The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
Parallel Translations
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The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
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The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
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The wicked is thrust down in his misfortune; but the righteous, even when he is brought to death, hath hope.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Proverbs 14:32 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Timothy 4:18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
- 2 Corinthians 5:8 We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
- Genesis 49:18 I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.
- Job 19:25-27 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth. After my skin is destroyed, then I will see God in my flesh, whom I, even I, will see on my side. My eyes will see, and not as a stranger. “My heart is consumed within me.
- Revelation 14:13 I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.”
- Job 13:15 Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.
- Psalms 37:37 Mark the perfect man, and see the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.
- Proverbs 24:16 for a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
- 2 Corinthians 1:9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,
- Job 18:18 He will be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
- Job 27:20-22 Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals him away in the night. The east wind carries him away, and he departs. It sweeps him out of his place. For it hurls at him, and does not spare, as he flees away from his hand.
- Psalms 16:11 You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
- Psalms 17:15 As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.
- Psalms 58:9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.
- Proverbs 6:15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
- Daniel 5:26-30 “This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE: God has counted your kingdom, and brought it to an end. TEKEL: you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting. PERES: your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain.
- Luke 2:29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace;
- John 8:21 Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.”
- John 8:24 I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
- Romans 9:22 What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
- 1 Corinthians 15:55-58 “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
- Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
- Philippians 1:23 But I am hard pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape.
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Explain this verse (19 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 14:32 The wicked is driven away in his…
Pro 14:32 The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
Ver. 32. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness.] Being arrested by death, as a cruel serjeant, in the devil’s name, he is hurried away, and hurled into hell, as dying in his sins, and killed by death. {Rev 2:23} And oh, what a dreadful shriek gives the guilty soul then to see itself launching into an infinite ocean of scalding lead, and must swim naked in it for ever!
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But the righteous hath hope in his death.] Death to the righteous, as the valley of Achor, is a door of hope to give entrance into paradise; to the wicked it is a trap door to hell. Improbi dum spirant, sperant: iustus etiam cum expirat, sperat. Aelian tells how he once heard a dying swan sing most sweetly and melodiously, {a} which in her lifetime hath no such pleasant note. As, on the other side, syrens are said to sing curiously while they live, but to roar horribly when they die. Such is the case of the godly and the wicked when they come to die.
{a} ευφωνοτατον και ωδικωτατον.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Driven away, to wit, in his death, as is…
Driven away, to wit, in his death, as is gathered from the opposite clause; driven away from God’s favour and presence, and from the society of the just, and from all his hopes of happiness, both in this life and in the next. This expression notes that this is done suddenly, violently, and irresistibly, as the smoke or chaff are driven away by a strong wind.
In his wickedness, or, for his wickedness, Heb. in his evil, which may be understood of the evil of punishment; in the day of his calamity, when he shall flee to God for help.
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Hath hope of deliverance from it, or of great and everlasting advantage by it.
In his death; in his greatest dangers and distresses, yea, even in death itself, which therefore he can receive with comfort and confidence.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, 1. The desperate condition of a wicked…
Here is, 1. The desperate condition of a wicked man when he goes out of the world: He is driven away in his wickedness. He cleaves so closely to the world that he cannot find in his heart to leave it, but is driven away out of it; his soul is required, is forced from him, And sin cleaves so closely to him that it is inseparable; it goes with him into another world; he is driven away in his wickedness, dies in his sins, under the guilt and power of them, unjustified, unsanctified. His wickedness is the storm in which he is hurried away, as chaff before the wind, chased out of the world. 2. The comfortable condition of a godly man when he finishes his course: He has hope in his death of a happiness on the other side death, of better things in another world than ever he had in this. The righteous then have the grace of hope in them; though they have pain, and some dread of death, yet they have hope. They have before them the good hoped for, even the blessed hope which God, who cannot lie, has promised.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The wicked is driven away in his wickedness,.... That…
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness,.... That is, at death, as the opposite clause shows; he is driven out of the world, his heart is so much set on; from all the good things of it, which are his all, his portion; from the place of his abode, which will know him no more; and from all his friends and acquaintance, with whom he has lived a merry and jovial life; he shall be driven out of light into darkness, even into outer darkness; into hell, which is a place of torment, a prison, a lake burning with fire and brimstone; he shall be driven as a beast is, driven: and such is the man of sin, who shall go into perdition; and such are his followers, and that will be their end, Rev 13:1; he shall be driven sore against his will; the righteous depart, and desire to depart; but the wicked are driven, and go unwillingly, with reluctance; they would fain flee out of the hand of God, and yet they have no power to withstand; go they must, they are driven forcibly and irresistibly: and it may also denote the suddenness of their death, and the swiftness of their destruction. The driver is not mentioned; it may be understood of the Lord himself, who, in and by a storm of his wrath, hurls them out of their place; or of death, as having a commission from him, when a man has no power over his spirit to retain it; or of angels, good or bad, employed by the Lord in driving their souls to hell upon their separation from their bodies. The circumstance, "in his wickedness", may denote their dying in their sins, unrepented of, unforgiven, and without faith in Christ; in the midst of them, in their full career of sin, under the power, faith, and guilt of it; and as sometimes, in the horror of a guilty conscience, in black despair, without any hope or view of pardon, the reverse of the righteous man; and so will have all their wickedness to answer for, it being not taken away, but found upon them: or this may be expressive of the cause of the wicked man's being driven away, namely, his wickedness; for so it may be rendered and interpreted, "because of his wickedness" (n) it is for that he shall die and go to hell: or it may be rendered, "into his evil" (o); and so denote the everlasting punishment into which he shall go, being driven;
but the righteous hath hope in his death; not in the death of the wicked man, as Aben Ezra, when he shall be delivered, and he can do him no more hurt; but in his own death; he dies as other men; his righteousness, though it delivers him from eternal death, yet not from a corporeal one; though the death of a righteous man is different from others; he dies in Christ, in the faith of him, and in hope of eternal life by him; and to die his death is very desirable: he has a hope of interest in the blessings of grace and glory; which is a good hope through grace; is wrought in him at regeneration; and is founded on that righteousness from whence he is denominated righteous, even the righteousness of Christ; and is of singular use and advantage to him in life: and this grace he exercises at death; it carries him through the valley of death, and above the fears of it; he hopes, though he dies, he shall rise again; and he hopes to be in heaven and happiness, immediately upon his dissolution, and to all eternity; he hopes to see God, be with Christ, angels and good men, for evermore. Jarchi's note is,
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"when he dies, he trusts he shall enter into the garden of Eden, or paradise.''
(n) "propter suam malitiam", Pagninus, Mercerus, Gejerus. (o) "In malam suum", Junius & Tremellius, Amama, so some in Mercerus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Driven away - In his death, from God's favour…
Driven away - In his death, from God's favour and presence. Death - In his greatest dangers and distresses, yea even in death itself.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 32. The wicked is driven away in his…
Verse 32. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness] He does not leave life cheerfully. Poor soul! Thou hast no hope in the other world, and thou leavest the present with the utmost regret! Thou wilt not go off; but God will drive thee.
But the righteous hath hope in his death.] He rejoiceth to depart and be with Christ: to him death is gain; he is not reluctant to go-he flies at the call of God.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 14:32. The wicked is driven away — From…
Pro 14:32. The wicked is driven away — From God’s favour and presence, and from the society of the righteous, and from all his hopes of happiness, both in this life and in the next; in his wickedness — Or, for his wickedness. The Hebrew, however, ברעת, is literally, in his evil; and may be understood of the evil of punishment: in the day of his trouble, when he shall flee to God for help, he shall be driven away from him. But the righteous hath hope in his death — In his greatest dangers and distresses; yea, even in death itself he hath hope of deliverance from, or of great and everlasting advantage by what he suffers.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Consult marginal reference. The hope which abides even “in…
Consult marginal reference. The hope which abides even “in death” must look beyond it.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain We cannot judge men by their outward condition, for…
We cannot judge men by their outward condition, for "there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked." (Ecc 9:2 .) Such a judgment would often throw the balance on the wrong side. (Psa 73:12 .) The standard of the world is not less erroneous. While men rarely give an unqualified commendation of their neighbours in mutual intercourse; yet — as respects God — all are good enough for heaven. A hope is entertained of the most criminal, that they will be taken to mercy at last. And thus the distinctive terms — righteous and wicked — are so confounded, and brought so near each other, that there is little meaning in either.
But now let us turn to this striking picture before us, which sweeps away all human standards. Eternity is here realized before us — the wicked and the righteous — each "going to his own place." (Act 1:25 .) Let us ponder the sight with deep-toned solemnity. O my soul, "make thy calling sure!" The wicked includes a diversified mass of character. Many are amiable, useful, and in a variety of ways exemplary. Others are absorbed in vanity; or they wear themselves away by the lamp of study; or they are given up to selfish indulgence. But whatever be the external shape or feature, the stamp is every way broad — "forgetfulness of God" — and the condemnation sealed — "turned into hell." (Psa 9:17 .)
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Truly is the wicked pictured as driven away in his wickedness. He is dragged out of life, like a criminal to execution; torn away from his only heaven here, with no joyous heaven beyond. (Job 18:18 ; Job 27:21 .) Dreadful beyond imagination to be thus forced out of the body, to die a violent death. Fain would he stay. But he cannot. He cannot live. He dares not die. Sometimes he departs with a horror that no words can paint. Hell is manifestly begun on this side eternity. (1Sa 28:15 .) He is driven out of a world, which has cheated and damned his soul for ever. And even where he has "no bands in his death, but his strength is firm" (Psa 73:4 ), where do we hear of "a desire to depart"? (Php 1:23 .) Though he may fall asleep as softly as lambs, he will wake to live for ever "with the devil and his angels." His few moments of peace are only the respite from hopeless, never-ending torments. His wickedness was his element in life. It will cleave to him still, the sting of the undying worm, the fuel of unquenchable fire.
But is the righteous driven away? He dies by his own consent. It is a glad surrender, not a forcible separation. (Psa 31:5 .) The tabernacle is not rent or torn away, but "put off." (2Pe 1:14 .) He can take death by his cold hand, and bid him welcome. ’I can smile on death’ — said a dying saint — ’because my Savior smiles on me.’ There is courage to face "the King of terrors," and delight in looking homeward to his God.†1 There is loveliness and sunshine in his death, such as flashes conviction upon the most hardened conscience. (Num 23:10 .) The righteous hath hope in his death. His death is full of hope. Job pierced his dark cloud of sorrow with this joyous hope.†2 David rested his way-worn spirit upon the Rock of salvation.†3 Stephen anchored within the vail, undisturbed by the volley of stones without.†4 Paul triumphed in the crown, as if it was already on his head.†5 And hear we not daily "the voice from heaven," assuring to us the "blessedness of them that die in the Lord"? (Rev 14:13 .) Praise to our Immanuel! ’When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.’†6 By thee as the way to the Kingdom we go freely, gladly, out of life. We go to what we love, to our native home, to our Savior’s bosom, to our rest, our crown, our everlasting joy. "Now, Lord, what wait I for? I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD."†7
Footnotes:
†1 2Co 5:8 . Qarroumen — undaunted boldness. Eudokoumen — we are well pleased. ().
†2 Job 19:25-27.
†3 2Sa 23:5 .
†4 Act 7:55-60.
†5 2Ti 4:6-8 . 2Co 5:1 .
†6 Te Deum.
†7 Psa 39:7. Gen 49:18 . Does not this text clearly prove that while "life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel" (2Ti 1:10 ), the dawn of the day beamed upon the Old Testament saints? What could this hope of the righteous be, but the consummating prospect of the Gospel? Bishop Warburton (Div. Leg. B. vi. Section 3) expounds, ’that they shall be delivered from the most imminent danger.’ That sagacious mind could never have confounded two things so essentially distinct, as hope in death, and hope of escape from death, had it not been necessary to subserve a favorite hypothesis. Equally satisfactory and beautiful is the note of a learned German critic — ’A splendid testimony of the knowledge of the Old Testament believer in a future life. The wicked in this calamity is agitated with the greatest terror. He knows not where to turn. But the godly in this last evil has no fear. He knows to whom to flee, and where he is going.’ — Dathe in loco. Again — ’He (the righteous) dieth in God’s grace, and in an assured confidence of the salvation of his soul, and of the glorious resurrection of his body.’ — Diodati.
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain driven--thrust out violently (compare Psa 35:5-6).
driven--thrust out violently (compare Psa 35:5-6).
hath hope--trusteth (Pro 10:2; Pro 11:4; Psa 2:12), implying assurance of help.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 32. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness…
32. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness — Or, shall be thrust down, or, as we say, knocked down, in, by, or on account of, his baseness or badness.
But the righteous hath hope in his death — Has a shelter or refuge. Gesenius renders: “The righteous in his death trusteth,” that is, in God. Stuart: “The righteous hath confidence in his death.” He remarks, “How, or why, are questions for those to answer who deny that the Hebrews had any hope of a future state. If they had not, what, then, is the source of hope or confidence in a dying hour? If there was nothing beyond the grave, in their view, on what is their hope or confidence fixed.” Comp. Job_13:15; Psa_17:15; Psa_23:6; Psa_37:37; 2Co_1:9; 2Co_5:8.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 32. his wickedness] Lit. his evil; which may mean…
32. his wickedness] Lit. his evil; which may mean either, with R.V. text, the evil which he does, his evil-doing, or, with R.V. marg., the evil which he suffers, his calamity. The latter meaning preserves best the parallelism: when calamity overtakes the wicked it crushes him utterly (comp. Psa_36:12), but even in his last extremity of death the righteous hath hope.
hope in his death] which implies a belief in a future state.
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The same vivid contrast meets us in a more expanded form in Psalms 73. The “prosperity of the wicked,” in contrast to the hard lot of the righteous, had been the stumbling-block of the writer of the Psalm (Psa_73:1-16). It was by considering “the end” both of the one and of the other, that his faith was re-established. The wicked are thrust down in their calamity, “How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors” (Pro_14:19): The righteous hath hope in his death, “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Pro_14:24). Comp. Psa_49:14-15. It is to be noticed that in both these Psalms (Psa_73:24; Psa_49:15) the same word, take, or receive, is used to express the hope of the Psalmist, as that by which the translation of Enoch is described, God took him (Gen_5:24; Heb_11:5).
The LXX. read, “but he that trusteth in his own integrity is righteous,” ὁ δὲ πεποιθὼς τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ὁσιότητι δίκαιος; on which Lange observes, “may not this divergent reading owe its origin to the endeavour to gain an antithesis as exact as possible to the ‘in his wickedness’ of the first clause?”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (32) The wicked is driven away in his wickedness.—Or,…
(32) The wicked is driven away in his wickedness.—Or, is overthrown in his misfortune, i.e., when it comes upon him (comp. Psa_34:21), for he has none to aid or comfort him.
But the righteous hath hope in his death.—Comp. Job’s confidence (Job_13:15 and Psa_23:4). The gravest troubles do not terrify him.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The wicked is driven away in his wickedness. So…
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness. So the Greek and Latin Versions. In his very act of sin, flagrante delicto, the wicked is defeated, driven from hope and life; as the Revised Version renders, "The wicked is thrust down in his evil doing;" i.e. there is some element of weakness in an evil deed which occasions its discovery and punishment, sooner or later. Thus "murder will out," we say. But the contrast is better emphasized by taking ra in its other sense of "calamity," "misfortune," thus: "In his calamity the wicked is cast down". (Pro_24:16) When misfortune comes upon him, he has no defence, no hope; he collapses utterly; all his friends forsake him; there is none to comfort or uphold him. (comp. Mat_7:26, Mat_7:27) But the righteous hath hope in his death (comp. Ecc_1:13). Primarily, the clause means that even in the greatest danger the good man loses not his trust in God. It is like Job"s word, (if our reading is correct, Job_13:15) "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him;" and the psalmist, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me". (Psa_23:4) Thus the Christian martyrs went joyfully to the stake, and gentle women and little children smiled on the sword which sent them home. It is natural to see in this clause a belief in a future life, and a state of rewards and punishments; and some commentators, holding that this doctrine was net known in pre-exilian days, have taken occasion from its plain enunciation in this paragraph to affix a very late date to our book. There are two answers to be made to this assertion. First, it is capable of proof that the belief in the immortality of the soul, with its consequences in another state, was held, however vaguely, by the Jews long before Solomon"s time; (see note, Pro_12:28) secondly, the present passage is by some read differently, whence is obtained another rendering, which removes from it all trace of the doctrine in question. Thus Ewald and others would read the clause in this way: "The righteous hath hope, or taketh refuge, from his own deeds." There can be no reasonable doubt that the usual reading and translation are correct; but the above considerations show that no argument as to the date of the Proverbs cart be safely founded on this verse. The LXX has a different reading for wtwmb, "in his death," and translates, "But he who trusteth in his own holiness is just which looks like a travesty of Scripture, but probably refers to the consciousness of having a heart right with God and obedient to the requirements of the Divine Law.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The wicked is driven away in his wickedness; but…
Pro_14:32
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness; but the righteous hath hope in his death.
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The wisdom of religion justified in the different ends of good and bad men
For the most part, the end of good men is full of peace and comfort, and good hopes of their future condition; but the end of bad men quite contrary, full of anguish and trouble, without peace or comfort, or hope of any good to befall them afterwards. If this be generally true, it is a mighty testimony on the behalf of piety and virtue. It is as good as a demonstration that the religious man is in the right.
I. This observation is generally true. It is enough to appeal to the common and daily experience of mankind (Psa_37:37). When good men come to die, they have commonly a great calm and serenity in their minds, and are full of good hopes of Gods mercy and favour. But there are exceptions, both to the peace of the righteous and to the misery of the wicked, in death. Some good men are melancholy and dispirited. They may be naturally of a dark temper. The quiet death of a bad man may be explained by disease; or stupidity, through ignorance or gross sensuality; or the delusion of false principles.
II. Whence does this difference proceed? It is founded in the true nature and reason of the things themselves; in the nature of religion and virtue, and of impiety and vice.
1. A religious and virtuous life is a real ground of peace and serenity of mind, of comfort and joy, under all the evils and calamities of life, and especially at the hour of death.
2. Impiety and wickedness is a real foundation of guilt and fear, of horror and despair, in the day of adversity and affliction, and more especially in the approaches of death.
II. If this be true, it is a demonstration on the side of religion. Upon three accounts.
1. Because the principles of religion, and the practice of them in a virtuous life, when they come to the last and utmost trial, do hold out, and are a firm and unshaken foundation of peace and comfort to us.
2. That they minister comfort to us in the most needful and desirable time.
3. That when men are commonly more serious and sober and impartial, and when their declarations and words are thought to be of greater weight and credit, they give this testimony to religion and virtue, and against impiety and vice. (J. Tillotson, D.D.)
Neither hope nor fear in death
Mr. Robert Owen once visited a gentleman who was a believer. In walking out they came to the gentlemans family grave. Owen, addressing him, said, There is one advantage I have over Christians; I am not afraid to die; but if some of my business were settled, I should be perfectly willing to die at any moment. Well, said his companion, you say you have no fear of death--have you any hope in death? After a solemn pause, he replied, No! Then, replied the gentleman, you are on the level with that brute; he has fed till he is satisfied, and stands in the shade, whisking off the flies, and has neither fear nor hope.
The different end of the righteous and the wicked
As to the death of a wicked man, here is--
1. The manner of his passing out of the world. He is driven away.
2. The state he passeth away into. He dies in a hopeless state. The righteous hath hope in his death. He has the grace of hope, and the well-founded expectation of better things than he ever had in this world.
I. How, and in what sense, are the wicked driven away in their wickedness at death. What is meant by their being driven away? Three things; they shall be taken away suddenly, violently, and irresistibly. Whence are they driven and whither? They are driven out of this world, where they have sinned, into the other world, where they must be judged. They are driven out of the society of the saints on earth, into the society of the lost in hell. They are driven out of time into eternity. They are driven out of their specious pretences to piety. They are driven away from all means of grace, quite out of all prospect of mercy. In what respects may they be said to be driven away in their wickedness? In respect of their being driven away in their sinful, unconverted state. They die sinning, acting wickedly against God, loaded with the guilt of their sins, and under the absolute power of their wickedness.
II. The hopelessness of the state of unrenewed men at their death. Consider four things.
1. Death cuts off their hopes and prospects of peace and pleasure in this life.
2. When death comes, they have no solid ground to hope for eternal happiness.
3. Death roots up their delusive hopes.
4. Death makes their state absolutely and for ever hopeless. Exhortation.
(1) Take heed that you entertain no hopes of heaven but what are built on a solid foundation. Beware of hope built upon ground that was never cleared. Beware of that hope which looks bright in the dark, but loses all its lustre when it is set in the light of Gods Word. Beware of that hope which stands without being supported by Scriptural evidences.
(2) Hasten, O sinners, out of your wickedness, lest you die in your sin.
(3) Be concerned for others, lest they be driven away.
III. The state of the godly in death is a hopeful state.
1. They have a trusty good Friend before them in the other world.
2. They shall have a safe passage through to the other world.
3. They shall have a joyful entrance into another world. Objection: How comes it to pass that many of the godly, when dying, are full of fears, and have little hope? Answer: The fears are usually consequences of states of bodily health; but they may be due to flagging spiritual life. Improvement: How to prepare for death, so that we may die comfortably.
(1) Let it be your constant care to keep a clean conscience.
(2) Be always watchful, waiting for your change.
(3) Employ yourselves much in weaning your hearts from the world.
(4) Be diligent in gathering and laying up evidences of your title to heaven, for your support and comfort at the hour of death.
(5) Despatch the work of your day and generation with speed and diligence. (T. Boston, D.D.)
Hope in death
I. The character of the righteous. The peculiar distinction between the righteous and the wicked lies in the heart, not in the understanding.
II. The truth asserted in the text. The assertion is true, though there may be some apparent exceptions There is nothing preceding, attending, or following death, which can destroy the foundation of the hope of the righteous.
1. A clear and just sense of their guilt and ill desert in the sight of God cannot destroy their hope in Christ.
2. There is nothing in the thoughts of leaving this world which can destroy their hope.
3. There is nothing in the prospect of having a more constant and realising sense of the Divine presence which can destroy their hope.
4. The prospect of being for ever united with perfectly holy creatures cannot destroy their hope.
5. Nor in the prospect of the holy employment of heaven.
6. Nor in seeing the displays of Divine justice upon the vessels of wrath after death.
7. Nor in seeing all the Divine purposes completely accomplished and unfolded.
8. Nor the prospect of existing for ever. Improvement of the subject:
(1) If the righteous have hope in their death, then they are essentially different from the wicked.
(2) If only the righteous have hope, then multitudes will be fatally disappointed in their dying hour.
(3) The death of the righteous may be peculiarly instructive and beneficial to the living. (N. Emmons.)
The hope of the righteous
The Old Testament deals much with the present life; the New Testament much with the future. But the one does not teach a different thing from the other. Hope is the grand element in the religion of the righteous. A righteous man is a hopeful man.
1. There is the hope of Divine support in death itself.
2. There is the hope of complete deliverance from the evils incident to a physical existence.
3. There is the hope of introduction to unmingled and permanent good. (James Foster, M.A.)
Hope in death
1. An enemy all must meet. Death.
2. A privilege all must envy. Hope in death.
3. A dispensation all must approve of. The righteous hath hope in his death. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The death of the wicked
1. What he is driven from. A large measure of happiness, and from all sources of moral improvement.
2. Where he is driven to. Out of time into eternity, and from the presence of God.
3. What he carries with him. His wickedness; the accumulated sins of a whole life, and a fixed character of evil. Learn--
(1) What a dreadful view of life and death for the wicked.
(2) The greatness of Christs salvation from the greatness of the ruin from which it saves.
(3) The value of the gospel hope from the happiness it secures in life and death. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
A great contrast
I. In life.
1. The difference is real, not imaginary. It is in the inward disposition, as well as in the outward conduct.
2. The difference is manifest. The ruling disposition, which is the life of character, and which is essentially different in both, makes itself known by its fruit.
3. The difference is increasing. These two characters continue to show forth their difference, and to go further from each other for ever.
II. In death. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness--
1. As by a storm. He has no foundation to stand upon. He has no hold upon anything real, lasting.
2. As a culprit is led away to his execution. There is no resignation on his part to a superior will than his own. He views the past with remorse, and anticipates the unknown future with gloom and fear. But the righteous hath hope in his death. This is an indication of strength, not weakness. He hath hope, even in death, when all things that are seen vanish away.
Some reasons for his hope:
1. The Bible, as he reads it and believes it; the light which came from heaven drives away the gloom of the dark valley, and reveals the land beyond.
2. He is at peace with God. God is known by him as his Father, Friend, and Saviour. Love to God, in his heart, has put away fear.
3. He is confident that his Redeemer has absolute control over all things; that He is Lord of the future. His hope, therefore, is such that, like Fuller, he is not afraid to plunge into eternity. The text is a proof of a belief in a future state of rewards and punishments in the time of Solomon. (Homiletic Monthly.)
The wise mans verdict
I. The punishment to be inflicted upon a certain man.
1. The name of the offender. Wicked.
2. The nature of the offence. Malice.
3. The punishment; in three degrees. As begun in this life. Increased at the time of death. Perfected at the day of judgment.
II. The conclusion of the righteous.
1. What is a righteous man?
2. What is it to have hope in death? (S. Hieron.)
Hopeless and hopeful dying
I. The hopeless. Whose? The wicked--the unconverted. What?
1. The condition in which he dies. In his wickedness. He lived careless and indifferent, encased in false hope; or hardened and scoffing, fighting against God. So he dies. Driven away not from, but in his wickedness. Death makes no change of character. Unjust still.
2. The compulsion under which he dies. Driven away. Ejected from this lifes engagements, enjoyments, and means of improvement. Torn away from possessions, pursuits, pleasures, and prospects here. This night--thy soul--then whose, etc.? Death takes no bribes. Wishes and protests unheeded. Driven . . . chased out, etc. (Job_18:18).
II. The hopeful. Whose, the righteous in moral position, principle, practice. What?--Hopeful of--
1. The Divine support in it.
(1) Needed, because of bodys pains, affections ties, conscience failures.
(2) Promised. As day . . . strength. When thou passest, etc.
(3) Realised. Yea, though I walk, etc.
2. Decisive victory over it. Prospective--Grave robbed. Resurrection of life.
3. Heavenly glory after it.
(1) Angelic convoy. Lazarus carried by angels.
(2) Immediate entrance. Absent from body . . . at home, etc.
(3) Then reunion of soul and body in heavenly glory. All must die. Which--yours? A sheriffs arrest, or a Saviours arrival? (Joh_14:3). (Homiletic Review.)
The objects, grounds, and evidences of the hope of the righteous
Men will leave the world according to their conduct in it.
I. The objects.
1. His hope of support in death; of the immortality of the soul; of the resurrection of the body; and of perfect happiness in heaven.
II. The grounds and evidences. The foundation of the hope is the free mercy of God, which can be communicated only through Jesus Christ. Evidence of this hope is that the righteous man finds, upon a thorough trial, that the characters which God has declared essentially necessary to salvation do belong to him.
III. The various limitations and degrees of a good hope in death. A good hope is always supported by evidence, and according to the degree of evidence is the degree of hope. Different believers, at different times, have different degrees of evidence. Much depends on weakness of body, mind, or heart. But every righteous man has a substantial reason to hope, whether he clearly sees it or not. Good men do, in fact, usually enjoy a comfortable hope. (S. Davies, A.M.)
The two departures
I. The doom of the wicked. As smoke is driven by the wind, so will the wicked perish in the day of wrath. We are not able to form a right conception of what it is to be and abide in wickedness. Because it is so near us, we do not know it.
II. The hope of the just. Hope, always lovely, is then sweetest when it beams from heaven through the gloom that gathers round the grave. (W. Arnot.)
Hope beyond the grave
I. The character of the righteous.
1. He is one who has been convinced of his unrighteousness.
2. One who is made the partaker of righteous principles.
3. One who is righteous and holy in his life.
II. The hope of the righteous. This hope has for its object future spiritual and eternal blessings. It is called a good hope through grace, because we are indebted for it to the grace and favour of God; and because it is wrought in us by the gracious influences of the Divine Spirit. Eternal life includes the immortality of the soul--the everlasting, conscious existence of the rational mind; the resurrection of the body; and the enjoyment of eternal happiness. (J. Entwistle.)
An awful death
Three things implied in the death of the wicked are here set forth.
I. A very solemn change. He is driven away.
1. Whence?
(1) From all existing enjoyments; the beauties of nature, the circles of friendship, the pleasures of literature, etc.
(2) From all secular engagements. The farmer, lawyer, statesman, etc.
(3) From all means of moral improvement: churches, Bibles, teachers.
2. Whither? To the grave as to his body, to eternal retribution as to his soul. The death of the wicked implies--
II. A great personal reluctance. He does not go away, he is not drawn away; he is driven away.
1. All the sympathies of his nature are centred in this life. They are all twined around earthly objects, as the ivy around the old castle. They are all more deeply rooted in the earth than the oak of centuries. He is in the world, and the world is everything to him.
2. The future world is terribly repulsive to him. Not a ray of hope breaks through his tremendous gloom; it is one dense mass of starless thunder-cloud. This being the case, with what tenacity he clings to life! He will not go, he cannot go, he must be driven. His death is not like the gentle fall of the ripened fruit from its old branch in autumn, but like the oak, uprooted, and dashed into the air, by a mighty whirlwind. It is not like a vessel gliding to its chosen haven, but like a bark driven by a furious wind to a shore it shrinks from with horror. Driven away! The death of the wicked, as here indicated, implies--
III. A terrible retention of character. He is driven away in his wickedness. He carries his wickedness with him. This is the worst part of the whole. He carries his vile thoughts, his corrupt passions, his sinful purposes, his depraved habits, his accumulated guilt, with him. He will leave everything else behind but this--this adheres to him. He can no more flee from it than from himself. This wickedness will be the millstone to press him downward into deeper, darker depths for ever; the poison that will rankle in the veins for ever; the fuel that will feed the flames for ever. O sinner, lay down this wickedness at the foot of the atoning and soul-renovating Cross! (Homilist.)
The righteous and wicked in their death
The text--
I. Describes the dreadful termination of a course of irreligion and of sin.
1. Who are the wicked? The term is generally restricted to sinners of the baser sort--those whose lives are grossly sensual. But Scripture regards it as the appropriate designation of all who are in an unregenerate state; all who are destitute of the fear and love of God, who habitually transgress His law, and practically disregard His gospel.
2. What will be the issue of their career? Note the manner in which he dies. Reluctantly. Unavoidably. The condition in which he dies. In his sins, with all his guilt on his head, and all his depravity in his heart.
II. Describes the blessings of those who die in the Lord.
1. Who is righteous? Not simply believers, but regenerated and converted sinners.
2. What is the privilege of the righteous? He has hope in his death. That hope is glorious in its object. It is sure in its foundation. It is felicitating in its influence. (J. Corney.)
Driven away out of the world
He cleaves so closely to the world that he cannot find in his heart to leave it, but is driven away out of it; his soul is required, is forced from him. And sin cleaves so closely to him that it is inseparable; it goes with him into another world; he is driven away in his wickedness, dies in his sins, under the guilt and power of them, unjustified, unsanctified. His wickedness is the storm in which he is hurried away, as chaff before the wind, chased out of the world. (Matthew Henry.)
The hope of the righteous
I. There is the hope of divine support in death itself. As thy day, etc.
II. There is the hope of complete deliverance from the evils incident to a physical existence. In this life the soul is imprisoned. Its heavenly and spiritual tendency is retarded by its companion of dust. Spiritual life has its thought, feeling, and expression limited and baffled by physical boundaries. A prolonged mental exercise is followed by fatigue and reaction, so is it with spiritual exercises and pleasures. Death sets the righteous free from all these evils. It takes down the decaying, exposed, and inferior tabernacle, that the guest within may come forth to light and liberty. It introduces the soul to perfection of being, activity, and enjoyment.
III. There is the hope of introduction to unmingled and permanent good. (Jas. Foster, M.A.)
Hope in death
My breath is short, and I have little hopes, since my late relapse, of much further usefulness. A few exertions, like the last struggles of a dying man, or glimmering flashes of a taper just burning out, is all that can be expected from me. But, blessed be God! the taper will be lighted up again in heaven. (G. Whitefield.)
Ready for death
The Christian, at his death, should not be like the child, who is forced by the rod to quit his play, but like one who is wearied of it, and willing to go to bed. Neither ought he to be like the mariner, whose vessel is drifted by the violence of the tempest from the shore, tossed to and fro upon the ocean, and at last suffers wreck and destruction; but like one who is ready for the voyage, and, the moment the wind is favourable, cheerfully weighs anchor, and, full of hope and joy, launches forth into the deep. (R. Scriver.)
A Christians death
I have read of a painter who was painting Death; and he painted Death as we generally see Death painted--a skeleton and a scythe! That is a horrid way of painting it! A good man coming by said, That is not the way to paint Death: you should paint him a beautiful bright angel with a golden key in his hand to open the door and let us into heaven. That is Death to the Christian. When Bishop Beveridge was dying, the good man said, If this be dying, I wish I could die for ever. You remember in the Pilgrims Progress, when Christian and his friend Hopeful come to die, it is represented as if they were crossing a river. Christian gets somewhat afraid. Cheer up, brother! says Hopeful, I feel the bottom, and it is quite firm and sound. Cheer up, brother! Then after a little while Christian said, I see Him again; and He tells me, When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. Then he also found ground to stand upon, and the rest of the water was so shallow that he could walk in it. And after a few minutes more they both found themselves at the gate of the Celestial City! (J. Vaughan, M.A.)
The death of the wicked and of the righteous
I. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness.
1. Wicked men are taken out of the world against their will, and by a power which they cannot withstand.
2. They die with their souls unrenewed and their characters unchanged.
3. They go to receive the punish- ment of their sins.
II. The righteous hath hope in his death. Though they may not be able to express themselves in the language of assurance and exultation, yet will there be a believing dependence on the mercy and faithfulness of God. And even though all hope should seem gone, and the manifestations of the Divine presence be withdrawn, yet even then would the declaration of our text be true. For as, on the one hand, the real certainty of our salvation is not augmented or diminished by our present feelings, however the evidence of it to ourselves may be affected, so, on the other, the position--the righteous have hope in their death--is not to be limited merely to express the feelings which the righteous may experience at death, but expresses also the security of their state. The foundation, as well as the objects of hope, remain firm and immutable. It is in the weakness of nature that the supporting energy of grace is most apparent, and the power of the Saviour is most conspicuously displayed. And how often hath it happened that, in the midst of utmost exhaustion, when all further utterance had ceased, the soul has seemed to catch a glimpse of future glory, and, reanimating the almost lifeless body, hath proclaimed its assurance of the Divine love and mercy and protection, and ascended to heaven in a song of holy triumph! (Alex. Fisher.)
A tranquil hope
An assured hope is not like a mountain torrent, but like a stream flowing from a living fountain, and often so quietly that it is scarcely visible but for the verdure of its banks. (W. Spring.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Pro_14:32. Driven forth, or “thrust lower” (Miller). Delitzsch translates,…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_14:32. Driven forth, or “thrust lower” (Miller). Delitzsch translates, “When misfortune befals him, the wicked is overthrown, but the righteous hath hope even in his death.”
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_14:32
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
I. The wicked man dies unwillingly. He is “driven away.” Our first parents,—conscious of the severance of a moral bond between them and God—knowing that they had fallen from their original position, in which they would have gone fearlessly and joyfully to any part of God’s universe—ignorant of the unknown and dark future that lay before them—left their first home unwillingly. They had to be “driven out” of Eden (Gen_3:24). A man who is conscious of a moral distance between himself and God, seldom quits this world willingly. An undefined dread, perhaps, but still a dread, of the unknown state beyond death possesses him, and he is made subject to the laws of death “unwillingly.” As Adam had to be driven out of Eden, so he quits his present abode, not from choice, but from necessity. His unwillingness to go arises from his condition of heart—from his moral standing. He “is driven away in his wickedness.” Adam’s consciousness of guilt made him unwilling to quit his abode in Eden. The same consciousness makes men fear to die. “The sting of death is sin” (1Co_15:56). The man whose sins are unpardoned is conscious that he has much to fear in the unknown future. His spirit witnesses to the truth of the Divine Word, “After death, the judgment” (Heb_9:27).
II. But to the righteous man the hour of death is a time of hope. He does not die in his sin. A separation has taken place between him and sin. He is conscious of having been delivered both from its guilt and its dominion. The severance that has already been accomplished has wrought a greater change than that which death can work. The change of relationship to God and of character which he has already experienced, has made a mere change of place a matter of small moment in itself, and the change from this world to the heavenly city an occasion of hope and rejoicing. The angel of death is no officer of justice to bring him before his judge, but a messenger to guide him to his Father’s home. The objects of his hope have been considered in Homiletics on chap. Pro_10:24; Pro_10:28; pages 176 and 181.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The righteous dies by his own consent. It is a glad surrender, not a forcible separation (Psa_31:5). The tabernacle is not rent, or torn away, but “put off” (2Pe_1:14).—Bridges.
“The wicked is thrust lower by his evil” (see Critical Notes). “Death,” that is, the worst form of evil. Observe the crescendo. “Evil,” which is supposed to be a discipline, “thrusts down the wicked;” death, the very grimmest of the list, becomes to the righteous a glorious refuge. “Thrust lower,” this is an intensive expression. If trouble thrusts a man lower, how much more must joy and intoxicating wealth. The idea is—all hurts him. Even discipline hurts the lost.—Miller.
Oh, the different departures of the reprobate and the Christian! The one knows he changeth for the better; the other mistrusts, for the worse; to the one death is a gulf of sorrow, to the other a port of liberty; he, because he is stripped for a scourging; this, because he lays aside his clothes, after his toil, to go to bed.… All our loathness to depart, and fears in departing, arise from our own unsettledness; we have not made sure to ourselves a dwelling in these glorious heavens; many mansions there be (Joh_14:2), we have not provided ourselves one.—T. Adams.
A Christian should be a volunteer in death. Many of the martyrs were as willing to die as to dine; went to the fire as cheerful as to a feast, and courted its pale and ghastly countenance as if it had been a beautiful bride.… Cyprian said Amen to his own sentence of death. Bradford, being told by his keeper’s wife that his chain was a-buying, and he was to die the next day, pulled off his hat and thanked God for it.… Ann Askew subscribed her confession in Newgate thus, “Written by me, Ann Askew, that neither wisheth for death nor feareth his might, and as merry as one that is bound towards heaven.” Indeed it is said of a wicked man that his soul is required of him, and that God takes away his soul (Luk_12:20; Job_27:10); but of a godly man that he giveth up the Ghost, and he cometh to his grave (Gen_25:8; Job_4:21).… Socrates, and some of the wiser heathen, comforted themselves against the fear of death with this weak cordial, that it is common to men, the way of all the earth. Hence it was, when the Athenians condemned Socrates to die, he received the sentence with an undaunted spirit, and told them that they did nothing but what nature had before ordained for him. But the Christian hath a greater ground for a holy resolution, and a stronger cordial against the fears of death, even the hope of eternal life; and surely, if he that exceeds others in his cordials be excelled by them in courage, he disgraceth his physician.… It is no marvel that they who lived wickedly should die unwillingly, being “driven away in their wickedness” as a beast that is driven out of his den to the slaughter, or as a debtor driven by the officers out of his house, where he lay warm and was surrounded by all sorts of comfort, to a nasty, loathsome prison.—Swinnock.
It is storied of Godfrey, Duke of Bouillon, that when, in his expedition to the Holy Land, he came within view of Jerusalem, his army, seeing the high turrets, goodly buildings, and fair fronts, being even transported with the joyfulness of such a sight, gave a mighty shout that the earth was verily thought to ring with the noise thereof. Such is the rejoicing of a godly man in death, when he doth not see the turrets and towers of an earthly, but the spiritual building of a heavenly Jerusalem, and his soul ready to take possession of them. How doth he delight in his dissolution, when he sees grace changing into glory, hope into fruition, faith into vision, and love into perfect comprehension.—Spencer’s “Things New and Old.”
If this be true, it is a demonstration on the side of religion, and that upon three accounts.
(1) Because the principles of religion, and the practice of them in a virtuous life, when they come to the last and utmost trial, do hold out. The belief of a God, the persuasion of our own immortality, and of the eternal recompense of another world—that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners—is commonly more strong and vigorous in the minds of good men when they come to die; they have then a more clear apprehension and firm persuasion of the truth and reality of these things, than ever they had at any time of their lives, and find more peace and joy in the belief of them.… And the principles of infidelity and vice are most apt to shrink and give back at such a time.
(2) The principles of religion minister comfort to us in the most needful and desirable time. If it be true of every day of our lives, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, much more of the day of death. It is surely enough to have that one enemy to encounter, at which nature startles even when the sting is taken away.… If there were nothing beyond this life, it were worth while to provide for a quiet death. There is no man that calculates things wisely that would, for all the pleasures of sin, forfeit the peace and comfort of a righteous soul, going out of the world full of the hopes of a blessed immortality.
(3) When men are commonly most serious and impartial, and their declarations are thought to be of the greatest weight, they give this testimony to religion and virtue, and against impiety and vice. Even Lucretius says, “Men’s words then come from the bottom of their heart, the mask is taken off, and things then appear to them as indeed they are.” In these circumstances men generally declaim most vehemently against their sins and vices, and declare on the side of piety and virtue. Surely this is a great testimony on the side of religion, because it is the testimony not only of its friends, but of those who have been its greatest enemies.—Tillotson.
A clear testimony to a future state of rewards and punishments.—
Wordsworth.
Though there was no revelation of immortality and resurrection then, still the pious in death put their confidence in Jahve, the God of life and of salvation—for in Jahve there was for ancient Israel the beginning, middle, and end of the work of salvation—and believing that they were going home to Him, committing their spirit into His hands (Psa_31:6), they fell asleep, though without any explicit knowledge, yet not without the hope of eternal life. Job also knew that (Pro_27:8) between the death of those estranged from God and of those who feared God there was not only an external, but a deep essential distinction; and now the wise man opens up a glimpse into the eternity heavenwards (chap. Pro_15:24), and has formed (chap. Pro_12:28) (see Critical Notes) the expressive and distinctive word for immortality, which breaks like a ray from the morning sun through the night of the Sheol.—Delitzsch.
We are not able to form a right conception of what it is to be and to abide in wickedness. Because it is so near us, we do not know it. If it were a body standing before us, we could examine its proportions and describe its appearance; but because it is a spirit transfused through us, we remain ignorant of its character and power.… A ship is lying in a placid river when winter comes, and is gradually frozen in. The process was gentle, and almost imperceptible. There was no commotion and no crash. The ice crept round, and closed in upon the ship without any noisy note of warning.… Her own element closed and held her.… The ship is not shaken. No creaking is heard—no strain is felt. She feels firm and easy. Even when the pines of the neighbouring forest are bending to the blast, she sits unmoved in her solid bed. That bed she has made for herself, and it therefore fits her. This is very like the wicked in his iniquity, and before he is driven away.… He stands steady in his element, and no ripple disturbs its surface. When the ice of the river goes away, the embedded ship goes with it. It is a dreadful departure. The water swells beneath; the ice holds by the crooked banks awhile; but, after a period of suspense, the flood prevails, and the trembling, rending mass gives way. Reeling icebergs and foaming yellow waves tumble downwards in tumultuous heaps, and the ship is swept away like a feather on a flood. If we had a sense for perceiving spiritual things, the most heart-rending sight in the world would be a sinner set fast in his element, and the flood of wrath secretly swelling from beneath.… But he who has been begotten again to a living hope has it at the time when humanity needs it most. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Stars are a grateful mitigation of the darkness; but we do not want them by day. Hope, always lovely, is then sweetest when it beams from heaven through the gloom that gathers round the grave.… The ship has set sail, and kept on her course many days and nights, with no other incidents than those that are common to all. Suddenly land appears; but what the character of the coast may be the voyagers cannot discern through the tumult. The first effect of a near approach of land is a very great commotion on the water. It is one of the coral islands of the South Pacific, encircled by a ring of fearful breakers at some little distance from the shore. Forward the ship must go. The waves are higher and angrier than any they have seen in the open sea. Partly through them, partly over them, they are borne at a bound; strained, and giddy, and almost senseless, they find themselves within that sentinel ridge of crested waves that guard the shore, and the portion of sea that still lies before them is calm and clear like glass. It seems a lake of Paradise, and not an earthly thing at all.… Across the belt of sea the ship glides gently,—and gently soon touches that lovely shore. It is thus that I have seen a true pilgrim thrown into a great tumult when the shore of eternity suddenly appeared before him. A great fear tossed him for some days; but when that barrier was passed, he experienced a peace, deeper, stiller, sweeter than ever he knew before. A little space of life’s voyage remained after the fear of death had sunk into a calm, and before the immortal felt the solid of eternal rest. On life’s sea as yet was the spirit lying, but the shaking had passed; and when at last the spirit passed from a peaceful sea to a peaceful land, the change seemed slight.—Arnot.
This text looks like the cloud between the Israelites and Egyptians; having a dark side toward the latter, and a bright side toward the former. It represents death, like Pharaoh’s jailor, bringing the chief butler and the chief baker out of prison; the one to be restored to his office, the other to be led to execution. The wicked are driven from this world to the other—from the society of saints on earth into that of the lost in hell; out of time into eternity; out of their specious pretences to piety; away from all means of grace.… The following circumstances make the godly in their death happy and hopeful.
1. They have a trusty good Friend before them in the other world. Jesus Christ, their best friend, is Lord of the land to which death carries them. When Joseph sent for his father to come down to Egypt, and Jacob “saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob revived” (Gen_45:27). He resolved to undertake the journey. I think when the Lord calls a godly man out of the world, He sends him such good tidings, and such a kind invitation to the other world, that his spirit must revive when he sees the wagon of death sent to carry him thither.
2. They shall have a safe passage to another world. They have the Lord of the land’s safe conduct, His pass sealed with His own blood … It is safe riding in Christ’s chariot.
3. They shall have a joyful entrance into the other world … Is the bird in worse case, when at liberty, than when confined in a cage? Death comes to the godly man, as Haman came to Mordecai, with the royal apparel and the horse.—Boston.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 32. The wicked is driven away in his…
v. 32. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness, that is, if misfortune, ruin, and death strike the ungodly person, he is swept away suddenly, thrust out of this life violently; but the righteous hath hope in his death, he is confident even in the hour of death, for the future beyond the grave holds no terrors for him, since he places his trust in the mercy of the Lord alone.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 is brought down by his evil actions
is brought down by his evil actions
This can be stated in active form. AT: "evil actions push over" or "evil actions destroy" (See: Active or Passive)
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Wisdom rests in the heart
The word "heart" represents the feelings, attitudes and motivations of a person. AT: "Wisdom is in the attitude" (See: Metaphor)
the discerning
"a discerning person"
she lets herself be known
This can be stated in active form. AT: "she makes sure people know her" (See: Active or Passive)
she
The word "she" refers to wisdom. (See: Personification)
translationWords
evil
refuge
die
wise
heart
discern
fool
know
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 14:32 Proverbs infrequently hints at life after death. Some…
14:32 Proverbs infrequently hints at life after death. Some scholars think this verse refers to God’s granting courage to face death with dignity and serenity.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.