CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
James 5:13. Merry.—Of good cheer, gladsome at heart. Psalm.—The word suggests a composition fitted to an accompaniment of music.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— James 5:12-13
Christian Conduct fitting Occasions.—St. James closes his epistle with good advice, and indication of what is befitting conduct in the various relations of life. A positive tone of teaching properly concludes an epistle that is so full of warning and rebuke, and even denunciation. Teachings directed against evils and abuses are as necessary now as they ever were, but they should never constitute the whole of teaching; they should never be allowed to stand alone, and carry a complete impression of Christianity. They should be qualified with teachings of positive duty, and commendations of the right spirit to cherish. Christian teaching may be represented by the two related sentences—“Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.” The advice of this passage is precisely adapted to the circumstances and temptations of Jewish Christians in those days. (The advice in reference to the sick is treated as a separate section, because it introduces controversial matter.)
I. There should be the ring of truth in all ordinary conversation.—“Swear not.” Our Lord’s teaching in Matthew 5:33-37 comes at once to mind. Swearing is the expression of lost self-control under the impulse of temper. Taking oaths, or supporting what one has to say with an oath, implies mutual suspicion and untrustfulness. St. James has not in mind that use of foul and blasphemous language which we now understand by swearing. Nor does he refer to the taking of legal oaths, which imply no loss of temper, and no purpose to injure a brother, but nevertheless are, from the Christian point of view, concessions to the weakness of human nature, recognitions of the fact that the naked word of sinful man is not to be trusted. St. James urges that there should be such a ring of truth in all the common conversation of a Christian, that it should never be felt necessary to buttress it with an oath. A truthful man is grieved when his simple word is not taken. And the Christian should be a truthful man. His word should be absolutely and always reliable; and to this end the Christian should cultivate discretion and self-restraint. In perplexing, anxious, persecuting times, there is peculiar call for wisdom of speech. Truthful conversation is a good sign of piety.
II. There should be the relief of prayer in times of suffering.—“Is any among you suffering? let him pray.” The idea is that if the sufferer broods over his woes, or talks over his woes, he is sure to get more and more depressed under them. The Christian way of relief is carrying the burden to God in prayer.
1. It is cherishing the spirit of prayer, which is the spirit of submission and dependence.
2. It is getting the relief of acts of prayer, in which the Divine sympathy and help are sought. Even the severely suffering may find help in ejaculatory prayers. St. Augustine calls these “arrows of the Lord’s deliverance, shot out with a sudden quickness.”
III. There should be the song of praise in times of rejoicing and success.—The advice was, and is, especially needed, because there is always grave danger that times of rejoicing may be times of excitement, and so of unrestrainedness, that may bring disgrace on the Christian name. There are natural ways of expressing gladness. At such times we want to sing. Then let the Christian be careful what song he sings. Let it have the ring of a psalm. Let it be such a thanksgiving as turns his heart to God, and fills his thoughts with God. This need not be exaggerated into meaning that we may, in our joy-times, sing nothing but Bible psalms. St. James means this—Take care, in your times of excitement and merry-making, that you do not lose self-restraint, and dishonour your Christian profession. Bring God near, and keep God near, in your joy-times. It is counsel that is always timely. Festivals of all religions have their moral perils; and merry-making times call for the kindly caution, “Is any cheerful? let him sing praise.” The point of impression is this—In all the various circumstances and moods of Christian life, there is a spirit and a conduct that are befitting. Let every professing Christian keep that spirit, and act along that line.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
James 5:12. The Truth-tone in Common Talk.—F. W. Robertson concludes his sermon on “Freedom by the Truth” with the two following inferences:
1. To cultivate the love of truth. I do not mean veracity—that is another thing. Veracity is the correspondence between a proposition and a man’s belief. Truth is the correspondence of the proposition with fact. The love of truth is the love of realities—the determination to rest upon facts, and not upon semblances. Take an illustration of the way in which the habit of cultivating truth is got. Two boys see a misshapen, hideous thing in the dark. One goes up to the cause of his terror, examines it, learns what it is; he knows the truth, and the truth has made him free. The other leaves it in mystery and unexplained vagueness, and is a slave for life to superstitious and indefinite terrors. Base the heart on facts.
2. See what a Christian is. Our society is divided into two classes: those who are daring, inquisitive, but restrained by no reverence, and kept back by little religion; those who may be called religious—but, with all their excellences, we cannot help feeling that the elements of their character are feminine rather than masculine, and that they have no grasp or manly breadth, that their hold is on feeling rather than on truth. See what a Christian is, drawn by the hand of Christ. He is a man on whose clear and open brow God has set the stamp of truth; one whose very eye beams bright with honour; in whose very look and bearing you may see freedom, manliness, veracity; a brave man—a noble man—frank, generous, true, with, it may be, many faults; whose freedom may take the form of impetuosity or rashness, but the form of meanness never.
Yea and Nay.—Our Lord taught us that the conversation of a sincere man can always be a simple Yea and Nay. He never needs to bolster up any statement he may make with oaths and asseverations. There is a tone in the Yea and Nay which carries conviction. We are made suspicious whenever a man feels he must support a statement with oaths. If a Christian is uncertain, he does not speak positively. If he is sure, he is satisfied with simply stating what he knows. He is true to himself, and true to his Master, and therefore true to his fellow-man. “In conversation be sincere.”
James 5:13. Prayer in Afflictive Circumstances.—There is a distinction indicated by St. James which is not usually recognised. In James 5:13 he says, “Is any among you afflicted?” In James 5:14 he says, “Is any sick among you?” We are wont to regard “sickness” and “affliction” as the same thing, and so we miss the precision of application. In both cases St. James recommends prayer; but for affliction he recommends personal prayer—for sickness, intercessory and sympathetic prayer. By “sickness” we understand the troubles which come as bodily disease, weakness, peril. This attracts public attention, calls for sympathy, and can be relieved by united, believing, intercessory prayer. By “affliction” we understand those distresses which come from trying and perplexing circumstances; and these are often strictly private matters, and must be kept private. We can ask no elders or Church to pray for us, or with us. All we can do, and the thing we should do, is take such “afflictions” freely to God in private prayer.
Life’s Gladness and its Outlet.—How closely our spiritual nature, as creatures of feeling, is related to the element of sound, wanting this in its distinctions for a language, as truly as it wants the language of words for intellectual discourse. Even as the poets, who are nature’s best oracles, sing,—
“Music! Oh, how faint, how weak,
Language fades before thy spell!
Why should feeling ever speak,
When thou canst breathe her soul so well?”
Accordingly, as we are wont to argue the invisible things of God, even His eternal power and Godhead, from the things that are seen, finding them all images of thought and vehicles of intelligence, so we have an argument for God more impressive, in one view, because the matter of it is so deep and mysterious, from the fact that a grand harmonic, soul-interpreting law of music pervades all the objects of the material creation, and that things without life, all metals, and woods, and valleys, and mountains, and waters, are tempered with distinctions of sound, and toned to be a language to the feeling of the heart. It is as if God had made the world about us to be a grand organ of music, so that our feelings might have play in it, as our understanding has in the light of the sun and the outward colours and forms of things.… There is hid in the secret temper and substance of all matter a silent music, that only waits to sound, and become a voice of utterance to the otherwise unutterable feeling of our heart—a voice, if we will have it, of love and worship to the God of all.—Horace Bushnell, D.D.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 5
James 5:14. The Use of Oil for anointing Bodies.—The use of oil in anointing the body appears to have been general in ancient times among all the nations dwelling around the Mediterranean. Allusions to this use abound in ancient authors. The heroes of Homer are described by him as restoring their weary limbs after a battle by frictions of oil. This was Alexander’s practice. It was Pompey’s daily practice also, as well as that of all the wealthy Romans. We find this custom alluded to in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testaments. It is mentioned as forming an habitual part of the toilet on special occasions (Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20; Micah 6:15); not to be indulged in in case of mourning (2 Samuel 14:2; Daniel 10:2-3). The head was anointed in connection with the recurring daily ablution, as mentioned in Matthew 6:17. Egyptian monuments represent servants anointing guests on their arrival at their entertainer’s house; and alabaster vases still exist which retain traces of the ointment they once contained. This was adopted from the Egyptians by the Jews, and the settlement of many of these people at Alexandria served to maintain Egyptian customs among them. This practice has disappeared in modern times, on account of the conquest of these lands by foreign nations. The hair is now anointed, but mostly by the women, since the men have the head shaved. The wrestlers, called by the Turks Pekhliwans, anoint themselves with oil before wrestling, as did the ancients preparatory to similar athletic exercises, in order to render their bodies more slippery under the grasp of their antagonists. The custom of anointing the body is still prevalent among some nations of Africa.—Van Lennep.
Church Customs of anointing with Oil.—Anointing with oil was a part of the ceremonial of the Jewish law, which has been introduced into the Roman as well as the Oriental Churches. It is prepared by these according to the rule prescribed by Moses, and is with them no inconsiderable source of revenue. The “extreme unction” practised by the Roman Church is defended by a misinterpretation of this text; for extreme unction is never applied until it is considered certain that the patient is about to die, whereas the words of St. James, as well as those in Mark 6:13, connect anointing the sick with recovery. We do not consider that in these cases oil was used either as a means or a symbol; the anointing was simply an exercise of faith similar to Peter and John’s saying to the lame man at the gate of the Temple called Beautiful, “Rise up, and walk.” The elders of the Church, after praying for the sick man, were to treat him as though he were recovered. They were to help him rise from his bed, wash, anoint his head, and dress, and rejoice with him in view of the healing mercies of God.—Ibid.
James 5:15-16. Answers to Prayer.—About thirty years ago, a beloved friend and fellow-labourer was taken alarmingly ill, and his constitution being delicate, it was feared that he would not be able to resist so violent an attack. He was a man most highly esteemed both by teachers and children; indeed, I never knew a man more generally beloved. Kind and gentle in his deportment, superior in natural and acquired talent, and zealously devoted to the interests of the young, he was formed both by nature and grace to be a teacher of the very first order. His sudden indisposition spread a gloom over many hearts, and prayer was made without ceasing unto God for him. Several friends agreed to engage in this exercise every morning at eleven o’clock, and the result was waited for with the greatest anxiety. The next Sabbath came, and this faithful servant of Christ to all human appearance was fast approaching the gates of death; a few hours it was thought would terminate his useful career. But though cast down, his friends were not in despair. A special prayer-meeting was appointed to be held in the evening on his behalf, which was attended by not less than between two and three hundred persons, and never did Christians appear to be more united in purpose, more earnest in desire, and more interested in the one important object for which they were assembled, than were the friends on that occasion. It was in truth a solemn season. Every soul seemed dissolved in tenderness, and every eye melted to tears; while the language of each heart appeared to be, “I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan.” For my own part I felt so overcome by the intense sympathy and earnestness displayed, that I was glad to retire from the meeting unobserved, that I might “commune with my own heart, and be still.” The next day was with me a day of much anxiety; but in the evening I was greatly relieved by the information that the disorder of my friend had taken a sudden and favourable change at the very hour appointed for prayer; affording a striking illustration of the faithfulness of the promise, “Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear.” From that hour the sufferer began slowly to amend, until he was again restored to health, and to the duties from which he had for a season been laid aside. But the most extraordinary part of the story remains to be told. At the meeting referred to, an aged teacher, a man remarkable for the strength and simplicity of his faith, was called upon to pray. Whilst pleading with God on behalf of his friend, Hezekiah’s sickness and recovery came forcibly to his mind, and he prayed that God would be pleased, as in the case of Israel’s king, to add fifteen years to the valuable life of his afflicted brother. Time rolled on, carrying many who had engaged in this interesting service to the ocean of eternity, and with them the venerable man who had offered this singular prayer. He whose life had been given at his petition wept over his remains, crying, “Alas, my brother!” and followed him to the open tomb. Years again passed away, and the circumstance of the fifteen years was forgotten by most, but not by him to whom it particularly referred. He treasured it up in his memory, until old age, with its accompanying infirmities, came stealing upon him. One day, when remarking upon it to his family, he said, “That prayer has been signally answered, for this very week the fifteen years have expired.” In the evening the worn-out pilgrim retired to his rest; but oh, how sweet, how peaceful was that rest! it was the rest that remaineth for the people of God. When the sun again visited our hemisphere, his happy spirit had departed to partake of pleasures which longevity cannot diminish, and eternity itself can never exhaust.—Cranfield.
James 5:16. Luther’s Prayer.—“Just as a shoemaker makes a shoe, and a tailor a coat,” said Luther, “so also ought the Christian to pray. The Christian’s trade is praying. And the prayer of the Church works great miracles. In our days it has raised from the dead three persons, viz. myself, my wife Catherine, and Melancthon, who was nigh unto death at Weimar.” Luther, having spoken thus, he lifted up his eyes towards heaven, praying, “Lord God, Thou hast spoken through the mouth of Thy servant David (Psalms 147:8-9). Why wilt Thou not give us rain now, for which so long we have cried and prayed? Well, then, if no rain, Thou art able to give us something better—a peaceable and quiet life, peace and harmony. Now, we have prayed so much, prayed so often, and our prayers not being granted, dear Father, the wicked will say, Christ, Thy beloved Son, had told a falsehood, saying (John 16:23), Thus they will give both Thee and Thy Son the lie. I know that we sincerely cry to Thee and with yearning. Why, then, dost Thou not hear us?” In the very same night following there fell a very refreshing and productive rain.