with during the process of divine healing. Note:
Mat 9:5, “For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?”
The Scriptures have always associated sin with sickness.
Psa 103:3, “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;”
Isa 58:8, “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.”
Mat 9:5, “For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?”
We have a similar verse in 1Jn 1:9, which tells us to confess our sins and the Lord will forgive them.
1Jn 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Jas 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Jas 5:17
[122] Emmanuel Scott, “Sermon,” Chapel Service, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, 1980-83.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Jam 5:13. Is any among you afflicted? &c. These two directions concerning prayer when they were afflicted, and praise when they were easy and cheerful, seem to refer to private devotion, and not to their public worship: for if one person was afflicted, and another quite easy, what might suit one, would, according to this rule of the apostle, have been unfit for the other: accordingly it is put in the singular number.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jas 5:13 . If one among you suffers, let him pray; if one is of good courage, let him sing psalms. This exhortation stands in no assignable connection with what goes before. The sufferings to which Jas 5:7 ff. refer are those of persecution; but has here an entirely general meaning. On account of the following , many expositors (Beza, Semler, Rosenmller, Hottinger) incorrectly explain = “ to be dejected ” (Vulgate: tristatur quis). It rather means to be unfortunate, to suffer , in which aegritudo animo is certainly to be considered as included. Pott incorrectly takes it as equivalent to the following , which is only a particular, kind of .
] denotes prayer generally; there is no reason to limit it here to petition.
] literally, to touch, used particularly of stringed instruments; in the LXX. the translation of and = to sing psalms; comp. particularly 1Co 14:15 . Both joy and sorrow should be the occasion of prayer to the Christian. The form of the sentence is the same as in 1Co 7:18 ; 1Co 7:27 . Meyer: “The protases do not convey a question, being in the rhetorically emphatic form of the hypothetical indicative;” see Winer, p. 152 [E. T. 213], p. 255 [E. T. 355], p. 478 [E. T. 678]. [239]
[239] Lachmann has after the sentence containing the hypothesis put a mark of interrogation. Al. Buttmann, p. 195 [E. T. 226], rightly declares this to be unnecessary, but has in his edition of the N. T. adopted the same punctuation.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Ver. 13. Is any among you afflicted? ] Any one may, for grace is no target against affliction.
Let him pray ] Not only because prayer is suitable to a sad disposition, but because it is the conduit of comfort, and hath virtutem pacativam, a settling efficacy. Besides there is no time for hearing of prayers like the time of affliction. Then the saints may have anything of God with reason, for then his heart is turned within him, his repentings are kindled together,Hos 11:8Hos 11:8 . SeeZec 13:9Zec 13:9 ; Psa 91:15 . Then it was that Lot had Zoar given him; David, the lives of his enemies; Paul, all the souls in the ship, &c. See the promise,Psa 50:15Psa 50:15 .
Is any man merry? ] Gr. , 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.
Let him sing psalms ] So that in all estates we must be doing somewhat for God. Tam Dei meminisse opus est, quam respirare. A Christian’s whole life is divided into praying and praising, as David’s Psalms are. If he begin with petition, he commonly concludes with thanksgiving. Thus, by a holy craft, he insinuates into God’s favour, driving a trade between earth and heaven, receiving and returning, importing one commodity and transporting another.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 .] The connexion seems to be, Let not this light and frivolous spirit at any time appear among you; if suffering, or if rejoicing, express your feelings not by random and unjustifiable exclamations, but in a Christian and sober manner, as here prescribed. Is any among you in trouble (the classical usages are , Thuc. iv. 29, of the Athenian soldiers besieging the Lacedmonians in Sphacteria, ib. i. 122, , &c. The suffering inflicted, not the state of him who suffers , is called ; see on Jam 5:10 )? let him pray. Is any in joy (light of heart)? let him sing praise (lit. play on an instrument: but used in reff. Rom. and 1 Cor. and elsewhere of singing praise generally. The word ‘ Psalm ’ is an evidence of this latter sense).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Jas 5:13 . : See note on Jas 5:10 ; it refers perhaps rather to mental worry or distress, while refers to some specific bodily ailment. : only found elsewhere in Act 27:22 ; Act 27:25 in the N.T. : refers both to playing on a stringed instrument ( Sir 9:4 ) and to singing (Eph 5:19 ), and is also used of singing with the spirit (1Co 14:15 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jas 5:13-18
13Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
Jas 5:13-17 This entire section is primarily dealing with the importance and power of prayer (as a positive use of the tongue) in all circumstances, not only in healing procedures! It contrasts Jas 5:12 by showing the proper use of the name of God.
In this context there are three questions related to suffering, joy, and sickness, but only the last one is expanded and discussed. The three questions provide guidelines for believers dealing with life’s problems: (1) pray; (2) sing praises; and (3) ask for help from mature Christians.
“he must pray. . .sing praises” These verbs are a present middle imperative and a present active imperative. We get the English word “psalm” from “praises” (cf. Rom 15:9; 1Co 14:15; Eph 5:19; Col 3:16). Jas 5:13 may be saying that prayer and praise are always appropriate to God (cf. Rom 12:12; 1Th 5:16-17) in all of our circumstances (suffering or joy).
Jas 5:14 “Is anyone among you sick” This is literally “without strength.” The term astheneia was used of both lack of physical strength (i.e., 2Co 11:30; 2Co 12:5; 1Ti 5:23) and lack of spiritual strength (cf. 1Co 8:9; 2Co 11:29) or purity (cf. Rom 6:19; Heb 4:15). This ambiguity may have been purposeful in a context where sin is linked to sickness. It is grammatically uncertain whether this should be a question (cf. NASB, NKJV, NRSV, TEV) or a statement (cf. NJB, New Century Version).
The theological question is whether (1) Jas 5:13’s suffering is paralleled to Jas 5:14’s sickness or (2) they are two separate experiences of believers in a fallen world. James has discussed “suffering and patience”; now he discusses “prayer and sickness.”
SPECIAL TOPIC: IS HEALING GOD’S PLAN FOR EVERY AGE?
“call for the elders” This is an aorist middle (deponent) imperative. Notice that it is the responsibility of the sick one to request a visit from the “elders.” These procedures were to be done at the home of the weak one, not necessarily the gathered church, especially if the “anointing” was a medical massage or rubdown. Also this scenario shows the need for women “deacons” or “elders” in the physical ministry to women. Notice that the term “elders” is plural, as it is so often in the NT. The context of James is a believing Jewish fellowship; therefore, “elders” is probably not used in the NT sense of “pastors,” “bishops” (cf. Act 20:17; Act 20:28; Tit 1:5; Tit 1:7), but in the OT sense of “elders” of the synagogue. The rabbis and designated leaders of the synagogues regularly visited and anointed the sick.
“of the church” This is the Greek term ekklesia, which literally meant “called out ones.” It was used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew term qahal or “assembly” of Israel. In secular Greek it originally meant a local town assembly (cf. Act 19:32; Act 19:39; Act 19:41). It is interesting theologically that the emphasis here is on local leaders, not itinerant faith healers. Healing is a spiritual gift which is mentioned in 1Co 12:9; 1Co 12:28 and was widely practiced in the NT and the early church. Notice that the elders were to go to the sick when requested, not the sick to the gathered church meeting. This was to be a private spiritual procedure.
“they are to pray over him” This is an aorist middle imperative. This is the main verb of the context. Prayer is the main subject of this entire context:
“he must pray” (Jas 5:13)
“they are to pray” (Jas 5:14)
“the prayer” (Jas 5:15)
“pray for one another” (Jas 5:16)
“effective prayer” (Jas 5:16)
“in prayer he prayed” (Jas 5:17)
“he prayed” (Jas 5:18)
“anointing” This is an aorist active participle. The word aleiph is not the common word for ceremonial, religious anointing (chri or chrisma), but it is the common term for rubbing on medicine. Physical touching is always emotionally significant to the sick. This may have been a culturally expected act like Mar 6:13; Mar 7:33; Mar 8:23; Joh 9:6; Joh 9:11.
There are several Greek terms used of anointing.
A. muriz, used in Mar 14:8 for the anointing with spices for burial. It is the Hebrew root from which we get the name Messiah (an anointed one).
B. aleiph, also used of anointing with spices for burial (cf. Mar 16:1; Joh 12:3; Joh 12:7). In addition it was used for
1. anointing the sick (cf. Mar 6:13; Luk 10:34; Jas 5:14)
2. anointing oneself, apparently daily, as preparation for public activities (cf. Mat 6:17)
3. the special anointing of Jesus by a sinful woman (cf. Luk 7:38; Luk 7:46)
C. chri (chrisma), the normal term used in a religious sense often associated with the Spirit
1. anointing of Jesus (cf. Luk 4:18; Act 4:27; Act 10:38; Heb 1:9)
2. anointing of believers (cf. 2Co 1:21; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27)
D. egchri and epichri, used exclusively of rubbing on salve (cf. Rev 3:18)
SPECIAL TOPIC: ANOINTING IN THE BIBLE (BDB 603)
“with oil” Oil had many uses in the Jewish first century.
1. as medicine (cf. Isa 1:6; Luk 10:34)
2. as a symbol of God’s giftedness and empowerment of OT prophets, priests, and kings
3. as a ceremonial symbol of God’s presence
4. as preparation for daily public activities or special times of joyful events (putting it on one’s face)
“in the name of the Lord” This shows the proper use of God’s name. As a footnote let me point out that healing is a gift of the Spirit given to some members of the body of Christ for the common good (cf. 1Co 12:7; 1Co 12:9; 1Co 12:11; 1Co 12:28; 1Co 12:30). This context, however, does not refer to these gifted believers, but to the local church leaders. This is a procedure for local church leaders, not a special gift given by the Spirit.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE NAME OF THE LORD
Jas 5:15 “the prayer offered in faith” This relates to the prayer of the “elders,” not the sick believer. Healing is not always linked to the faith of the one being healed (cf. Mar 2:5; Mar 5:35-43; Joh 5:5-9).
This term for prayer (euch) can mean “oath” (cf. Act 18:18; Act 21:23) and may involve a public pledge of faith on behalf of the ill person; it may also imply a pledge of availability for God’s service.
“will restore” The Greek term soz is used often in the NT for spiritual salvation (cf. Jas 1:21; Jas 2:14; Jas 4:12), but here it is used in its OT sense of physical deliverance (cf. Jas 5:20; Mat 9:22; Mar 6:56). The term literally means “to make whole” (physically and/or spiritually).
“if he has committed sins” The “if” is a combination of “and” (kai) and the third class conditional (ean) with the subjunctive “to be.” This then is a periphrastic perfect active participle, which does not assume that sin is the cause of illness. However, in first century Judaism, sin and sickness had a theological connection (cf. 1Co 11:30; Mar 2:5-11; Joh 5:14). However, Jesus’ statements in Joh 9:3 show that this is not always the case.
This entire context (Jas 5:13-18), which deals with the physical restoration of believers, mentions several actions which would encourage first century believers: (1) the elders of the church come; (2) they pray; (3) in Jesus’ powerful name; (4) they anoint (rub down) with oil; and (5) they hear and absolve guilt. God uses a variety of methods in human physical restorationmiracles, exorcisms, prayers of friends, self-limiting illness, positive mental attitude, confession, medicine, medical procedures, and the removal of the heavy weight of sin and guilt.
Jas 5:16 “confess your sins” This is a present middle imperative. “Therefore” shows the connection of Jas 5:16 with the preceding discussion. Confession was and is an important part in the healing process (cf. Lev 5:5; Num 5:7; Psalms 51). It is an effective antidote to pride, self-centeredness, and sin.
The major interpretive issue at this point is whether James has moved from a discussion of prayer for the physically ill person to prayer for the spiritually ill person, or whether the context of physical illness and physical healing continues. At issue is the concept of “save.” Does it refer to the OT sense of physical deliverance as in Jas 5:15, or has it moved to the sense of spiritual salvation?
The textual evidence for the NT sense (spiritual salvation) is: (1) generalizing of “elder” to “one another” (Jas 5:16) and (2) the generalized conclusion of Jas 5:19-20.
On the other hand, the context seems to continue in its emphasis on physical illness (OT sense of physical deliverance): (1) physical illness healed by prayer and confession; (2) Elijah is just another example of answered prayer (Jas 5:17-18).
SPECIAL TOPIC: CONFESSION
“to one another” Notice that it was not specifically stated to the “elders,” which one would have expected from this context, but the generalized “one another.” Possibly confession is to be made to those wronged. Often the early church dealt with sin corporately and publicly (cf. 1Ti 5:19-20).
“pray for one another” This is another present middle imperative.
To summarize, confession is surely first made to God, but then to (1) the elders at the home; (2) the people sinned against; and (3) the whole gathered congregation. Confession cleanses the heart and warns other believers!
In the spiritual battle for purity and wholeness, confession and prayer are the believer’s major weapons along with a knowledge of the gospel and the Word of God (cf. Eph 6:10-20).
In one sense this is similar to the modern “twelve step” movement started by Alcoholics Anonymous. As we admit wrong to God and others, we find peace and acceptance. As we help others find hope and help, we find it ourselves.
SPECIAL TOPIC: INTERCESSORY PRAYER
“so that you may be healed” This is an aorist passive subjunctive which adds an element of contingency. God is the one who heals. As there was ambiguity in the Greek term “sick” in Jas 5:14, the same wide semantic field is found in the term “healed.” It can refer to physical or spiritual healing (cf. Mat 13:15, quoting Isa 6:10; Heb 12:11-13; 1Pe 2:24, quoting Isa 53:5).
NASB”the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much”
NKJV”the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”
NRSV”the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective”
TEV”the prayer of a good person has a powerful effect”
NJB”the heartfelt prayer of someone upright works very powerfully”
This seems to denote two conditions: (1) uprightness; and (2) persistence (cf. Jas 5:17 and Mat 7:7-8). The effectiveness of intercessory prayer is related to the spiritual life of the intercessor (cf. Pro 15:29) and primarily to the will and power of God.
There are many questions related to this promise of effective prayer
1. How is the term “righteous” to be understood?
a. a believer (position in Christ)
b. a church leader (position in the church)
c. a godly believer (Christlikeness)
2. How is the term “effective” to be understood?
a. all prayers are positively answered
b. if we pray in God’s will, all prayers are answered
c. offer up our human hopes, dreams, and desires, but trust God is giving His “best,” His will for those believers in need (physical and spiritual)
3. How is this statement related to time?
a. the truly righteous pray consistently over a period of time and many times during that period (persistence and repetition)
b. time, persistence, and repetition are not the determining factors
4. If prayer is not answered, who is to “blame”?
a. the person prayed for (lack of faith or sin)
b. the intercessor (lack of faith or sin)
c. God’s will (not always God’s will or the right time)
d. a combination of all three (the mystery of unanswered believing prayer)
5. Is it possible that this is a proverbial statement which was not meant to be analyzed in detail?
See Special Topic at Jas 1:7. For “righteous” see Special Topic at Jas 2:21.
Jas 5:17 “Elijah” He was a very important prophet because of his connection with the coming of the Messiah in Mal 4:5. James is surely written with an eschatological setting in mind.
NASB, NKJV”with a nature like ours”
NRSV”a human being like us”
TEV”the same kind of person as we are”
NJB”a human being as frail as ourselves”
There are no super saints! We are all human (cf. Act 14:15). Remember Elijah was not a perfect believer. Please read 1 Kings 18-19.
“prayed. . .three years and six months” The time element is not recorded in 1Ki 17:1, but was part of rabbinical speculation (cf. Luk 4:25).
Jas 5:18 Elijah is an example of a prayer for no rain and later a prayer for rain, both of which God granted. God used Elijah to accomplish His own will and agenda. Elijah was His instrument. Prayer does not move a reluctant God, but channels His will and purposes through His children.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
afflicted. Greek. kakopatheo. See 2Ti 2:3 and Compare Jam 5:10, above.
pray. App-134.
merry. See Act 27:22.
sing psalms. Greek. psallo. See Rom 15:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
13.] The connexion seems to be, Let not this light and frivolous spirit at any time appear among you; if suffering, or if rejoicing, express your feelings not by random and unjustifiable exclamations, but in a Christian and sober manner, as here prescribed. Is any among you in trouble (the classical usages are , Thuc. iv. 29, of the Athenian soldiers besieging the Lacedmonians in Sphacteria,-ib. i. 122, , &c. The suffering inflicted, not the state of him who suffers, is called ; see on Jam 5:10)? let him pray. Is any in joy (light of heart)? let him sing praise (lit. play on an instrument: but used in reff. Rom. and 1 Cor. and elsewhere of singing praise generally. The word Psalm is an evidence of this latter sense).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Jam 5:13. , let him pray; let him sing psalms) It is allowable also to sing psalms in adversity, and to pray in prosperity: but in adversity the mind in general is less able to endure the singing of psalms; and that which the mind endures ought rather to be done. They were especially accustomed to do this in public in the assembly of the faithful; as the antithesis shows, let him call for, as applied to the sick: Jam 5:14.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Jas 5:13
SECTION 13
Jas 5:13-20
PRAYER AND PRAISE
Jas 5:13
13 Is any among you suffering?—It was the opinion of our Translators that the Greek phrase, kakopathei tis (“Is any among you suffering?”) is an interrogative, and should, therefore, be rendered as it appears in our text, rather than as an indicative statement (“Some one among you is afflicted,”) and, perhaps, rightly so, although there are no punctuation marks in the oldest Greek manuscripts and such must, in every instance, be supplied. There is but little difference, whether the statement be regarded as a question, or as an affirmation or fact. Often, in cases of this kind, statements are couched in rhetorical form for emphasis. Some among those to whom James wrote were indeed suffering at the hands of their oppressors, suffering persecution from those who opposed Christianity, suffering from affliction, hardship and much difficulty.
The verb kakopathei ( occuring elsewhere in 2Ti 2:3; 2Ti 2:9; 2Ti 4:5 and in noun form in Jas 5:10), is compounded from the adjective kakos, evil and pascho, to suffer; hence, literally, to suffer evil. It is, therefore, sufficiently comprehensive to embrace every type of affliction, whether of outward bodily character or of inner mental anguish. There was much affliction among the saints of that day, as there is in ours; indeed, in every congregation there are those who experience sickness, bereavement, and loss of one kind or other. Sorrow, suffering, pain, indeed, all of the burdens of life at one time or another iall upon the shoulders of the Lord’s people; and the instruction which this verse contains for those of the first century is equally applicable to this. Here it is made clear that the proper attitude of the suffering saint is exhibited in worship, and not in oaths and vain swearing of any type.
let him pray.—( Proseuchestho, present middle imperative of proseuchomai, to pray, thus literally, let him keep on praying. In view of the fact that affliction and suffering, both physical and mental, are ever with us, men may blame God for it, or go to God ior relief from it. Some are guilty of the former: Christians rejoice to be able to do the latter. When the troubles of the world fall upon our shoulders, instead of morbid, fretful complaining, we should ask God for wisdom to cope with our problems, and the requisite strength to overcome them. This was Paul’s method, and he found it eminently successful. Beset by his “thorn in the flesh,” he besought the Lord, on three different occasions, to remove it. The Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul thenceforth reasoned, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake: ior when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2Co 12:7-10.) We may be certain that God will support us in our trials; and we should therefore, turn to him for the help he so freely proffers when clouds, ominous and heavy, appear on our horizon, and obstacles apparently insurmountable are in our path. Whatever the nature or character oi our affliction, it is always right, proper and beneficial to pray. There is, indeed, a natural inclination on the part of man to turn to God in prayer when human supports fall away. Abraham Lincoln once said that in the dark hours which faced him, he turned to God for help, from the realization that he had no other to whom to turn. Of course, we should remember our obligations tu the Lord at all times, and not fall back upon him as a final recourse. It is encouraging to know that when all others fail us, he will not; but he will lend a sympathetic ear to our entreaties, and invite us to turn to him in the hours of our extremity. (2Ch 33:12; Psa 34:4; Psa 50:5; Mat 7:7.) How reassuring it is to know that God is our refuge, our very present help in time of trouble! It is truly a wonderfully consoling thought that through prayer we may not only find relief from the affiictions of life, but the cause that produced them may likewise be removed. Are some of us afflicted? Then, let us pray! This is heaven message to all of the Lord’s saints.
Is any cheerful?—( Euthumei.) The word thus translated does not convey the notion of fun or frivolity, but describes a disposition that is friendly, joyful, pleasant and agreeable. One “cheerful,” in the original sense of the term, is one in good spirits, one possessed of a frame of mind that is free of anxiety and disturbing problems. The verb also occurs in Act 27:22; Act 27:25, where Paul besought his traveling companions to “be of good cheer.” The word used by James describes an attitude exactly opposite to that indicated in the word “suffering,” in the earlier portion of the verse. It is not improbable that the “suffering” one and, and the “cheerful” one of this passage are the same person. That is, he who is suffering is to pray to the Father to lift his burden; and, when it is gone, to be cheerful, and to express such in praise and worship. Praise has been called “the highest form of prayer,” and it is the natural expression of a contented and thankful heart. If, in affliction, we are to pray; it is surely proper, in contentment, to express praise; and in either to feel and to demonstrate our innermost needs to God.
let him sing praise.—(Psalleto, present active imperative of psallo, “in the New Testament to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song,” (Thayer, Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament.) Literally, “Let him keep on singing.” The word occurs in 1Co 14:15; Rom 15:9; Eph 5:19.) It has had a varied meaning through the years. It has signified the act of plucking out the hair, snapping a carpenter’s string, twanging the strings of an instrument; and, in the New Testament, to sing. Its basic meaning, to pluck or twang, is thus metaphorically seen in its New Testament usage, in that the chords of the heart are to be “twanged” or played upon: “And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody (psallo) in your heart to the Lord.” (Eph 5:19.) There are those who, in an effort to justify the use of mechanical instruments of music in Christian worship today, point to earlier meanings oi the word, and urge that such significance should be assigned to it today. But those who thus do are unable to follow their own argument to its conclusion. It is conceded by the most avid defender of instrumental music in worship that one may acceptably approach God in public religious devotion without it; that its use is a matter of personal choice; and is, therefore, in the realm of expediency. But, if the instrument inheres in the word and to psallete is to use a stringed instrument, it follows that one cannot psallete without it. The instrument is either in the word, or it is not. If it is in it, one cannot worship God without an instrument of music; if it is not in it, then the argument fails. If it be urged that the instrument inheres in the word, the following conclusions irresistably follow: ( 1) It is impossible to psallete without an instrument of music; (2) since each individual is commanded to psallete, each must personally twang the strings of a mechanical instrument in worship to be acceptable; (3) to prepare people to worship acceptably would necessitate assisting them in such use ; ( 4) only stringed instruments might properly be used, inasmuch as these are the only type which may be twanged or plucked. This would eliminate all wind instruments such as organs, horns, etc. In view of the fact that not one of the advocates of instrumental music in worship is willing to accept these obvious conclusions, it follows that they have little respect for the argument they make.
Dozens of the world’s most profound Greek scholars, including all of those which have produced the major English translations, have borne witness to the fact that the New Testament meaning of the word does not include the use of a mechanical instrwnent; and that its meaning today is simply to sing. An interesting an<l significant side-light on this is the fact that the Greek Orthodox Churches–whose members are for the most part, Greek-speaking people- have never used instrumental music in their worship. Those desiring to pursue the meaning of the word further, will find a wealth of exceedingly valuable material in 'Instrwnental Music In Christian Worship," by M.C. Kurfees, published by the Gospel Advocate Company, Nashville, Tennessee.
The use of such instruments in the Jewish order charactt!ristic of the Old Testament period, falls far short of justifying their use in Christian worship today. The burning of incense, the offering of animal sacrifices were a part of the worship in the former dispensation; we do not thence conclude that the burning of incense in Jewish devotions justifies an incense burner in the church today. Advocates of the doctrine of infant church membership attempt to sustain their position in precisely the same fashion. Were not infants a part of the Jewish economy ? Ought they not therefore to be in the church today? Those who so contend make out a case for church membership for babies as successfully as do those who seek to justify instrumental music in the church today in the same fashion. The truth is, God has ordained neither infant membership nor instrumental music in the church today, and those who practice either go beyond that which is written. (Deu 4:2; Pro 30:6; Rev 22:18-19.)
It is a well established historic fact which may be confirmed by consulting any reliable encyclopedia that instrumental music in so-called Christian worship was first used, in this dispensation, in A.D. 670, when introduced into the Church of the Great Apostasy; and, it created such a furor therein that it was speedily removed to avert a split; and, it was not until about A.D. 800, that it came to be common in that ecclesiasticism. Our Lord never authorized it, no apostle ever sanctioned it, no New Testament writer ever commanded it, no New Testament church ever practiced it. It was born in the bosom of the apostasy, and is used with no greater sanction than the burning of incense, the counting of beads, the sprinkling of babies.
We walk by faith and not by sight ( 1Co 5:7) ; and, faith comes by hearing God’s word (Rom 10:17). It follows, therefore, that we are at liberty to do, in Christian worship, only those things specifically commanded; and, inasmuch as the New Testament is silent regarding the use of instrumental music in worship, we dare not use it. We are, however, commanded to sing and to make melody in our heart (not on an instrument!) and we are assured that such practice is acceptable to him who commanded it. Authorized items of worship, to be performed on the Lord’s day,-the first day of the week-are, teaching, singing, the contribution, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. (Act 2:42; Eph 5:19; 1Co 16:2; Act 20:7.)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
any among: 2Ch 33:12, 2Ch 33:13, Job 33:26, Psa 18:6, Psa 50:15, Psa 91:15, Psa 116:3-5, Psa 118:5, Psa 142:1-3, Lam 3:55, Lam 3:56, Hos 6:1, Jon 2:2, Jon 2:7, Luk 22:44, Luk 23:42, Act 16:24, Act 16:25, 2Co 12:7-10, Heb 5:7
any merry: Jdg 16:23-25, Dan 5:4
let him sing: 1Ch 16:9, Psa 95:2, Psa 105:2, Mic 4:5, Mat 26:30, 1Co 14:26, Eph 5:19, Col 3:16, Col 3:17, Rev 5:9-14, Rev 7:10, Rev 14:3, Rev 19:1-6
Reciprocal: Num 21:17 – sang 2Sa 23:1 – sweet psalmist 2Ki 4:33 – prayed 2Ch 6:28 – whatsoever Neh 12:43 – the wives also Psa 3:4 – I cried Psa 81:2 – General Ecc 7:14 – the day Isa 37:15 – General Isa 65:14 – my servants Jon 2:1 – prayed Mar 14:26 – sung Jam 5:15 – the prayer
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jas 5:13. Afflicted is from KAKO-PATHEO, and Thayer defines it, “To suffer evils; hardship, troubles.” It does not refer to physical diseases which will come in the next verse. When a disciple is beset with these trials he should be in the frame of mind that would lead him to go to God in prayer for strength and encouragement. Merry does not mean to be gay or frivolous, for the original is defined to denote “Be of good cheer.” The phrase let him sing psalms is from the noted Greek word PSALLO, and Thayer defines it as follows: “In the New Testament to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song.” There are times when a person is not in the “mood” for singing and James recognizes that truth in this verse. David also recognizes it in Psa 137:2-4. Solomon likewise had the thought in mind when he spoke of the inappropriateness of the man “that singeth songs to an heavy heart” (Pro 25:20).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jas 5:13. Is any afflicted? The word rendered afflicted is a general term, denoting all kinds of afflictionsickness, pain, bereavement, disappointment, persecution. Here perhaps it specially refers to inward afflictionlow spirits, in contrast to merry.
let him pray, prayer being the natural resort of the afflicted.
is any merry? that is, cheerful, in good spirits. It is the same word which St. Paul employs when he exhorts his fellow-voyagers to be of good cheer (Act 27:36). It literally signifies to be of good mind; hence free from care.
let him sing psalms: literally, let him praise. The primary meaning of the word is to touch, then to touch the strings of the harp, to praise. We are not to express our cheerfulness in riotous mirth, but in praise and gratitude to God. Nor ought prayer and praise to be separated; they should be combined; our prayers should often express themselves in praise, and our praise should be a prayer. Thus Paul and Silas in prison prayed and sang praises to God (Act 16:25); literally, praying, they sang hymns to God; their singing of hymns was their prayer.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here observe, 1. That affliction is a praying season. Prayer is a duty never out of season, but never more in season than in and under affliction.
Observe, 2. That though the time of affliction be a special time when a saint prayeth, yet it is not the only time, he prays at all times, because he loves to pray; he prays then, because he especially stands then in need of prayer. A carnal heart has no mind to the duty: he visits not God unless God visits him; but a good man prays continually, prays without ceasing, in health and sickness, in poverty and want; when the candle of the Lord shines about his tabernacles, as well as when he walketh through darkness.
He that prays, makes music in the ears of God: he that sings psalms, performs a duty suitable to his condition. Several conditions require several duties, and all duties are to be performed suitably to our several conditions. Singing is proper to a prosperous state; both to sing God’s praises, and to sing to his praise; prayer is proper to an afflicted condition; it is our best remedy, because it leads us to God our best refuge: therefore if any be afflicted, let him pray to God to alleviate and sanctify his affliction. Is any merry? let him sing psalms of praise to that God who hath given him this cheerfulness of spirit.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Responses to Various Situations
James also urged the sick to call for the elders so they might pray for them and anoint them with oil. Oil was used symbolically in the appointment of kings and prophets ( 1Sa 10:1 ; 1Sa 9:1-27 ; 1Sa 16:13 ). It was also used for medicinal purposes ( Isa 1:6 ; Luk 10:34 ). Still another usage is found in the working of miracles ( Mar 6:13 ).
Is the healing James speaks of miraculous or providential (through medicine)? Let us suggest that, during the age of miracles, it could have been either. Now, of course, it could only be providential. In either case, the prayer of faith would have to be understood as a prayer which is in accord with the Lord’s will ( 1Jn 5:14-15 ). If the sick needed to repent, they could likewise have their sins forgiven by repenting and asking the elders to pray about that while present ( Jas 5:14-15 ; 1Jn 1:9 ). Several cases of illness can be found in the New Testament ( Php 2:25-30 ; 1Ti 5:23 ; 2Ti 4:20 ; 2Co 12:7-9 ). It is interesting to note the power of healing was not even used by an inspired apostle under all circumstances.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Jas 5:13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray That he may be supported under his affliction, so as to be enabled to bear it with patience and resignation to the divine will, and find it to be sanctified to him, and made the means, as of exercising, so also of increasing his grace, and of purifying him as gold and silver are purified in the furnace. Is any merry? Is any in health, and in a prosperous condition, and under no peculiar trial; let him sing psalms Let him give thanks to God, and express his thankfulness by singing psalms or hymns of praise. The purport of the verse is, that, as believers in Christ, we ought to employ ourselves in such private religious exercises as are suitable to our present circumstances and frame of mind. When rendered cheerful by contemplating the manifestations which God hath made of his perfections in the works of creation, providence, and redemption, or by any blessing bestowed on ourselves, we are to express our joy, not by drinking, and singing profane, lewd songs, but by hymns of praise and thanksgivings offered to God for all his mercies, Eph 5:18-19. On the other hand, when afflicted, we are to pray; that being the best means of producing in ourselves patience and resignation. But as the precept concerning our singing psalms, when cheerful, does not imply that we are not to pray then; so the precept concerning prayer in affliction, does not imply that we are not to express our joy in suffering according to the will of God, by singing psalms or hymns, as Paul and Silas did in the jail at Philippi. Macknight.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
ARGUMENT 15
DIVINE HEALING
13-15. We see clearly from these and other corroborative Scriptures that the Lord is the Healer of our bodies as well as of our souls. It is certainly appropriate when we get sick to obey this Scripture. The anointing with oil symbolizes our full consecration to God and the enduement of the Holy Ghost. In the Gospel dispensation, the Levitical priesthood is transferred to the membership, justification making you a priest and sanctification a high priest. 1Pe 2:5-9. I would not anoint an impenitent person nor pray for his healing, but for his conviction, as salvation is infinitely better than health, and God may use his sickness to bring him to repentance.
The prayer of faith will save the sick. As your faith is, so be it unto you, is as true of the body as the soul. Whereas you are saved and sanctified by the grace of faith, you are healed by the gift of faith. 1Co 1:9. Hence the healing of your body has nothing to do with the salvation of your soul. It is simply to be understood in the light of a very precious privilege and always to be subordinated to salvation, all petitions being crowned, Thy will be done. The gift of divine healing is bestowed by the sovereign discriminating mercy of God. It is certainly our glorious privilege to have it. Healing always comes pursuant to the gift of faith. Though I have been distinctly and repeatedly healed, if the Lord does not translate me, the time is at hand when I will have no faith to be healed, and then I will get to go to heaven. If you are truly and fully consecrated to God, as indicated by the anointing with oil, you may rest assured that God will either give you health or heaven which is infinitely better. As the light of the glorious gospel broadens out over the world and the people learn about Jesus as the Healer of the body, divine healing is becoming common, which is not only a glorious blessing to the body, but a grand conservator of true spirituality.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Jas 5:13-18. The key to this hard passage seems to lie in the climax, the example of Elijah, who in 1Ki 17:1; 1Ki 18:41 ff., is not said to have prayed for drought or for rain. His prayer is in the phrase before whom I standa life in the Presence, bringing with it an instinctive knowledge of Gods will; cf. Amo 3:7. The elders, therefore, of a faithful congregation may expect a Divine impulse prompting them to ask for physical recovery when God wills it; we may also believe that such united prayer is a real instrument in Gods hands, just as much as the application of remedies like oil (cf. Isa 1:6, Luk 10:34). The prayer of faith, of an instinctive and unquestioning conviction, becomes a curative agency by the mysterious power that links mind and body, the power which Jesus used in His miracles of healing. Forgiveness and physical healing are joined here as in the story of Mar 2:1-12. The assurance that the faithful community may expect such guidance was learned by James from the Lord Himself (Mat 18:19 f.). A primary condition of this mutual help was frankness and free confession of faults one to another (not to one superior individual), that prayer might be definite and intelligent. A good mans inspired (lit. inwrought) supplication has mighty power. Prayer, then, is not our asking God for something we think we need, but the establishment of unhindered contact of the human will and the Divinethe completion of an electric circuit, as it were, which can exert immense power. And the best of it all is that such a cosmic force is not reserved for supermen, as we might think Elijah to be. Stress is laid on his having been a man of the same nature as ourselvesthe power is for us all, if we will only believe (Mar 5:36). That the drought of 1 Kings 17 f. lasted three and a half years was an inference from 1Ki 18:1, found also in Luk 4:25.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Mr. D’s Notes on James
Jam 5:13-20
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Two sets of people and two sets of actions. Afflicted, then pray – merry, then sing. An appropriate action for each group. The action is probably mostly natural. When trouble comes people always turn to God no matter if they know Him or not – at the point of trouble they assume He is there for them, not that He is necessarily. Likewise, when we are happy, we often break into joyful singing.
Many believers have not found the “afflicted” side of life. They are so self sufficient that they have not seen want, they are so self centered, they have not known rejection and they are so self absorbed that they have not seen reason to help the afflicted and find that they have empathy. They often skip along merrily singing their cheerful song not knowing what the other side of the coin might be.
On the other hand, some have been so afflicted; they don’t remember the merry side of things. Some have lost friends, homes, families and have nothing but trouble. These need to pray, but those around them need to act. Prayer is the only course for those that are down and out. It is their only hope of things turning around, of things getting better, of things starting to go their way.
In the church situation, both are going on at the same time usually. The merry should be sensitive to the afflicted, but the afflicted should also be sensitive to the merry. The merry are to enjoy their good tidings, as the afflicted are to endure their affliction. This is not to say that the two should ignore each other, just don’t rain on the merry because you are in a storm. Allow them to cheer you in your troubles, and the merry should allow the afflicted to speak of their hard times.
Just voicing the frustration of hard times is good for the afflicted, just as singing is good for the merry. Giving voice to our situation and feelings will assist us in getting though them.
It may be that listening to the afflicted will help the merry to better realize how blessed they are and help them to appreciate their blessings more.
The word “merry” does not carry the idea we give it today, but as Barnes observes, “the word properly denotes cheerful, pleasant, agreeable, and is applied to a state of mind free from trouble–the opposite of affliction-happy”
This is a contrasting of situations and words both. On the one hand we have the afflicted and on the other hand we have the non-afflicted. Both ends of the spectrum trials wise.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
5:13 {8} Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
(8) He shows the best remedy against all afflictions, that is, prayers which have their place both in sorrow and joy.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
C. The Proper Action 5:13-18
James encouraged his readers to pray, as well as to be patient, to enable them to overcome the temptation to live only for the present and to stop living by faith. James not only begins and ends his epistle with references to trials, but he "also begins (Jas 1:5-8) and ends (Jas 5:13-18) with prayer as the instrumental means for managing trials." [Note: C. Richard Wells, "The Theology of Prayer in James," Criswell Theological Review 1:1 (Fall 1986):86.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. The way of release 5:13
Prayer to God, not profanity, is the proper outlet for feelings of sadness caused by suffering as we patiently endure.
"James’s emphasis on prayer in this section is especially noteworthy since few things undergird perseverance more effectively than prayer. In the final analysis, a persevering life is also a prayerful life." [Note: Hodges, The Epistle . . ., p. 113.]
The right way to express joy is by praising God, not swearing.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 26
WORSHIP THE BEST OUTLET AND REMEDY FOR EXCITEMENT-THE CONNECTION BETWEEN WORSHIP AND CONDUCT.
Jam 5:13
THE subject of this verse was probably suggested by that of the preceding one. Oaths are not a right way of expressing ones feelings, however strong they may be, and of whatever kind they may be. There is, however, no need to stifle such feelings, or to pretend to the world that we have no emotions. In this respect, as in many others, Christianity has no sympathy with the precepts of Stoicism or Cynicism. It is not only innocent, but prudent, to seek an outlet for excited feelings; the right and wrong of the matter lie in the kind of outlet which we allow ourselves. Language of some kind, and in most cases articulate language, is the natural instrument for expressing and giving vent to our feelings. But we need some strong safeguard, or the consequences of freely giving expression to our emotions in speech will be calamitous. This safeguard is clearly indicated by the rules here laid down by St. James. Let the expression of strongly excited feelings be an act of worship; then we shall have an outlet for them which is not likely to involve us in harmful results. By the very act in which we exhibit our emotions we protect ourselves from the evil which they might produce. The very mode of expressing them moderates them, and serves as an antidote to their capacity for evil. 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.” In all cases in which the mind is greatly agitated, whether painfully or pleasantly, whether by sorrow, anger, regret, or by joy, pleasure, hope, -the wise thing to do is to take refuge in an act of worship.
Mental excitement is neither right nor wrong, any more than physical hunger or thirst. Everything depends on the method of expressing the one or gratifying the other. It will be easy in both cases to indulge a legitimate craving in such a way as to turn a natural and healthy symptom into a disease. Neither a heated mind nor a heated body can without danger be kept heated, or treated as if it was at its normal temperature. The advice of St. James is that in all cases in which our minds are agitated by strong emotion we should turn to Him who gave us minds capable of feeling such emotion; we should cease to make ourselves our own center, and turn our thoughts from the causes of our excitement to Him who is the unmoved Cause of all movement and rest.
We need not tie ourselves to the distribution of prayer and praise expressed in the text. It is the most natural and most generally useful distribution; but it is not the only one, and perhaps it is not the highest. The precept will hold good with equal truth if we transpose the two conclusions: “Is any among you suffering? let him sing praise. Is any cheerful? let him pray.” “In everything give thanks,” says St. Paul; which involves our frequently giving thanks in suffering. This was what Job, to whom St. James has just directed his readers, did in his trouble. He “fell upon the ground and worshipped: and he said, Naked came I out of my mothers womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” {Job 1:20-21}. And the Psalmist teaches much the same lesson as St. Paul: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth”. {Psa 34:1} But if praise is as suitable as prayer for suffering, prayer is as suitable as praise for cheerfulness. He who is cheerful has indeed great reason to bless and praise God. He has a priceless gift, which is a blessing to himself and to all around him, a gift which makes life brighter to the whole circle in which he moves. We most of us take far too little pains to cultivate it, to retain it when it has been granted to us, to regain it when we have lost it or thrown it away. Yet cheerfulness has its dangers. The light-hearted are apt to be light-headed, and to be free from care leads to being free from carefulness. The cheerful may easily lose sobriety, and be found off their guard. The remedy is prayer. Prayer steadies without dimming the bright flame of cheerfulness; and just as thanksgiving sweetens sorrow, so supplication sanctifies joy. “Is any suffering? let him sing praise. Is any cheerful? let him pray.”
But there is another advantage in making religious worship, whether public or private, the outlet for our emotions. It secures a real connection between worship and life. Missionaries tell us that this is a frequent difficulty in their work. It is a hard enough thing to win converts from heathenism; but it is perhaps still harder to teach the newly converted that the worship of God has any bearing whatever upon their conduct. This idea is quite strange to them, and utterly alien to their whole mode of thought. They have never been taught anything of the kind before. They have been accustomed to regard the worship of the gods as a series of acts which must be religiously performed in order to win the favor of the deities, or at least to avert their Wrath. But it has never occurred to them, nor have their priests impressed upon them, that their lives must be in accordance with their worship, or that the one has any connection with the other, any more than the color of their clothes with the amount that they eat and drink. From this it follows that when the idolater has been induced to substitute the worship of God for the worship of idols, there still remains an immense amount to be done. The convert has still to be taught that there can no longer be this divorce of religion from conduct, but that prayer and praise must go hand in hand with work and life.
Converts from heathenism are by no means the only persons who are in need of this lesson. We all of us require to be reminded of it. All of us are apt to draw far too strong a line of distinction between Church and home, between Sunday and week-day, between the time that we spend on our knees and that which we spend in work and recreation. Not, alas! that we are too scrupulous about allowing worldly thoughts to invade sacred times and places, but that we are very jealous about allowing thoughts of God and of His service to mingle with our business and our pleasures, or at least take no pains to bring about and keep up any such mingling. Our worship is often profaned by being shared with the world; our work is rarely consecrated by being shared with God.
What St. James recommends here is a remedy for this. There can be no wall of partition between conduct and religion if our feelings of joy and sorrow, of elation and despondency, of hope and fear, of love and dislike, are daily and hourly finding expression in praise and prayer. Our emotions will thus become instruments for moving us towards God. So much of life is filled with either vexation or pleasure, that one who has learned to carry out the directions here given of turning suffering into prayer, and cheerfulness into praise, will have gone a long way towards realizing the Apostolic command, “Pray without ceasing.” As Calvin well observes, St. James “means that there is no time in which God does not invite us to Himself. For afflictions ought to stimulate us to pray; prosperity supplies us with an occasion to praise God. But such is the perverseness of men that they cannot rejoice without forgetting God, and when afflicted they are disheartened and driven to despair. We ought, then, to keep within due bounds, so that the joy which usually makes us forget God may induce us to set forth the goodness of God, and that our sorrow may teach us to pray.”
The word used by St. James for “to sing praise” () is worthy of notice. It is the source of the word “psalm.” Originally it meant simply to touch, especially to make to vibrate by touching: whence it came to be used of playing on stringed instruments. Next it came to mean to sing to the harp; and finally to sing., whether with or without a stringed accompaniment. This is its signification in the New Testament; to Romans {1Co 14:15; Eph 5:19} sing praise to God. St. James, therefore, regards music as a natural and reasonable mode of expressing joyous feelings; and few will care to dispute that it is so; and it is evident that he is thinking chiefly, if not exclusively, of the joyous Christian singing by himself, rather than of his joining in psalms and hymns in the public worship of the congregation. A portion of Hookers noble vindication of music as a part of religious worship may here with advantage be quoted.
“Touching musical harmony, whether by instrument or by voice, it being but of high and low in sounds a due proportional disposition, such, notwithstanding, is the force thereof, and so pleasing effects it hath in that very part of man which is most divine, that some have been thereby induced to think that the soul itself, by nature, is or hath in it harmony. A thing which delighteth all ages and beseemeth all states; a thing as seasonable in grief as in joy; as decent being added unto actions of greatest weight and solemnity, as being used when men most sequester themselves from action. The reason hereof is an admirable facility which music hath to express and represent to the mind, more inwardly than any other sensible mean, the very standing, rising, and falling, the very steps and inflections every way, the turns and varieties of all passions whereunto the mind is subject; yea, so to imitate them that whether it resemble unto us the same state wherein our minds already are, or a clean contrary, we are not more contentedly by the one confirmed, than changed and led away by the other So that although we lay altogether aside the consideration of ditty or matter, the very harmony of sounds being framed in due sort, and carried from the ear to the spiritual faculties of our souls, is by a native puissance and efficacy greatly available to bring to a perfect temper whatsoever is there troubled, apt as well to quicken the spirits as to allay that which is too eager, sovereign against melancholy and despair, forcible to draw forth tears Of devotion if the mind be such as can yield them, able both to move and to moderate all affections.”
“The Prophet David having therefore singular knowledge, not in poetry alone, but in music also, judged them both to be things most necessary for the house of God, left behind him to that purpose a number of Divinely indited poems, and was farther the author of adding unto poetry melody both vocal and instrumental, for the raising up of mens hearts, and the sweetening of their affections towards God. In which considerations the Church of Christ doth likewise at this present day retain it as an ornament to Gods service, and a help to our own devotion. They which, under pretence of the Law ceremonial abrogated, require the abrogation of instrumental music, approving nevertheless the use of vocal melody to remain, must show some reason wherefore the one should be thought a legal ceremony, and not the other” (“Ecclesiastes Pol.,” 5. 38. 1, 2).
It hardly needs to be stated that it is not necessary to be able to sing in order to observe this precept of St. James. The “singing and making melody with our hearts to the Lord” of which St. Paul writes to the Ephesians {Eph 5:19} is all that is necessary; “giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” The lifting up of the heart is enough, without the lifting up of the voice; and if the voice be lifted up also, it is of little account, either to the soul or to God, whether its tones be musical, always provided that he who thus offers praise is alone, and not in the congregation. Those who have no music in their voices, and yet persist in joining aloud in the singing of public service, are wanting in charity. In order to gratify themselves, they disturb the devotions of others. And that principle applies to many other things in public worship, especially to details of ritual other than those which are generally observed. There would be much less difficulty about such things if each member of the congregation were to ask, “By doing this, or by refusing to do it, am I likely to distract my neighbors in their worship?” Ought not the answer to that question to be conclusive as regards turning or not turning to the East at the creed, bowing or not bowing the head at the Gloria Patri, and the like? We come to church to be calmed, sobered, soothed, not to be fretted and vexed. Let us take care that our own behavior is such as not to irritate others. By our self-will we may be creating or augmenting mental excitement, which, as St. James tells us, worship, whether public or private, ought to cure.