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James 1:5-8

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

5 Porro si quis autem vestrum destituitur sapientia, postulet a Deo,
qui dat omnibus simpliciter, nec exprobrat; et dabitur ei.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is
like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

6 Postulet autem in fide, nihil haesitans; nam qui haesitat similis est
fluctui maris, qui a vento agitur et circumfertur.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the
Lord.

7 non ergo existimet homo ille quod sit quicquam accepturus a Domino.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

8 Vir duplici animo, instabilis est in omnibus viis suis.


5 If any of you lack wisdom. As our reason, and all our feelings are
averse to the thought that we can be happy in the midst of evils, he
bids us to ask of the Lord to give us wisdom. For wisdom here, I
confine to the subject of the passage, as though he had said, "If this
doctrine is higher than what your minds can reach to, ask of the Lord
to illuminate you by his Spirit; for as this consolation alone is
sufficient to mitigate all the bitterness of evils, that what is
grievous to the flesh is salutary to us; so we must necessarily be
overcome with impatience, except we be sustained by this kind of
comfort." Since we see that the Lord does not so require from us what
is above our strength, but that he is ready to help us, provided we
ask, let us, therefore, learn, whenever he commands anything, to ask
from him the power to perform it.

Though in this place to be wise is to submit to God in the endurance of
evils, under a due conviction that he so orders all things as to
promote our salvation; yet the sentence may be generally applied to
every branch of right knowledge.

But why does he say If any one, as though all of them did not want
wisdom. To this I answer, that all are by nature without it; but that
some are gifted with the spirit of wisdom, while others are without it.
As, then, all had not made such progress as to rejoice in affliction,
but few there were to whom this had been given, James, therefore,
referred to such cases; and he reminded those who were not as yet fully
convinced that by the cross their salvation was promoted by the Lord,
that they were to ask to be endued with wisdom. And yet there is no
doubt, but that necessity reminds us all to ask the same thing; for he
who has made the greatest progress, is yet far off from the goal. But
to ask an increase of wisdom is another thing than to ask for it at
first.

When he bids us to ask of the Lord, he intimates, that he alone can
heal our diseases and relieve our wants.

That giveth to all men liberally. By all, he means those who ask; for
they who seek no remedy for their wants, deserve to pine away in them.
However, this universal declaration, by which every one of us is
invited to ask, without exception, is very important; hence no man
ought to deprive himself of so great a privilege.

To the same purpose is the promise which immediately follows; for as by
this command he shews what is the duty of every one, so he affirms that
they would not do in vain what he commands; according to what is said
by Christ,

"Knock, and it shall be opened."
(Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9.)

The word liberally, or freely, denotes promptitude in giving. So Paul,
in Romans 12:8, requires simplicity in deacons. And in 2 Corinthians 8
and 2 Corinthians 9, when speaking of charity or love, he repeats the
same word several times. The meaning, then, is, that God is so inclined
and ready to give, that he rejects none, or haughtily puts them off,
being not like the niggardly and grasping, who either sparingly, as
with a closed hand, give but little, or give only a part of what they
were about to give, or long debate with themselves whether to give or
not. [101]

And upbraideth not. This is added, lest any one should fear to come too
often to God. Those who are the most liberal among men, when any one
asks often to be helped, mention their formal acts of kindness, and
thus excuse themselves for the future. Hence, a mortal man, however
open-handed he may be, we are ashamed to weary by asking too often. But
James reminds us, that there is nothing like this in God; for he is
ready ever to add new blessings to former ones, without any end or
limitation.

6 But let him ask in faith. He shews here, first the right way of
praying; for as we cannot pray without the word, as it were, leading
the way, so we must believe before we pray; for we testify by prayer,
that we hope to obtain from God the grace which he has promised. Thus
every one who has no faith in the promises, prays dissemblingly. Hence,
also, we learn what is true faith; for James, after having bidden us to
ask in faith, adds this explanation, nothing wavering, or, doubting
nothing. Then faith is that which relies on God's promises, and makes
us sure of obtaining what we ask. It hence follows, that it is
connected with confidence and certainty as to God's love towards us.
The verb diakrinesthai, which he uses, means properly to inquire into
both sides of a question, after the manner of pleaders. He would have
us then to be so convinced of what God has once promised, as not to
admit a doubt whether he shall be heard or not.

He that wavereth, or doubteth. By this similitude he strikingly
expresses how God punishes the unbelief of those who doubt his
promises; for, by their own restlessness, they torment themselves
inwardly; for there is never any calmness for our souls, except they
recumb on the truth of God. He, at length, concludes, that such are
unworthy to receive anything from God.

This is a remarkable passage, fitted to disprove that impious dogma
which is counted as an oracle under the whole Papacy, that is, that we
ought to pray doubtingly, and with uncertainty as to our success. This
principle, then, we hold, that our prayers are not heard by the Lord,
except when we have a confidence that we shall obtain. It cannot indeed
be otherwise, but that through the infirmity of our flesh we must be
tossed by various temptations, which are like engines employed to shake
our confidence; so that no one is found who does not vacillate and
tremble according to the feeling of his flesh; but temptations of this
kind are at length to be overcome by faith. The case is the same as
with a tree, which has struck firm roots; it shakes, indeed, through
the blowing of the wind, but is not rooted up; on the contrary, it
remains firm in its own place.

8 A double-minded man, or, a man of a double mind. This sentence may be
read by itself, as he speaks generally of hypocrites. It seems,
however, to me to be rather the conclusion of the preceding doctrine;
and thus there is an implied contrast between the simplicity or
liberality of God, mentioned before, and the double-mindedness of man;
for as God gives to us with a stretched out hand, so it behooves us in
our turn to open the bosom of our heart. He then says that the
unbelieving, who have tortuous recesses, are unstable; because they are
never firm or fixed, but at one time they swell with the confidence of
the flesh, at another they sink into the depth of despair. [102]
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[101] The literal meaning of haplos is simply without any mixture; the
noun, haplotes, is used in the sense of sincerity, which has no mixture
of hypocrisy or fraud, (2 Corinthians 1:12.) and in the sense of
liberality, or disposition free from what is sordid or parsimonious,
having no mixture of niggardliness, (2 Corinthians 8:2.) This latter is
evidently the meaning here, so that "liberally," according to our
version, is the best word.

[102] "The double-minded," or the man with two souls, dipsuchos, means
here no doubt the man who hesitates between faith and unbelief, because
faith is the subject of the passage. When again used, in James 4:8, it
means a hesitation between God and the world.