Matthew Henry Commentary James 5

Public troubles are most grievous to those who live in pleasure, and are complacent and worldly, though all ranks suffer deeply at such times. All idolized treasures will soon perish, except that they will rise up in judgment against their possessors.

Beware of defrauding and oppressing, and avoid even the appearance of it. God does not forbid us to enjoy lawful pleasures; but to live for pleasure, especially sinful pleasure, is a provoking sin. Is it not harmful for people to make themselves unfit for attending to the concerns of their souls by indulging their bodily appetites?

The righteous may be condemned and killed; but when such people suffer at the hands of oppressors, this is marked by God. Above all their other crimes, the Jews had condemned and crucified that Just One who had come among them—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

Consider the one who waits for a harvest; and will you not wait for a crown of glory? If you should be called to wait longer than the farmer, is there not something more worth waiting for? In every sense, the coming of the Lord drew near, and all His people's losses, hardships, and sufferings would be repaid.

People perceive time as long because they measure it by their own lives; but all time is as nothing to God; it is like a moment. To short-lived creatures, a few years seem an age; but Scripture, measuring all things by the existence of God, counts thousands of years as merely days. God brought about the outcome in Job's case, so as to plainly prove that He is very pitiful and of tender mercy.

This reality did not appear during Job's troubles but was seen in the outcome, and believers today will find a happy end to their trials. Let us serve our God and bear our trials, as those who believe that the end will crown all. Our eternal happiness is safe if we trust in Him; everything else is mere vanity, which will soon be gone forever.

The sin of swearing is condemned; but how many make light of common profane swearing! Such swearing expressly shows contempt for God's name and authority. This sin brings neither gain, nor pleasure, nor reputation; instead, it demonstrates hostility towards God without cause and without benefit. It shows a person to be an enemy of God, however much they may claim His name or sometimes participate in acts of worship. But the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

In a day of affliction, nothing is more appropriate than prayer. The spirit is then most humble, and the heart is broken and tender. It is necessary to exercise faith and hope during afflictions; and prayer is the appointed means for obtaining and increasing these graces. Note that the saving of the sick is not attributed to the anointing with oil, but to prayer.

In a time of sickness, it is not cold and formal prayer that is effective, but the prayer of faith. The most important thing we should ask of God for ourselves and others in times of sickness is the pardon of sin. Let nothing be done to encourage anyone to delay, under the mistaken notion that a confession, a prayer, a minister's absolution and exhortation, or the sacrament, will make everything right in the end, where the duties of a godly life have been disregarded.

Acknowledging our faults to each other will greatly contribute to peace and brotherly love. And when a righteous person—a true believer, justified in Christ, and by His grace walking before God in holy obedience—presents an effective, fervent prayer, worked in their heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, stirring up holy affections and believing expectations, and so leading them to earnestly plead the promises of God at His mercy seat, it avails much. The power of prayer is demonstrated by the history of Elijah.

In prayer, we must not look to human merit, but to the grace of God. It is not enough to merely say a prayer; we must truly pray when we pray. Thoughts must be focused, desires firm and ardent, and graces exercised. This example of the power of prayer encourages every Christian to be earnest in prayer.

God never says to any of the descendants of Jacob, Seek my face in vain. Where God's answers to our prayers may involve less of the miraculous, there can still be just as much grace.

It is no mark of a wise or holy man to boast of being free from error or to refuse to acknowledge an error. And there is some doctrinal mistake at the bottom of every practical mistake. No one is habitually bad except it is based on some bad principle. This is conversion: to turn a sinner from the error of his ways, not merely from one party to another, or from one notion and way of thinking to another.

There is no way to effectively and finally hide sin, except by forsaking it. Many sins are hindered in the converted person; many may also be hindered in others whom he may influence. The salvation of one soul is of infinitely greater importance than preserving the lives of multitudes or promoting the welfare of a whole people. Let us in our various stations keep these things in mind, sparing no effort in God's service, and the outcome will prove that our labour is not in vain in the Lord.

For six thousand years He has been multiplying pardons, and yet His free grace is not tired nor grown weary. Certainly, Divine mercy is an ocean that is ever full and ever flowing. May the Lord give us a part in this abundant mercy, through the blood of Christ, and the sanctification of the Spirit.