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James 5:1
1 Go to [age] now [nun], ye rich men [plousios], weep [klaio] and howl [ololuzo] for [epi] your [humon] miseries [talaiporia] that shall come upon [eperchomai] you. KJV-Interlinear
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. NASB
Rich, means people of substance, talent, ability, position, resources that allow them to sail through life with relative ease.
Weep and howl, means very, very, very deep distress. This is intense language that indicates that the mishap, misfortune, catastrophe, disasters that would come upon them (the rich), would not only produce sorrow and grieving at their losses, but they would cry uncontrollable tears accompanied with tremendous or deep lamentations of misery.
Now, note that it is the person who will suffer, not his wealth.
Wealth is a good thing. Wealth is not evil, nor is having it, a sin. Wealth is a noble goal to pursue, and is something that everyone, in their right mind, should desire.
Note again, that wealth is a substantial component of Gods eternal blessings. Good things in the spiritual life are even described as gold, silver, and precious stones. These three things represent wealth resources (gold), gobs of money to spend (silver), and beautiful things to possess (precious stones).
However, there are rich folks (poor folks too) that disregard doctrine, emphasizing their possessions and achievements as being more important to them in life, and in so doing, they de-emphasize their spiritual life, thus setting themselves up for tremendous, tremendous, tremendous disappointment.
Did I mention that their disappointment would be tremendous?
There are phenomenal things a person can do when they possess great wealth, especially when they are spiritually mature, and God is working great things through them.
However, most folks, rich and poor alike, view their things as theirs alone, and no one else's. They ignore their spiritual side of life, and assume the position of simply living life to its fullest, and gaining (wealth, fame, etc.) as much as possible, for themselves.
Their reality goes no further than their belief of the moment.
They see the evidences of life's limitations and dangers, but they rely on their wealth, talent, resources and such, to get them through anything and everything.
And then, disaster strikes. A disaster that overwhelms their resources. War, economic depression, accident, whatever, even death, and then reality strikes hard. But do they turn to God in repentance? No. They turn to sorrow, hate, bitterness, self-pity, perhaps suicide.
All of the worldly advantages in life, will never guarantee a successful life, and certainly not true happiness.
