James 4:9

Be afflicted. Sinners should feel the real wretchedness of their condition. Men should ever seek to be aware of their true spiritual state. Special exhortation is given the Laodicean church with respect to this matter (see on Rev. 3:17). The state of divided friendship (James 4:4) and internal strife (chs. 3:16; 4:1) and lust (James 4:1-5) should have caused every sincere church member to “be afflicted.”

Mourn. See on Matt. 5:4. This is an earnest call to repentance, and is intended to reach even those whom James has sharply rebuked. There is hope, for “godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation” (see on 2 Cor. 7:10).

Laughter. That is, the laughter that had marked their “lusts,” or pleasures (see v. 1). This mirth becomes a narcotic that encourages false satisfaction and security, while all the time the soul is on the brink of destruction. However, James does not imply that the normal Christian life is to be characterized by gloomy sadness.

Mourning. The inevitable result of frivolous folly.

Joy. “Joy [turned] to heaviness” is poetically parallel with “laughter . . . turned to mourning” (see Vol. III, pp. 23-28).

Heaviness. Gr. katepheia, “gloominess,” “dejection.” Compare the “humble” of v. 6.