51 Come now , you rich , weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten . 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted ; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire . It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure ! 4 Behold , the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields , and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth . 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure ; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter . 6 You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.
7 Therefore be patient , brethren , until the coming of the Lord . The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil , being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient ; strengthen your hearts , for the coming of the Lord is near . 9 Do not complain , brethren , against one another , so that you yourselves may not be judged ; behold , the Judge is standing right at the door . 10 As an example , brethren , of suffering and patience , take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on James 5:1-10
Commentary on James 5:1-6
(Read James 5:1-6)
Public troubles are most grievous to those who live in pleasure, and are secure and sensual, though all ranks suffer deeply at such times. All idolized treasures will soon perish, except as they will rise up in judgment against their possessors. Take heed of defrauding and oppressing; and avoid the very appearance of it. God does not forbid us to use lawful pleasures; but to live in pleasure, especially sinful pleasure, is a provoking sin. Is it no harm for people to unfit themselves for minding the concerns of their souls, by indulging bodily appetites? The just may be condemned and killed; but when such suffer by oppressors, this is marked by God. Above all their other crimes, the Jews had condemned and crucified that Just One who had come among them, even Jesus Christ the righteous.
Commentary on James 5:7-11
(Read James 5:7-11)
Consider him that waits for a crop of corn; and will not you wait for a crown of glory? If you should be called to wait longer than the husbandman, is not there something more worth waiting for? In every sense the coming of the Lord drew nigh, and all his people's losses, hardships, and sufferings, would be repaid. Men count time long, because they measure it by their own lives; but all time is as nothing to God; it is as a moment. To short-lived creatures a few years seem an age; but Scripture, measuring all things by the existence of God, reckons thousands of years but so many days. God brought about things in Job's case, so as plainly to prove that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy. This did not appear during his troubles, but was seen in the event, and believers now will find a happy end to their trials. Let us serve our God, and bear our trials, as those who believe that the end will crown all. Our eternal happiness is safe if we trust to him: all else is mere vanity, which soon will be done with for ever.