Tiago 4
William Barclay · Citado em PreceptAustin
Tiago 4
Barclay - The craving for pleasure drives men to shameful deeds. It drives them to envy and to enmity; and even to murder. Before a man can arrive at a deed there must be a certain driving emotion in his heart. He may restrain himself from the things that the desire for pleasure incites him to do; but so tong as that desire is in his heart he is not safe. It may at any time explode into ruinous action. The steps of the process are simple and terrible. A man allows himself to desire something. That thing begins to dominate his thoughts; he finds himself involuntarily thinking about it in his waking hours and dreaming of it when he sleeps. It begins to be what is aptly called a ruling passion. He begins to form imaginary schemes to obtain it; and these schemes may well involve ways of eliminating those who stand in his way. For long enough all this may go on in his mind. Then one day the imaginings may blaze into action; and he may find himself taking the terrible steps necessary to obtain his desire. Every crime in this world has come from desire which was first only a feeling in the heart but which, being nourished long enough, came in the end to action. (James 5 Commentary) Ropes on murder - φονεύετε, “kill,” “murder.” No weaker sense is possible, and none is here necessary, for James is not describing the condition of any special community, but is analysing the result of choosing pleasure instead of God. The final issue of the false choice is flagrant crime. ἡδονή implies ἐπιθυμία; ἐπιθυμία is often unsatisfied; in such a case its outcome, if unrestrained, is to cause the murder of the man who stands in its way. (International Critical Commentary) FOLLOWING DO NOT INTERPRET MURDER LITERALLY Michael Andrus - I don't know if the killing mentioned here (verse 2: “you kill and covet”) is literal or figurative. Some people can kill with their looks and kill with their words, and I'm inclined to think that is probably what is meant. But even literal physical violence is not unknown in the history of the church. Some pastors could tell you about deacon meetings that ended in fist fights. Far more have ended with verbal violence or seething tempers–all due to frustrated desires. (Understanding Conflict: A Prerequisite to Peacemaking ) NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible - More likely, however, James wants to turn his readers away from their argumentative attitudes by reminding them of the ultimate expression of unbridled passion and selfishness. The Jewish writing Testament of Simeon describes how “envy” (Jas 3:14, 16) led Simeon and his brothers to attempt to murder their brother Joseph (Ge 37:11, 20). African Study Bible - No doubt he is exaggerating to force them to recognize the gravity of the situation. While there may not have been any literal war or murder, the tensions and disputes would have left victims. Such use of language was perfectly acceptable in ancient literature, and is often found in the Psalms (for example, Ps 59:7). D Edmond Hiebert on murder - The failure to attain stirred a vicious reaction: “you kill.” Some modern translations seek to soften the startling force of the term: “and so you are bent on murder” (NEB); “so you are ready to kill” (TEV). Some interpreters understand James to mean literal murder. (R. W. Dale, The Epistle of James and Other Discourse, pp. 122–23; Billy Simmons, A Functioning Faith, pp. 90–91.) Moo concludes, “It is simplest to take ‘murder’ straightforwardly and to regard it as that extreme to which frustrated desire, if not checked, may lead.” (The Letter of James: An Introduction and Commentary - Page 141) But if James is addressing Christians, such a literal meaning is difficult to accept. Lenski discounts the view with the remark “For such murders the criminals would have been executed by the secular government.”28 Plummer proposed a semiliteral meaning for the term with the suggestion that defrauding the poor was the equivalent of destroying him, and cited Deuteronomy 24:6 and Ecclesiasticus 34:21–22 as support.29 But such a means of destroying an opponent would be available only to the rich (cf. 5:4). It seems best to hold that James, like John (1 John 3:15), used the term figuratively; in Matthew 5:21–22, Jesus transferred the guilt from the outward act to the inner spirit. “Hate is potential murder.”30 This is consistent with the figurative usage of “wars” and “fightings” (ASV) in verse 1. The word “kill” is startling and was meant to startle; James sought to force his readers to realize the depth of the evil in their bitter hatred toward others. Donald Burdick - James says, “You eagerly desire something, but you don’t get it.” So strong is the desire that “you kill and covet.” This last statement has aroused much discussion. First, it is difficult to believe that James’s readers, whom he elsewhere addresses as Christians (Jas 2:1), were actually guilty of murder. Some, insisting that the word must be taken literally, say that James is not referring to any specific occurrences but is indicating what happens when men desire pleasure rather than God (Ropes, p. 255). This interpretation, however, does not do justice to the pointed accusation “You kill.” In the context of forceful words such as polemoi (“wars”) and machai (“battles”), it seems better to take phoneuete (“you kill”) as hyperbole for hatred. This also resolves the problem of seeming anticlimactic word order. To say “You hate and covet” is a much more natural order than to say “You murder and covet.” Furthermore, Matthew 5:21–22 and 1 John 3:15 show that hatred is equal to murder. James repeats his assertion that, with all their consuming desire and bitter antagonism, his readers were not able to obtain what they wanted. The reason was that they were going after it in the wrong way. They did “not ask God” for it. They were lusting and fighting rather than praying. (See The Expositor's Bible Commentary - Abridged Edition:- Page 19) Steven
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Barclay on slander - It is the psalmist's accusation against the wicked: 'You sit and speak against your kin; you slander your own mother's child' (Psalm 50:20). The psalmist hears God saying: 'One who secretly slanders a neighbour I will destroy' (Psalm 101:5). Paul lists it among the sins which are characteristic of the unredeemed evil of the non-Christian world (Romans 1:30), and it is one of the sins which he fears he will find in the warring church of Corinth (2 Corinthians 12:20). It is significant to note that, in both these passages, slander comes in immediate connection with gossip. Katalalia is the sin of those who meet in corners and gather in little groups and pass on confidential titbits of information which destroy the good name of those who are not there to defend themselves. The same sin is condemned by Peter (1 Peter 2:1).This is a much-needed warning. People are slow to realize that there are few sins which the Bible so unsparingly condemns as the sin of irresponsible and malicious gossip. There are few activities in which the average person finds more delight than this; to tell and to listen to the slanderous story - especially about some famous person - is for most people a fascinating activity. We do well to remember what God thinks of it. (James 5 Commentary) John
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Barclay adds that huperephanos "literally means one who shows himself above other people. Even the Greeks hated this pride. Theophrastus described it as “a certain contempt for all other people.” Theophylact, the Christian writer, called it “the citadel and summit of all evils.” The real terror of this pride is that it is a thing of the heart. It certainly means haughtiness, but the man who suffers from it might well appear to be walking in downcast humility, while all the time there was in his heart a vast contempt for all his fellow-men. This pride shuts itself off from God for three reasons. (i) It does not know its own need… It walks in proud self-sufficiency. (ii) It cherishes its own independence. It will be beholden to no man; it will not even be beholden to God… (iii) It does not recognize its own sin… A pride like that cannot receive help, because it does not know that it needs help, and, therefore, it cannot ask. It loves, not God, but itself. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press) In his book New Testament Words, Barclay adds that… THE words huperephania and huperephanos are not very common in the NT, but they describe one of the gravest and most basic sins in human nature… It does not so much mean the man who is conspicuous and to whom others look up, as the man who stands on his own little self-created pedestal and looks down. The characteristic of the man who is huperephanos is that he looks down on everyone else, secure in his own arrogant self-conceit… We can see already that huperephania is an ugly sin; we must go on to look at it in two of its most characteristic manifestations. (i) Huperephania and wealth were apt to go hand in hand. Riches and possessions have a way of begetting arrogance and pride. Stobaeus preserves a fragment of a writer called Callicratides: 'It is inevitable that those who have great possessions should become inflated with pride; then that being inflated with pride they should become boastful (alazon); then that being boastful they should be-come arrogant (huperephanos), and think that there is no one like themselves' (Stobaeus, 85.15)… (ii) But huperephania can go even further than that. Huperephania can become the pride and arrogance which in the end despise God… Huperephania is the spirit which despises men and lifts itself arrogantly against God. No wonder Theophylact called huperephania the acropolis kakon, the peak of evils. This pride can come from pride in birth, from pride in wealth, from pride in knowledge, from aristocratic pride, from intellectual pride, from spiritual pride. It is described by Trench as 'human nature in battle array against God'. Alazon [word study] describes the boaster, the man who shouts his claims and pretensions so that all can hear. But huperephania is worse that that, for the seat of huperephanoa is in the heart. The blustering, boasting alazon is plain for all to see; but the huperephanos is the man who might well go about the world with downcast eyes and folded hands and with out-ward quietness, but with a silent contempt within his heart for his fellow-men; the huperephanos is the man who might walk in outward humility, but in inward pride. His basic sin is that he has forgotten that he is a creature and that God is the Creator; for the huperephanos has erected an altar to himself within his own heart, and worships there. (William Barclay. New Testament Words) NIDNTT adds that "The adjective hyperephanos (Hesiod onwards) usually means arrogant, proud; occasionally, prodigal. It also has a positive use (e.g. in Plato): magnificent. The writers of the classical period also used the noun hyperephania in the sense of pride, arrogance, contempt. (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan) Huperephanos is used much more frequently in the Septuagint (Lxx)… where we encounter 20 occurrences - Esther 4:17; Job 38:15; 40:12; Ps 18:27; 89:10; 94:2; 101:5; 119:21, 51, 69, 78, 122; 123:4; 140:5; Pr 3:34; Isa 1:25; 2:12; 13:11; 29:20; Zeph 3:6. Here are most of the uses, a study of which helps one discern the characteristics of huperephanos… Job 40:12 "Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him; And tread down the wicked where they stand. Psalm 18:27-note For Thou dost save an afflicted people; but haughty eyes Thou dost abase.
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Barclay writes that is but a small step from the thought of one who searches for everything thing that can be said against a man to the thought of one who deliberately and maliciously slanders man in the presence of God." (Barclay, W: Mark - The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press) Barclay also writes that diabolos the devil, is the patron saint of all slanderers and of all slanderers he is chief. There is a sense in which slander is the most cruel of all sins. If a man’s goods are stolen, he can set to and build up his fortunes again; but if his good name is taken away, irreparable damage has been done. It is one thing to start an evil and untrue report on its malicious way; it is entirely another thing to stop it. As Shakespeare had it... Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls: Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something, nothing; “Twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands: But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed. Many men and women, who would never dream of stealing, think nothing—even find pleasure—in passing on a story which ruins someone else’s good name, without even trying to find out whether or not it is true. There is slander enough in many a church to make the recording angel weep as he records it." (The letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press) Note that this discussion of diabolos is intended to focus primarily on the meaning of the Greek word and not the more general Biblical teaching on the devil. For more all inclusive articles on "the Devil" click one of the following resources - see study on spiritual warfare and the devil's schemes in Ephesians 6:11. note. Related Resources: Who is Satan? Who is the devil? Torrey's Topical provides an excellent Scriptural summary of "The Devil" Torrey's topic on the various Names of the Devil Holman's Bible Dictionary article has a well done summary on "Devil" Nave's Topical Analysis of Satan "Satan" in International Std Bible Encyclopedia. What does it mean to resist the devil, and why will resistance cause the devil to flee? Is it possible to make a deal with the devil? Why is "the devil made me do it" not a valid excuse? Is the devil / Satan a person or a force / personification of evil? What does it mean that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44)? Diabolos is coupled with the word “Satan” (transliteration of Hebrew word meaning “adversary”) in the Revelation, John recording that an angel from heaven laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years (Re 20:2- note) Diabolos is used of one who makes accusations and presses charges. In Revelation 12:9-10, we read that the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser (kategor) of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses (kategoreo - present tense = describes the devil's continual activity) them before our God day and night. (Re 12:9, 10-see notes Re 12:9; 10) How grateful saints can be that There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Ro 8:1-note:1) Are you safe and protected from the devil's accusations "in Christ Jesus" dear reader? If not, cry out this very moment to the Most High God for Him to give you His grace that you might this moment experience eternal security in Christ through your exercising of personal faith in Christ's life, death, burial, resurrection and sure, soon return. God is faithful. William Evans wrote that it is popular in some circles to day to spell the word devil with the letter "d" left off thus reducing the idea of an actual person called the devil to a mere influence called evil. The devil may be out of fashion, but he's not out of business and as Evans adds... If the devil can't mislead people that way, he would have them think of him as a horrible, monstrous-looking creature with a forked tail, dressed in a fiery red suit, and with horns protruding from his head. If the devil can get folks to think of him like that, then when he comes as an 'angel of light', he will not be recognized, and so find it easier to beguile his unsuspecting victims. Diabolos is used 16 times in the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT - 1Chr 21:1; Esther 7:4; 8:1; Job 1:6, 7, 9, 12; 2:1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7; Ps 109:6; Zech 3:1, 2. Several of the OT uses are recorded below. Note that it is not surprising that 10 of the 16 uses of diabolos are in Job 1-2 (If you have not studied these chapters, you would do well to take some time to read them carefully, taking careful note of what God teaches about the "limits" of Satan as well as Job's and his wife's reaction - cp 2Co 2:11)! Diabolos is the usual rendering of the Hebrew word Satan (accuse, accuser) in the Septuagint (LXX), suggesting that these two words are virtually interchangeable or synonymous. The English translation of the Septuagint (Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint) of Job 1:7 is illustrative of the 10 uses of diabolos in Job... And the Lord said to the devil, "Whence art thou come? And the devil answered the Lord, and said, I am come from wandering about (cf prowls around) on the earth, and walking up and down in the world. So even in the OT we see that the Devil was prowling about like a roaring lion seeking someone he might devour. He is wandering through the earth looking for victims. He tried to devour Job but was unsuccessful and in fact what that the devil meant for evil, God used for good (see Job's "revelation" in Job 42:5, 6). We need to understand that spiritual warfare is real. Our enemy is not a figment of some science fiction writers imagination. And God calls on us as His children to stand against the Adversary in the grace in which we stand and the promised Spirit which He has given us when we placed our faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Zechariah we read Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord (Christ), and Satan (LXX = diabolos) standing at his right hand to accuse him. (Zech 3:1) The psalmist writes Appoint a wicked man over him; and let an accuser (LXX = diabolos) stand at his right hand. (Psalm 109:6) In First Chronicles we read that Then Satan (LXX = diabolos) stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. (1Chr 21:1) King David a man after God's own heart (see Acts 13:22, cf 1Sa 16:7) clearly was not immune to the temptations of the Devil. This "attack" on David was not a surprise to God for the parallel passage in 2Samuel suggests that God permitted Satan to attack (God's "permissive will")... Now again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, "Go, number Israel and Judah." (2Sa 24:1) What "foothold" had David allowed Satan? Why did God permit Satan to tempt David to number the troops (take a census)? The following verse shows that David recognized his census taking was a sin (even a great sin - read the context for how many lost their lives because of this sin!) and it appears most likely that it was the sin of pride ("Look how big my army is"). For a moment David took his eyes off his Lord and what He had enabled him to accomplish, and gave Satan a foothold or base of operations from which to shoot fiery missiles to his mind... Now David's heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly. (2Sa 24:10) Dearly beloved, stay sober and ever on the alert! We are in a very real war with real victims (70,000 lost their lives as a result of David's sin above!) and real devastation. And yet remember that we are no where told to fear the Devil nor his power, but we are told to be aware of his continuous evil schemes to destroy us. If you are fearful or doubting, treasure the truth in your heart that in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels (including diabolos), nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro 8:37, 38, 39-note) Did you notice how Romans 8 begins and ends? It begins with no condemnation (Ro 8:1-note) and ends with no separation for those in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior forever. Glory! Elizabeth Barrett Browning said, The devil's most devilish when respectable. Samuel Chadwick, a great English preacher, said, The one concern of the devil is to keep us from praying. Puritan Joseph Hall added that the devil... rocks the cradle when we sleep at our devotions. One of the most devious devices of the devil is to convince people that he no longer exists, or to trivialize himself as an old goat in a red costume, with a forked tail. As someone has wisely quipped "God is not dead, but neither is Satan." William Shakespeare even wrote about the devil stating that The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose," and in another place noted that "The devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape. John Robinson describing the schemes of the devil said that He sometimes slanders God to men, as to Eve.... sometimes men to God, as Job.... and continually, man to man. Of combat against the devil Martin Luther said that... The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to the texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn. Remembering that Jesus called the devil the "father of lies" (Jn 8:44), Paul Matlock framed this telling sentence... Satan deals with confusion and lies. Put the truth in front of him and he is gone. THE DEVIL MUST FLEE He will flee - While this is a promised conditioned on the humble believer's submission to God, the very statement itself teaches that our mighty enemy (and his henchmen demons) can be successfully resisted. The corollary is that when we fail to submit and/or manifest an a double-minded attitude of indecision and/or doubt when confronting the devil, our indecision causes him to become bold and even aggressive in his attacks. We must never forget that Christ's victory of the devil on the Cross (Jn 12:31, 32, 33) has rendered Satan a defeated foe (cp Heb 2:14, 15-note) Flee (5343) (pheugo) means to flee away in the sense of to take to flight in order to seek safety. To flee in the sense of to escape something, being made safe from danger by eluding or avoiding it (He 11:34-note, Mt 3:7, Acts 27:30). To flee in the sense of to avoid, shun (Webster = to avoid deliberately and especially habitually), have nothing to do with (1Co 6:18). To vanish or disappear (Re 16:20-note, Re 20:11-note). Webster defines flee as to run away often from danger or evil or to hurry toward a place of security. Pheugo is the root of our English word "fugitive" defined as one who escapes from something or someone. He will flee - The future tense can speak of certainty. When we submit to God and resist our archrival, then he must immediately flee! This is a golden promise believers should commit to memory (see Memorizing His Word) so that they are always prepared for spiritual battle. But remember that this promise is conditional and must be preceded by our willing submission to God! Only then can we "claim the promise" beloved! And in the context of James 4 we see that humility manifest by submission is not weakness but in fact is our strength to live the supernatural, Christian life! John
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Barclay comments that pentheo is… It is defined as the kind of grief which takes such a hold on a man that it cannot be hid. It is not only the sorrow which brings an ache to the heart; it is the sorrow which brings an ache to the heart; it is the sorrow which brings the unrestrainable tears to the eyes. Here then indeed is an amazing kind of bliss: Blessed is the man who mourns like one mourning for the dead. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press) Pentheo is found 45 times in the Septuagint or LXX. - Gen 23:2; 37:34f; 50:3; Num 14:39; 1 Sam 6:19; 15:35; 16:1; 2 Sam 13:37; 14:2; 19:1; 1Chr 7:22; 2Chr 35:24; Ezra 10:6; Neh 1:4; 8:9; Job 14:22; Ps 35:14; 78:63; Isa 3:26; 16:8; 19:8; 24:4, 7; 33:9; 61:2f; 66:10; Jer 4:28; 12:4; 14:2; 16:5; 23:10; 31:21; Lam 1:4; 2:8; Ezek 31:15; Dan 10:2; Hos 4:3; 10:5; Joel 1:9f; Amos 1:2; 8:8; 9:5 The first use of pentheo in the Septuagint or LXX describes the mourning of Abraham for his wife Sarah (Ge 23:2). Pentheo describes Jacob mourning for his son Joseph whom he thought had been killed (Ge 37:34, 35). Samuel grieving over Saul and his failure to obey (1Sa 15:35, 16:1). David for his son Absalom (2Sa 13:37, 19:1). All Judah and Jerusalem for King Josiah (2Chr 35:24). Ezra mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles in marrying foreign women. Ezra 10:6, cf Ezra 10:1, 2). Nehemiah mourning over the great distress of the remnant who were back in Jerusalem (Neh 1:4). The people weeping and mourning upon hearing the Words of the Law read (Neh 8:9). Figuratively of Zion or Jerusalem's gates mourning over the coming destruction (Isa 3:6). When Messiah returns to comfort all who mourn (Isa 61:2, 3). Daniel mourned for 3 entire weeks (Da 10:1) Several verses refer to "the land" (the land of Israel) mourning over the sin of the chosen people (cf Jer 23:10 because of the curse, Hos 4:3, Joel 1:10) “Lord, let me weep for naught but sin, And after none but thee; And then I would-oh, that I might- A constant mourner be!” C H Spurgeon Ps 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite (English = bruised, brokenhearted for sin, deeply affected with grief and sorrow for having offended God; humble) heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. Spurgeon's Comment: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. All sacrifices are presented to thee in one, by the man whose broken heart presents the Saviour's merit to thee. When the heart mourns for sin, thou art better pleased than when the bullock bleeds beneath the axe. "A broken heart" is an expression implying deep sorrow, embittering the very life; it carries in it the idea of all but killing anguish in that region which is so vital as to be the very source of life. So excellent is a spirit humbled and mourning for sin, that it is not only a sacrifice, but it has a plurality of excellences, and is preeminently God's sacrifices. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. A heart crushed is a fragrant heart. Men contemn (view with contempt) those who are contemptible in their own eyes, but the Lord sees not as man sees. He despises what men esteem, and values that which they despise. Never yet has God spurned a lowly, weeping penitent, and never will He while God is love, and while Jesus is called the man who receives sinners. Bullocks and rams He desires not, but contrite hearts He seeks after; yea, but one of them is better to Him than all the varied offerings of the old Jewish sanctuary. THOMAS WATSON ON MOURNING The Puritan writer Thomas Watson in his exposition of Mt 5:4 (Beatitudes) has a treatise on mourning which is too lengthy to quote in its entirety. Here are a few snippets to entice you to read his sobering exposition on an all too seldom contemplated subject… We have in our hearts the seed of the unpardonable sin. We have the seed of all those sins for which the damned are now tormented! And shall we not mourn? He who does not mourn, has surely lost the use of his reason… There is a fivefold mourning which is false and spurious. A despairing kind of mourning. Such was Judas' mourning. He saw his sin, he was sorry, he made confession, he justifies Christ, he makes restitution (Matthew 27). Judas, who is in hell, did more than many nowadays! He confessed his sin… A hypocritical mourning. The heart is very deceitful. It can betray as well by a tear—as by a kiss. Saul looks like a mourner, and as he was sometimes 'among the prophets' (1 Samuel 10:12) … The true penitent labors to make the worst of his sin. Saul labors to make the best of sin… A forced mourning. When tears are pumped out by God's judgments, these are like the tears of a man who has the stone, or that lies upon the rack. Such was Cain's mourning. (Genesis 4:13). His punishment troubled him more than his sin! To mourn only for fear of hell is like a thief that weeps for the penalty, rather than the offence. The tears of the wicked are forced by the fire of affliction! An external mourning; when sorrow lies only on the outside. 'They disfigure their faces' (Matthew 6:16-note). The eye is tender—but the heart is hard. Such was Ahab's mourning. 'He tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh, and went softly' (1Ki 21:27). His clothes were torn—but his heart was not torn. He had sackcloth but no sorrow. He hung down his head like a bulrush—but his heart was like granite. There are many who may be compared to weeping marbles, they are both watery and flinty. A vain fruitless mourning. Some will shed a few tears—but are as bad as ever. They will deceive and be unclean. Such a kind of mourning there is in hell. The damned weep—but the continue to blaspheme God. What is the RIGHT gospel-mourning?… It is spontaneous and free. It must come as water out of a spring, not as fire out of a flint. Tears for sin must be like the myrrh which drops from the tree freely without cutting or forcing. Gospel-mourning is spiritual; that is, when we mourn for sin more than suffering. Pharaoh says, "Take away the plague!" He never thought of the plague of his heart. A sinner mourns because judgment follows at the heels of sin—but David cries out, 'My sin is ever before me' (Psalm 51:3-note). God had threatened that the sword should ride in circuit in his family—but David does not say, 'The sword is ever before me'—but 'My sin is ever before me'. The offence against God troubled him. He grieved more for his treason against God—than the bloody axe. In particular, our mourning for sin, if it is spiritual, must be under this threefold notion: 1. We must mourn for sin, as it is an act of hostility and enmity against God. Sin not only makes us unlike God—but contrary to God: 'They have walked contrary unto me' (Leviticus 26:40). Sin affronts and resists the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). Sin is contrary to God's nature; God is holy; sin is an impure thing. Sin is contrary to his will. If God be of one mind—sin is of another. Sin does all it can to spite God. The Hebrew word for 'sin' signifies 'rebellion'. A sinner fights against God (Acts 5:39). Now when we mourn for sin as it is a walking contrary to heaven, this is a gospel-mourning. 2. We must mourn for sin, as it is the highest ingratitude against God. It is a kicking against the breasts of mercy. God sends his Son to redeem us, his Spirit to comfort us. We sin against the blood of Christ, the grace of the Spirit—and shall we not mourn? We complain of the unkindness of others, and shall we not lay to heart our own unkindness against God? Caesar took it unkindly that his son, Brutus, should stab him—'and you, my son!' May not the Lord say to us, 'These wounds I have received in the house of my friend!' (Zechariah 13:6). Israel took their jewels and earrings and made a golden calf of them. The sinner takes the jewels of God's mercies and makes use of them to sin. Ingratitude is a 'crimson sin' (Isaiah 1:18-note). Sins against gospel-love are worse in some sense, than the sins of the devils, for they never had an offer of grace offered to them. Now when we mourn for sin as it has its accent of ingratitude upon it, this is an evangelical mourning. 3. We must mourn for sin as it is a privation; it keeps good things from us; it hinders our communion with God. Mary wept for Christ's absence. 'They have taken away my Lord!' (John 20:13). So our sins have taken away our Lord. They have deprived us of his sweet presence. Will not he grieve, who has lost a rich jewel? When we mourn for sin under this notion, as it makes the Sun of Righteousness withdraw from our horizon; when we mourn not so much that peace is gone, and trading is gone—but God is gone, 'My beloved had withdrawn himself' (Song 5:6); this is a holy mourning. The mourning for the loss of God's favor—is the best way to regain His favor. If you have lost a friend, all your weeping will not fetch him again—but if you have lost God's presence, your mourning will bring your God again. (cp Jas 4:8-note) Gospel-mourning sends the soul to God. When the prodigal son repented, he went to his father. 'I will arise and go to my father' (Lk 15:18). Jacob wept and prayed (Hosea 12:4). The people of Israel wept and offered sacrifice (Jdg 2:4,5). Gospel-mourning puts a man upon duty. The reason is, that in true sorrow there is a mixture of hope, and hope puts the soul upon the use of means. That mourning which like the 'flaming sword' keeps the soul from approaching to God, and beats it off from duty—is a sinful mourning. It is a sorrow hatched in hell. Such was Saul's grief—which drove him to the witch of Endor (1Sa 28:7). Evangelical mourning is a spur to prayer. The child who weeps for offending his father goes to his presence and will not leave until his father is reconciled to him. Absalom could not be quiet 'until he had seen the king's face' (2Sa 14:32, 33). Gospel-mourning is for sin in particular. The deceitful man is occupied with generalities. It is with a true penitent as it is with a wounded man. He comes to the surgeon and shows him all his wounds. Here I was cut with the sword; here I was shot with a bullet. So a true penitent bewails all his particular sins. 'We have served Baal' (Judges 10:10). They mourned for their idolatry. And David lays his fingers upon the sore—and points to that very sin which troubled him (Psalm 51:4-note). 'I have done this evil!' He means his blood-guiltiness. A wicked man will say he is a sinner—but a child of God says, 'I have done this evil!' Peter wept for that particular sin of denying Christ. It is reported that Peter never heard a rooster crow—but he fell a-weeping. There must be a particular repentance, before we have a general pardon. Gospel tears must drop from the eye of faith. 'The father of the child cried out with tears, 'Lord, I believe' (Mark 9:24). Our disease must make us mourn—but when we look up to our Physician, who has made a remedy of his own blood, we must not mourn without hope. Believing tears are precious. When the clouds of sorrow have overcast the soul, some sunshine of faith must break forth. The soul will be swallowed up of sorrow, it will be drowned in tears—if faith does not keep it up from sinking. Though our tears drop to the earth—yet our faith must reach heaven. After the greatest rain, faith must appear as the rainbow in the cloud. The tears of faith are bottled as precious wine. 'You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book' (Ps 56:8-note). Gospel-mourning is joined with self-loathing. The sinner admires himself. The penitent loathes himself. 'You shall loath yourselves in your own sight for all your evils' (Ezekiel 20:43). A true penitent is troubled not only for the shameful consequence of sin—but for the loathsome nature of sin; not only the sting of sin—but the deformed face of sin. How did the leper loathe himself! (Leviticus 13:45). The true mourner cries out, O these impure eyes! this heart which is a conclave of wickedness! He not only leaves sin—but loathes sin. He who has fallen in the dirt loathes himself (Hosea 14:1). Gospel-mourning must be purifying. Our tears must make us more holy. We must so weep for sin, as to weep out sin. Our tears must drown our sins. We must not only mourn—but turn. 'Turn to me with weeping' (Joel 2:12). What good is it, to have a watery eye and a whorish heart? It is foolish to say it is day, when the air is full of darkness; so to say you repent, when you draw dark shadows in your life. It is an excellent saying of Augustine, 'He truly bewails the sins he has committed, who never commits the sins he has bewailed'. True mourning is like the 'water of jealousy' (Nu 5:12-22). It makes the thigh of sin to rot. 'You broke the heads of the monster in the waters.' (Ps 74:13-note). The heads of our sins, these monsters, are broken in the waters of true repentance. True tears are cleansing. They are like a flood that carries away all the rubbish of our sins away with it. The waters of holy mourning are like the river Jordan wherein Naaman washed and was cleansed of his leprosy (2Ki 5:11, 12, 13, 14). It is reported that there is a river in Sicily where, if the blackest sheep are bathed, they become white; so, though our sins be as scarlet—yet by washing in this river of repentance, they become white as snow (Isaiah 1:18-note). Naturalists say of the serpent, before it goes to drink it vomits out its poison. In this 'be wise as serpents'. Before you think to drink down the sweet cordials of the promises, cast up the poison that lies at your heart. Do not only mourn for sin—but break from sin. Gospel-mourning must be joined with hatred of sin. 'What indignation!' (2Cor 7:11 see commentary). We must not only abstain from sin—but abhor sin. The dove hates the least feather of the hawk. A true mourner hates the least motion to sin. A true mourner is a sin-hater. Amnon hated Tamar more than ever he loved her (2Sa 13:15). To be a sin-hater implies two things: first, to look upon sin as the most deadly evil—as the essence of all evil. It looks more ghastly than death or hell. Second, to be implacably incensed against it. A sin-hater will never admit of any terms of peace. The war between him and sin is like the war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 'There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days' (1Ki 14:30). Anger may be reconciled—hatred cannot. True mourning begins in the love of God—and ends in the hatred of sin. Gospel-mourning in some cases is joined with restitution. It is as well a sin to violate the name of another—as the chastity of another. If we have eclipsed the good name of others, we are bound to ask them for forgiveness. If we have wronged them in their estate by unjust, fraudulent dealing, we must make them some compensation. Thus Zacchaeus, 'If I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold' (Luke 19:8), according to the law of Ex 22:1. James bids us not only look to the heart but the hand: 'Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts' (Jas 4:8-note). If you have wronged another, cleanse your hands by restitution. Be assured, without restitution—no remission. Gospel-mourning must be a speedy mourning. We must take heed of adjourning our repentance, and putting it off until death. As David said, 'I will pay my vows now' (Psalm 116:18-note), so should a Christian say, 'I will mourn for sin now.' 'Blessed are you that weep now' (Lk 6:21). God has encircled us in the compass of a little time, and charges us immediately to bewail our sins. 'Now God calls all men everywhere to repent' (Acts 17:30). We know not whether we may have another day granted us. Oh let us not put off our mourning for sin until the making of our will. Do not think holy mourning is only a deathbed duty. You may seek the blessing with tears, as Esau when it is too late. How long shall I say that I will repent tomorrow? Why not at this instant? 'Delay brings danger'. Caesar's deferring to read his letter before he went to the Senate-house, cost him his life. The true mourner makes haste to meet an angry God, as Jacob did his brother; and the present he sends before, is the sacrifice of tears. Gospel-mourning for sin is perpetual. There are some who at a sermon will shed a few tears—but they are soon dried up. The hypocrite's sorrow is like a vein opened and presently stopped. The Hebrew word for 'eye' signifies also 'a fountain', to show that the eye must run like a fountain for sin and not cease; but it must not be like the Libyan fountain which the ancients speak of—in the morning the water is hot, at midday cold. The waters of repentance must not overflow with more heat in the morning, at the first hearing of the gospel; and at midday, in the midst of health and prosperity, grow cold and be ready to freeze. No! it must be a daily weeping. As Paul said, 'I die daily' (1Cor 15:31), so a Christian should say, 'I mourn daily'. Therefore keep open an outflow of godly sorrow, and be sure it is not stopped until death. 'Let your tears flow like a river. Give yourselves no rest from weeping day or night' (Lam 2:18). It is reported of holy John Bradford that scarcely a day passed him wherein he did not shed some tears for sin. Daily mourning is a good antidote against backsliding. I have read of one that had an epilepsy, and being dipped in seawater, was cured. The washing of our souls daily in the brinish waters of repentance is the best way both to prevent and cure the falling into relapses. (And the preceding is only a "snippet" of Thomas Watson's treatise on Mourning - highly recommended) Hiebert points out that James' use of pentheo and klaio… picture the emotional expressions of penitence, as Peter sobbing in shame when seized with a realization of his sin in denying Jesus (Mk 14:72). Weep (2799) (klaio [word study]) means to cry with emphasis upon noise accompanying the weeping. Loud or audible weeping. Klaio expresses mourning and sorrow of all kinds. The picture is a person who laments with sobbing. There is shedding of tears accompanied by external expression. Klaio was used of wailing over the dead (Mt 2:18; Ge 37:34; Lxx = Dt 34:8). Indeed, an outflow of tears is a healthy sign that one is broken over their sin. Klaio - 40x in 34v in the NT and is always translated weep(18), weeping(18), wept(4) - Mt 2:18; 26:75; Mk 5:38, 39; 14:72; 16:10; Lk 6:21, 25; 7:13, 32, 38; 8:52; 19:41; 22:62; 23:28; Jn 11:31, 33; 16:20; 20:11, 13, 15; Acts 9:39; 21:13; Ro 12:15-note; 1Co 7:30; Php 3:18-note; Jas 4:9; 5:1; Rev 5:4-note, Rev 4:5-note; Re 18:9, 11, 15, 19-note. Klaio - 94x in the Non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - Gen 21:16; 27:38; 29:11; 33:4; 37:35; 42:24; 43:30; 45:14f; 46:29; 50:1, 17; Ex 2:6; Lev 10:6; Nu 11:4, 10, 13, 18, 20; 14:1; 20:29; 25:6; Deut 1:45; 21:13; 34:8; Jdg 2:4; 9:7; 11:37f; 14:16f; 15:18; 16:28; 20:23, 26; 21:2; Ru 1:9, 14; 1Sa 1:7f, 10; 11:4f; 13:16; 20:41; 24:16; 30:4; 2 Sa 1:12, 24; 3:16, 32, 34; 12:21f; 13:36; 15:23, 30; 18:33; 19:1; 1Ki 18:45; 21:27; 2Ki 8:11f; 13:14; 20:3; 22:19; 2Chr 34:27; Ezra 3:12; 10:1; Neh 1:4; 8:9; Job 2:12; 30:25; 31:38; Ps 78:64; 95:6; 126:6; 137:1; Eccl 3:4; Isa 15:2, 5; 16:9; 22:4; 30:19; 33:7; 38:3; Jer 9:1; 13:17; 22:10, 18; 34:5; 41:6; 48:5; 50:4; Lam 1:1f, 15; Ezek 24:16, 23; Hos 12:4; Joel 1:5, 18; 2:17; Mic 2:6. The Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint has the following entry for klaio… Ge 21:16; 27:38; 29:11; 33:4; 37:35 to cry, to weep, to wail, to lament [abs.] Ge 21:16; to weep for, to lament for, to bewail. Ge 37:35; id. Nu 11:13; id. Lv 10:6 he wept bitterly (semit., rendering 2Ki 20:3; cpr. Ge 46:29, Jdg 21:2, 2Sa 13:36, Is 30:19, Jer 22:10 Chambers writes that… Repentance always brings a man to this point: ‘I have sinned.’ The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it. Anything less than this is remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself. The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Ghost, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life. The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about. The bedrock of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a man cannot repent when he chooses; repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for ‘the gift of tears.’ If ever you cease to know the virtue of repentance, you are in darkness. Examine yourself and see if you have forgotten how to be sorry. Thomas Watson a great Puritan writer adds that… Sin must have tears. While we carry the fire of sin about with us—we must carry the water of tears to quench it! (Ezekiel 7:16). 'They are not blessed' (says Chrysostom) 'who mourn for the dead—but rather those who mourn for sin.' And indeed it is with good reason we mourn for sin, if we consider the GUILT of sin, which binds over to wrath. Will not a guilty person weep, who is to be bound over to the penalty? Every sinner is to be tried for his life and is sure to be cast away—if sovereign mercy does not become an advocate for him. (Beatitudes) Issac H. A. Ababio - How amazing it is that we have so few tears these days when there is so much to weep about! (From John Blanchard's highly recommended collection - The Complete Gathered Gold- A Treasury of Quotations) John Vance Cheney - The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears. (Ibid) LET THE TEARS FLOW - A DEVOTIONAL - It isn't good to brood about our sins nor to lament constantly over our shortcomings. But neither should we take them too lightly. To disobey the moral law of a holy God is a serious thing. Although as Christians we bask in the warm glow of divine forgiveness, we must never minimize the awful reality of sin. A young pastor visited Dundee, Scotland, shortly after Robert Murray McCheyne died at age thirty. Many people had come to Christ because of McCheyne's ministry, and the visitor wanted to know the secret of his great influence. The old sexton of McCheyne's church led the preacher into the rectory and showed him some of McCheyne's books lying on a table. Then he motioned to the chair the evangelist had used, and said, "Sit down and put your elbows on the table." The visitor obeyed. "Now put your head in your hands." He complied. "Now let the tears flow; that's what McCheyne did." Next he led him into the church and said, "Put your elbows on the pulpit." The visitor did. "Now put your face in your hands." He obeyed. "Now let the tears flow; that's what McCheyne used to do." Calvary proves that sin troubles God— Does it trouble you? DRY EYES - A DEVOTIONAL - I read a news report about a woman who hadn't shed a tear in 18 years. The reason for her dry eyes was physical, not emotional. Doctors said she was a victim of a rare condition called Sjogren's syndrome. For some unknown reason, antibodies attacked her tear glands as if they were undesirable foreign organisms. This reminds me of a spiritual problem among the people of God—people who should and could cry, but don't. They need to learn what Jesus meant when He said, "Blessed are those who mourn" (Mt 5:4-note). Sometimes we think tears are a sign of weakness. But if this were the case, why did Jesus cry? (Lk 19:41). Why did James tell Christians to weep over their sins? (James 4:9). The Lord wants us to mourn our sin, To grieve what brings Him pain; And if the sorrow changes us, Our tears won't be in vain. —Sper Indifference to evil is a great evil. A GODLY MAN WEEPS from Thomas Watson's The Godly Mans Picture David sometimes sang with his harp; and sometimes the organ of his eye wept: "I water my couch with my tears" (Psalm 6:6). Christ calls his spouse his "dove" (Song 2:14). The dove is a weeping creature. Grace dissolves and liquefies the soul, causing a spiritual thaw. The sorrow of the heart, runs out at the eye (Psalm 31:9). The Rabbis report that the same night on which Israel departed from Egypt towards Canaan, all the idols of Egypt were broken down by lightning and earthquake. Just so, at that very time at which men go forth from their natural condition towards heaven, all the idols of sin in the heart must be broken down by repentance! A melting heart is the chief branch of the covenant of grace (Ezek. 36:26), and the product of the Spirit: "I will pour upon the house of David the spirit of grace, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him" (Zech. 12:10). Question: But why is a godly man a weeper? Is not sin pardoned, which is the ground of joy? Has he not had a transforming work upon his heart? Why, then, does he weep? Answer: A godly man finds enough reasons for weeping: 1. He weeps for indwelling sin, the law in his members (Ro 7:23), the outbursts and first risings of sin. His nature is a poisoned fountain. A regenerate person grieves that he carries with him, that which is enmity to God! His heart is like a wide sea in which there are innumerable creeping things (Ps 104:25)—vain, sinful thoughts. A child of God laments hidden wickedness; he has more evil in him than he knows of. There are those windings in his heart which he cannot trace—an unknown world of sin. "Who can understand his errors?" (Ps 19:12). 2. A godly man weeps for clinging corruption. If he could get rid of sin, there would be some comfort—but he cannot shake off this viper! Sin cleaves to him like leprosy! Though a child of God forsakes his sin—yet sin will not forsake him. "Concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season" (Da 7:12). So though the dominion of sin is taken away—yet its life is prolonged for a season; and while sin lives, it molests! The Persians were daily enemies to the Romans and would always be invading their frontiers. So sin "wars against the soul" (1Pe. 2:11). And there is no cessation of war—until death. Will not this cause tears? 3. A child of God weeps that he is sometimes overcome by the prevalence of corruption. "For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do." (Ro 7:19). Paul was like a man carried downstream. How often a saint is overpowered by pride and passion! When David had sinned, he steeped his soul in the brinish tears of repentance. It cannot but grieve a regenerate person to think he should be so foolish as, after he has felt the smart of sin—still to put this fire in his bosom again! 4. A godly heart grieves that he can be no more holy. It troubles him that he shoots so short of the rule and standard which God has set. "I would", says he, "love the Lord with all my heart. But how defective my love is! How far short I come of what I should be; no, of what I might have been! What can I see in my life—but either blanks or blots?" 5. A godly man sometimes weeps out of the sense of God's love. Gold is the finest and most solid of all the metals—yet it is soonest melted in the fire. Gracious hearts, which are golden hearts, are the soonest melted into tears by the fire of God's love. I once knew a holy man, who was walking in his garden and shedding plenty of tears, when a friend came on him accidentally and asked him why he wept. He broke forth into this pathetic expression: "Oh, the love of Christ! Oh, the love of Christ!" Thus have we seen the cloud melted into water, by the sunbeams. 6. A godly person weeps because the sins he commits are in some sense worse than the sins of other men. The sin of a justified person is very odious: (i) The sin of a justified person is odious—because he acts contrary to his own principles. He sins not only against the rule—but against his principles, against his knowledge, vows, prayers, hopes, experiences. He knows how dearly sin will cost him—yet he adventures upon the forbidden fruit! (ii) The sin of a justified person is odious, because it is a sin of unkindness (1 Kings 11:9). Peter's denying of Christ was a sin against love. Christ had enrolled him among the apostles. He had taken him up into the Mount of Transfiguration and shown him the glory of heaven in a vision. Yet after all this dazzling mercy—it was base ingratitude, that he should deny Christ! This made him go out and "weep bitterly" (Matt. 26:75). He baptized himself, as it were, in his own tears! The sins of the godly go nearest to God's heart. The sins of others anger God; the sins of the godly grieve him! The sins of the wicked pierce Christ's side! The sins of the godly wound his heart! The unkindness of a spouse, goes nearest to the heart of her husband. (iii) The sin of a justified person is odious, because it reflects more dishonor upon God. "By this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme" (2Sa 12:14). The sins of God's people put black spots on the face of piety. Thus we see what cause there is why a child of God should weep even after conversion. "Can whoever sows such things refrain from tears?" Now this sorrow of a godly man for sin, is not a despairing sorrow. He does not mourn without hope. "Iniquities prevail against me" (Ps 65:3)—there is the holy soul weeping. "As for our transgressions, you shall purge them away"—there is faith triumphing. Godly sorrow is excellent. There is as much difference between the sorrow of a godly man, and the sorrow of a wicked man—as between the water of a spring which is clear and sweet, and the water of the sea which is salt and brackish. A godly man's sorrow has these three qualifications: (a) Godly sorrow is INWARD. It is a sorrow of soul. Hypocrites "disfigure their faces" (Matt. 6:16). Godly sorrow goes deep. It is a "pricking at the heart" (Acts 2:37). True sorrow is a spiritual martyrdom, therefore called "soul affliction" (Lev. 23:29). (b) Godly sorrow is SINCERE. It is more for the evil that is in sin—than the evil which follows after sin. It is more for the spot—than the sting. Hypocrites weep for sin only as it brings affliction. Hypocrites never send forth the streams of their tears, except when God's judgments are approaching. (c) Godly sorrow is INFLUENTIAL. It makes the heart better: "by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better" (Eccles. 7:3). Divine tears not only wet—but wash; they purge out the love of sin! Use 1. How far from being godly are those who scarcely ever shed a tear for sin! If they lose a near relation—they weep. But though they are in danger of losing God and their souls—they do not weep. How few know what it is to be in an agony for sin, or what a broken heart means! Their eyes are not like the "fishpools in Heshbon", full of water (Song 7:4)—but rather like the mountains of Gilboa, which had "no dew" upon them (2 Sam. 1:21). It was a greater plague for Pharaoh to have his heart turned into stone—than to have his rivers turned into blood. The wicked, if they sometimes shed a tear—are never the better. They go on in wickedness, and do not drown their sins in their tears! Use 2: Let us strive for this divine characteristic. Be weepers! This is "a repentance not to be repented of" (2Co 7:10). It is reported of Bradford, the martyr, that he was of a melting spirit; he seldom sat down to his meal but some tears trickled down his cheeks. There are two lavers to wash away sin: blood and tears. The blood of Christ washes away the guilt of sin; our tears wash away the filth of sin. Repenting tears are precious. God puts them in his bottle (Psalm 56:8). Repenting tears are beautifying. To God—a tear in the eye, adorns more than a ring on the finger. Oil makes the face shine (Ps 104:15). Tears make the heart shine. Repenting tears are comforting. A sinner's mirth turns to melancholy. A saint's mourning turns to music! Repentance may be compared to myrrh, which though it is bitter to the taste—is comforting to the spirits. Repentance may be bitter to the flesh, but it is most refreshing to the soul. Wax which melts is fit for the seal. A melting soul is fit to take the stamp of all heavenly blessing. Let us give Christ the water of our tears—and he will give us the wine of his blood! (Read the entire book The Godly Mans Picture) Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom: o gelos humon eis penthos metatrapheto (3SAPM) kai e chara eis katepheian: Job 30:31; Pr 14:13; Eccl 2:2; 7:6; Lam 5:15; Lk 6:25; 16:25; Rev 18:7,8 James 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries James 4:7-10 Resolving Conflicts God's Way - Steven Cole James 4:8-10 Drawing Near to God, Pt. 2 - John MacArthur James is calling for a striking reversal of their emotional expression. The Amplified Version renders it… Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins]. (Amplified Bible - Lockman) Barton comments… The sorrow being described in this verse is not a public show. We should not attempt to impress God with elaborate displays of repentance. There may be a time of public confession, but the grief-work over sin is largely private and interior. The presence of close friends may help, for sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves. They can also hold us accountable to our confession. But the outcome of this entire process must result in submission to God. (Barton, B. B., et al. Life Application Bible Commentary. Romans: Tyndale House Publishers)