Ministry of Grace Church

Be distressed and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Truth to Learn

Realize how sinful you really are compared to our Holy God.

Behind the Words

“Be distressed” is translated from the Greek word talaipōreō, which is closely related to the noun talaipōria, meaning misery. Hence, this verb implies that we are to realize our miserable condition. In other words, we are to be afflicted and to lament over our dirty hands and impure heart. It implies an inward reaction to the realization of our condition. This is the only place in the New Testament where this word is used.

The word “mourn” is from the verb penthēsate, which is the outward manifestation of inward grief. Hence, it means “to mourn,” “to lament,” or “to show grief.”

The word translated “weep” is klausate, which means “to cry our loud” or “to wail.” It is the audible manifestation and expression of mourning. All three of these words are expressed in the imperative mood in Greek. That is, James in not simply suggesting that we do such things, but is imploring, or commanding us to.

Meaning Explained

James said in the previous verse, “Cleanse your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double minded ones.” He is not saying, if you’re a sinner, cleanse your hands and, if you are a double minded person, purify your hearts. He’s saying you are a sinner, so cleanse your hands, and you are double minded, so purify your hearts! He gets even more “in your face” in this verse. The first part could be paraphrased as, “Become fully aware of your wretchedness, grieve about it and cry out loud.” The only way to draw near to God is to recognize our own sinfulness. We need to see how truly loathsome we are in our sinfulness. In 1 John 1:9 we are told:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 The word translated as “confess” is homologeō, which has the meaning of “have the same thoughts as God.” That’s what James is telling us in today’s verse regarding our need to come close to God and to grieve over our sinfulness before Him. As we recognize our own wretched condition and humble ourselves before God, he will draw close to us with perfect forgiveness.

We often cover up our poor relation with God by pretending to be happy or by seeking out activities that will make us happy. Instead, James tells us that we need to grieve over our sinfulness, especially in the presence of a Holy God! He knows precisely how wretchedly sinful we are and makes no pretense about it. We need to quit lying to ourselves and to God by recognizing our own wretchedness before Him.

James is not talking about an outward show of humility and self-deprecation to show others how humble we are. The comparison is not between us and other sinners or even between us and other Christians. He is saying, rather, that we need to humble ourselves on the inside as we see ourselves in relation to a Holy God. Compared to His holiness and glory, we really are miserable and wretched. This is precisely what Christ says to the lukewarm church in Laodicea:

Because you say, “I am rich and I have become wealthy, and have need of nothing”—and do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind, and naked. (Revelation 3:17)

Clearly, there is a progression here; submit to God, resist the Devil and his world system, become more intimate with our Holy God, cleanse yourself of current sin, and grieve over your lack of holiness. But James doesn’t leave us there. He has still more to say to us.

Application

It’s easy for us to fool ourselves into believing that we’re not really so bad, especially compared to everyone else around us. God is not fooled, though, and He says that we are wretched in our sinfulness. Let’s all realize our own wretchedness and humble ourselves before God.