John Calvin Commentary James 1:19

"Ye know [this], my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:" — James 1:19 (ASV)

Let every man. If this were a general sentence, the inference would be far-fetched. However, since he immediately adds a sentence concerning the word of truth corresponding to the last verse, I do not doubt that he applies this exhortation particularly to the subject at hand.

Having then set before us the goodness of God, he shows how it is fitting for us to be prepared to receive the blessing which He extends to us. This doctrine is very useful, because spiritual generation is not the work of a single moment.

Since some remnants of the old man always remain in us, we must necessarily be renewed throughout life, until the flesh is abolished. For our perverseness, arrogance, or sloth is a great impediment to God in perfecting His work in us.

Therefore, when James urges us to be swift to hear, he commends promptness. It is as though he had said, “When God so freely and kindly presents Himself to you, you also ought to make yourselves teachable, lest your slowness should cause Him to stop speaking.”

But since we do not calmly hear God speaking to us when we consider ourselves very wise, but instead interrupt Him with our haste when He addresses us, the Apostle requires us to be silent, to be slow to speak.

Undoubtedly, no one can be a true disciple of God unless he hears Him in silence. This does not, however, mean the silence of the Pythagorean school, making it wrong to inquire whenever we desire to learn what is necessary to know.

Rather, he would only have us correct and restrain our impulsiveness, so that we do not, as commonly happens, interrupt God at the wrong time. As long as He opens His sacred mouth, we should open our hearts and ears to Him and not prevent Him from speaking.

Slow to wrath. Wrath also, I think, is condemned with regard to the hearing that God demands from us. It is as though by creating a disturbance, wrath disturbed and hindered Him, for God cannot be heard unless the mind is calm and composed.

Hence, he adds that as long as wrath prevails, there is no place for the righteousness of God. In short, unless the heat of contention is banished, we shall never maintain towards God that calm silence of which he has just spoken.