James 4:8-10

The Call to Repentance

8. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you The "nearness to God," to which the promise is attached, is primarily that which is involved in all true and earnest prayer, but it should not be forgotten that it includes also the approximation of character and life. We are to walk with God as Enoch walked (Genesis 5:24). The former sense is prominent in the LXX. use of the verb employed by St James, as in Hosea 12:6, where in the English we have "wait onthy God continually," and Psalms 119:169. An illustration of its meaning in the second clause is found in Job 19:21, where it answers to the English "have pity on me."

Cleanse your hands, ye sinners The words contrast, with an implied reference to our Lord's teaching in Matthew 15:1-9, the true cleanness of hands, which consists in abstinence from the evil that defiles (Psalms 24:4; 1 Timothy 2:8), with the merely ceremonial cleanness on which the Pharisees laid stress. Comp. Ch. James 1:27.

purify your hearts The verb implies the same kind of purity as the adjective used in Ch. James 3:17, primarily, that is, chastityof heart and life. It has here a special emphasis as contrasted with the "adulteresses" in James 4:4, and with the special aspect of the "double-mindedness" which that word implied. See note on Ch. James 1:8.