■^ Grotius in Annot. in Mat. xviii. 19.
^ ' Sancti ad salutem per omnia exaudiuntur, sed non ad voluntatem, ad voluntatem etiam Dajmones exauditi sunt, etad porcos quos petiverant iremissi sunt.' — Aug. in Epist. Johan. tract, t). So also (Serm. 53, de Verbis Domini), ' Quid prosit medicus novit, non segrotus.'
4G AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. G.
taineth the more ; and wlien the desires are extended and drawn out to God, the mercy is usually the greater : Ps. xl. 1, ' I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry/ God loveth to dispense mercies after our waiting. (4.) It must be ad honum; you must pray to a good end, with an aim and reference to the Lords glory. There is a difference between a carnal desire and a gracious supplica- tion : James iv, 3, ' You ask and have not, because you ask amiss, to spend it on your lusts.' Never let your requests terminate in self. That was but a brutish request, Exod. xvii. 2, ' Give us water that we may drink.' A beast can aim at self-preservation. Prayer, as every act of the Christian life, must have an ordination to God. Well, then, pray thus, and you shall be sure to speed. Carnal requests are often dis- appointed, and therefore we suspect gracious prayers, and faith is much shaken by the disappointment of a rash confidence. Consider that, John xvi. 23, ' Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, he shall give it you.' Mark, Christ speaketh universally, ' whatsoever,' to raise our hopes ; earnestly, ' verily, verily,' to encourage our faith. We are apt to disbelieve such promises.
Uhs. 14. Lastly, from that it shall be given. He bringeth an encouragement not only from the nature of God, but the promise of God. It is an encouragement in prayer, when we consider there is not only bounty in God, but bounty engaged by promise. What good will the general report do without a particular invitation ? There is a rich King giveth freely ; ay ! but he giveth at pleasure ; no, he hath promised to give to thee. The psalmist argueth from God's nature, • Thou art good, and tlost good,' Ps. cxix. G8. But from the promise we may reason thus, ' Thou art good, and sJialt do good.' God at large, and discovered to you in loose attributes, doth not yield a suffi- cient foundation for trust ; but God in covenant, God as ours. Well, then, let the world think what it will of prayer, it is not a fruitless labour : you have promises for prayer, and promises to prayer ; and therefore when you pray for a blessing promised, God doth, as it were, come under another engagement : ' Ask, and it shall be given.'
Ver. G. But let him ask in faith, nothing icavtring ; for he that wavereth is like a luave of the sea, driven loith the loind aiul tossed.
Here he proposeth a caution, to prevent mistakes about what he had delivered : every asking will not serve the turn ; it must be an asking in faith.
But let him ask in faith. — Faith may be taken — (1.) For confidence in God, or an act of particular trust, as Eph. iii. 12 : ' We have bold- ness and access with confidence through the faith of him.' (2.) It may import persuasion of the lawfulness of the things that we a.sk for ; that is one acceptation of faith in scripture, Piom. xiv. 23 : 'Whatever is not of faith, is sin;' that is, if we practise it before we are persuaded of the lawfulness of it. Or, (3.) In faith, that is, in a state of believing ; for God will hear none but his own, those that have interest in Jesus Ciuist, ' in whom the promises are yea and amen,' 2 Cor. i. 20. All these senses are considerable, but I think the first is most direct and formal ; for faith is here opposed to doubting and wavering, and so Doteth a particular act of trust.
Nothing wavering, firjBev CLaKpiuufi€vo<;. — What is this ivavcring ?
JaS. I. G.] UPON THE EriSTLE OF JAMES. 47
The word signifieth not disputing or traversing the matter as doubt- ful in the thoughts. The same phrase is used Acts x. 20, ' Arise, go with them, /j,r]Sev SoaKpLvo/juevo';, nothing doubting ; ' that is, do not stand disputing in thy thoughts about thy cahing and the good suc- cess of it. The word is often used in the matter of believing ; as Kom. iv, 20, ' He staggei'ed not through unbelief ; in the original ov hLeKplOrj, 'He disputed not/ did not debate the matter, but settled his heart upon God's power and promise : Mat. xxi. 21 : 'If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed into the depths of the sea,' &c. If they could but remove the anxious- noss and uncertainty of their thoughts, and settle their hearts upon the warrant, they should do miracles.
For he that douhteth is like a luave of the sea, that is tossed to and fro. — An elegant similitude to set out their estate, used by common authors in the same matter,i and by the prophet Isaiah, chap. Ivii. 20. James saith here, the doubter, eoLKe kXvScovc, is ' like a wave of the sea ; ' and the prophet saith of all wicked men, KXvSovLad >]aovrat, (as the Septuagint render it), 'These shall be like troubled waves, whose waters cannot rest.'