Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
Parallel Translations
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Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
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Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
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Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the LORD all the day;
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Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Proverbs 23:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 28:14 Blessed is the man who always fears; but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
- 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Proverbs 15:16 Better is little, with the fear of Yahweh, than great treasure with trouble.
- 1 Peter 1:17 If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear,
- Ecclesiastes 5:7 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words; but you must fear God.
- Acts 9:31 So the assemblies throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace, and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
- Psalms 37:1-3 Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb. Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
- Psalms 111:10–112:1 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. All those who do his work have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.
- Proverbs 3:31 Don’t envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.
- Psalms 73:3-7 For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm. They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
- Proverbs 24:1 Don’t be envious of evil men, neither desire to be with them;
- Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but…
Pro 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
Ver. 17. Let not thine heart envy sinners.] Who, have they never so much here, they have but a pension, an annuity; a state of life granted them in the utmost and most remote part of our inheritance.
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But be thou in the fear of the Lord all day long.] An excellent means to cure one of the fret. Probatum est. Only it must be used constantly. Men must wake with God, walk with him, and lie down with him, be in continual communion with him and conformity unto him. This is to be in heaven beforehand.
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 Let not thine heart envy sinners; let not the…
Let not thine heart envy sinners; let not the consideration of their present impunity and prosperity stir thee up, either to envy them, or to approve and imitate their evil courses.
Be thou in the fear of the Lord; reverence the presence of the Divine Majesty, and dread his power and justice, and those judgments which he hath prepared for sinners, and thou wilt see no cause to envy, but rather to pity them.
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All the day long; not only when thou art in trouble, but in all times and conditions.
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. A necessary caution against entertaining any…
Here is, 1. A necessary caution against entertaining any favourable thoughts of prospering profaneness: "Let not thy heart envy sinners; do not grudge them either the liberty they take to sin or the success they are to be pitied rather than envied. Their prosperity is their portion (Psa 73:3), nay, it is their poison," Pro 1:32. We must not harbour in our hearts any secret discontent at the providence of God, though it seem to smile upon them, nor wish ourselves in their condition. "Let not thy heart imitate sinners" (so some read it); do not as they do; walk not in the way with them; use not the methods they take to enrich themselves, though they thrive by them. 2. An excellent direction to maintain high thoughts of God in our minds at all times: Be thou in the fear of the Lord every day and all the day long. We must be in the fear of the Lord as in our employment, exercising ourselves in holy adorings of God, in subjection to his precepts, submission to his providences, and a constant care to please him; we must be in it as in our element, taking a pleasure in contemplating God's glory and complying with his will. We must be devoted to his fear (Psa 119:38); and governed by it as our commanding principle in all we say and do. All the days of our life we must constantly keep up an awe of God upon our spirits, must pay a deference to his authority, and have a dread of his wrath. We must be always so in his fear as never to be out of it. 3. A good reason for both of these (Pro 23:18): Surely there is an end, an end and expectation, as Jer 29:11. There will be an end of the prosperity of the wicked, therefore do not envy them (Psa 73:17); there will be an end of thy afflictions, therefore be not weary of them, an end of thy services, thy work and warfare will be accomplished, perfect love will shortly cast out fear, and thy expectation of the reward not only will be not cut off, or disappointed, but it will be infinitely outdone. The consideration of the end will help to reconcile us to all the difficulties and discouragements of the way.
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 Let not thine heart envy sinners,.... Their present prosperity…
Let not thine heart envy sinners,.... Their present prosperity and happiness, the pleasure, profit, and honour, they seem to enjoy; all which is but a shadow, fading had temporary; and yet good men are apt to envy it in their hearts, if they do not express it with their lips; and are ready to murmur and think it hard that they should be in straitened circumstances while the wicked are in flourishing ones; and inwardly fret and are uneasy at it, which they should not, Psa 37:1; or do not "emulate" or "imitate" (z) them, or do as they do, thinking thereby to enjoy the same prosperity and happiness; choose not their ways, nor desire to be with them, to have their company, or be ranked among them, Pro 3:31;
but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long; let the fear of God be always before thine eyes and in thine heart; be continually in the exercise of fear, which is attended with faith and trust in the Lord; with love and affection to him, and joy and delight in him; be constantly employed in the duties of religion, private and public, which the fear of God includes; and this will be a preservative from envying, murmuring, and fretting at the outward happiness of wicked men; and from joining with them in their evil ways. Aben Ezra, and who is followed by some others, render it, "but emulate or imitate the men that fear the Lord all the day long" (a); be followers of them, and do as they do; let their constant piety and devotion stir up a holy emulation in thee to copy after them and exceed them; but the former sense is best.
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(z) "ne aemuletur", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius et Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis. (a) "Aemulare virum timentem, Jehovam", Vatablus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 23:17-18. Let not thy heart envy sinners —…
Pro 23:17-18. Let not thy heart envy sinners — Let not the consideration of their present impunity and prosperity excite thee either to envy them, or to approve and imitate their evil courses; but be thou in the fear of the Lord — Reverence the presence of the Divine Majesty, and dread his power and justice, and those judgments which he hath prepared for sinners, and thou wilt see no cause to envy, but rather to pity them; all the day long — Not only when thou art in trouble, but in all times and conditions. For surely there is an end — An expected and happy end for such as fear God; or, a reward, as the word אחרית, here used, is rendered, Pro 24:20. And thine expectation shall not be cut off — Thou shalt certainly enjoy that good which thou expectest, as the wicked shall lose that happiness which they enjoy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain Exactly similar is David’s counsel. He sets out the…
Exactly similar is David’s counsel. He sets out the end, and shews how little reason we have to envy sinners, and what is the true path of duty and quietness.†1 He was, however, himself, for a while shaken by this temptation. And though he did not envy sinners, so as to covet their worldly prosperity; yet comparing their condition with his own ’chastening,’ "it was too painful for the Psalmist until he went into the sanctuary of God. Then understood he their end,"†2 and learned to rest in the assurance — Thine expectation shall not be cut off.
What then is the safeguard proposed? Just what the Psalmist had found so effective — "being continually with his God" (Psa 73:23 ) — the very spirit of the rule — Be in the fear of God all the day long. Here he gathered confidence for both worlds — "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory." (Psa 73:24 .) With such a portion both for time and for eternity, could his heart then envy sinners? "I have set the LORD alway before me. Thou wilt shew me the path of life, the fullness of everlasting joy." (Psa 16:8-11 .) What more could he desire? His heart, instead of envying sinners, would be drawn out in compassionate pleading for them, who have no portion but a dying world (Psa 17:14 . Luk 16:25 ); no expectation, but that which shall quickly be cut off. (Pro 24:20 .)
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But this habitual fear of the LORD is nothing separate from common life. It gives to it a holy character. It makes all its minute details not only consistent with, but component parts of, godliness. Acts of kindliness are "done after a godly sort." (3Jn 1:5-6 .) Instead of one duty thrusting out another, all are "done heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto man." (Eph 6:6 . Col 3:23 .) Some professors confine their religion to extraordinary occasions. But Elijah seems to have been content to await his translation in his ordinary course of work (2Ki 2:1-12 ); an example that may teach us to lay the greater stress upon the daily and habitual, not the extraordinary, service. Others are satisfied with a periodical religion; as if it was rather a rapture or an occasional impulse, than a habit. But if we are to engage in morning and evening devotions, we are also to "wait upon the LORD all the day." (Psa 25:5 .) If we are to enjoy our Sabbath privileges, we are also to "abide in our weekly calling with God."†3 Thus the character of a servant of God is maintained — "devoted to his fear." (Psa 119:38 .)
In this Christian walk with God, all is safe for eternity. The hope of the ungodly,†4 the hypocrite,†5 the worldling,†6 shall perish. But thine expectation shall not be cut off.†7 It is "a hope that maketh not ashamed."†8 It is grounded upon "the immutability of God’s counsels," and "entereth into that within the vail."†9 Surely there is an end for this. If the cross be heavy, thou hast but a little time to bear it. If the way be wearisome to the flesh, the end drawing nearer will abundantly compensate.†10 If the light be not visible, "it is sown" for thee. (Psa 97:11 .) And in waiting for the glorious harvest — "here is the patience and faith of the saints." (Rev 13:10 .) Meanwhile judge not the Lord hastily, by sense and feeling. Hold fast by God’s word. Give time to his providence to explain itself. Pronounce nothing upon an unfinished work. Wait, and "see the end of the Lord." "I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know" — and not only know — but approve "hereafter."†11
Footnotes:
†1 Psa 37:1-9, Psa 37:35-36 . Compare Pro 24:1-2, Pro 24:19-20 .
†2 Psa 73:3, Psa 73:17 . Even a heathen discovered the power of this temptation. Socrates, being asked, - What was most troublesome to good men? answered - ’The prosperity of the wicked.’
†3 Psa 84:1-12. with 1Co 7:20, 1Co 7:24 .
†4 Pro 11:7.
†5 Job 8:13-14.
†6 Luk 12:19-20.
†7 Pro 24:14. Psa 9:18 . Ecc 8:12 . Php 1:20 .
†8 Rom 5:5.
†9 Heb 6:17-19.
†10 ’O passi graviora! dabit Deus his quoque finem.’ - Virg. Æn. i. 199.
†11 James 5:11. Jer 29:11 . Joh 13:7 .
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 (Compare Margin). The prosperity of the wicked is short.
(Compare Margin). The prosperity of the wicked is short.
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 17. Let not thine heart envy sinners — Neither…
17. Let not thine heart envy sinners — Neither their freedom from restraint, enjoyment in sinful pleasures, nor their seeming prosperity. Comp. Psa_37:1; Psa_73:3; Psa_24:1.
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 17. Let not thine heart envy] Comp. Psa_37:1.
17. Let not thine heart envy] Comp. Psa_37:1.
be thou] Or, let it (thy heart) be. Some scholars repeat envy from the former clause: but let it envy with a nobler emulation (the Heb. word is frequently used in a good sense) the fear of the Lord.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Let not thine heart envy sinners, when thou seest…
Let not thine heart envy sinners, when thou seest them apparently happy and prosperous. (comp. Pro_3:31 Pro_24:1, 19 Psa_37:1 Psa_73:3) The Authorized Version, in agreement with the Septuagint, Vulgate, Arabic, and other versions, takes the second clause of this verse as an independent one: but it seems evidently to be constructionally connected with the preceding, and to be governed by the same verb, so that there is no occasion to insert "be thou." But be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. Jerome, corrected, would read, Non aemuletur cor tuum peccatores, sed timorem Domini tota die, As Delitzsch and Hitzig, followed by Nowack, have pointed out, the Hebrew verb, anq (kana), is here used in two senses. In the first clause it signifies to be envious of a person: in the second, to be zealous for a thing, both senses combining in the thought of being moved with eager desire. Zhlotupew is used in this double sense, and aemulor in Latin. So the gnome comes to this Show your heart"s desire, not by envy of the sinner"s fortune, but by zeal for true religion, that fear of the Lord which leads to strict obedience and earnest desire to please him.
Vers. 17, 18. Envying sinners.
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I THERE IS A GREAT TEMPTATION TO ENVY SINNERS. The wise man would waste words in giving a warning if he saw no danger. This temptation is fascinating on various accounts.
1. Sinners prosper. This was the old ground of the psalmist"s perplexity. The righteous were suffering while the wicked were fattening in ill-earned luxury. (Psa_73:3-9)
2. Sinners take forbidden paths with impunity. They trespass and are not arrested. Thus they attain their ends by easy ways from which conscientious people are restrained. They are not troubled with scruples.
3. Sinners escape onerous duties. There are great and weighty obligations that rest like a heavy yoke on the shoulders of an earnest man who tries to do his duty to God and his fellows, all of which are simply ignored by the man of lower morals. Hence the apparently easier course of the latter. He can refuse the subscription list, decline to work in the benevolent society, and shirk all the burdens that come from sympathy with the suffering.
4. Sinners enjoy wicked pleasures. They are pleasure seekers, and they seem to obtain pleasure. Thus at a superficial glance they appear to have sources of happiness from which those who are more rigorous in regarding the law of righteousness are excluded. The child of the Puritan home envies the gay cavalier his merry revelry.
II IT IS WRONG TO ENVY SINNERS.
1. This is to doubt Gods justice. Though we cannot yet see the issue of events, we must believe that God will not allow injustice to flourish forever, unless he cares not for the course of the world or is unable to set it right. To suppose any such condition is to distrust God.
2. This is to form a low estimate of the purpose of life. We are not sent into the world simply to enjoy ourselves, but primarily to do our duty. If we are fulfilling that great purpose, it is a degradation to envy those who seem to be more fortunate than ourselves in the mere enjoyment of worldly pleasures.
3. This is to yield to the attraction of unworthy delights. The pleasures of sinners are sinful. To lust after such forbidden fruit is to have a depraved appetite. The soul that is truly pure will loathe the delights of sin. It will not be hard on a good man that his conscience forbids him to frequent the haunts of vicious revelry. He could find no true pleasure for himself amid such scenes.
III IN THE END THE MISTAKE OF ENVYING SINNERS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED. "For surely there is an end" The pleasure seeker is short-sighted. To judge of the wisdom of following his course, we must see what it leads to.
1. The pleasure must end. The delights of evil are brief, and they are followed by wretchedness. The wild devotee of pleasure soon becomes a debauched and blase wreck of humanity. If one is prudent enough to avoid extreme folly, still death will soon come and put an end to all worldly pleasure.
2. Sinful pleasure produces suffering. It corrupts body and soul; it sows seeds of disease and misery. They who sow to the flesh will reap corruption.
3. There will be retribution in the next world. There is a future. Does the sinner consider this? Does the foolish man who envies him remember it?
Vers. 17, 18. God"s righteous judgment.
Nothing is more foolish than to endeavour to found a proof of the righteousness of God"s rule upon a single case of human experience. Yet is that often done. A good man seizes upon a piece of good fortune in a godly man"s life, and exaggerates its importance; a bad man pounces upon a piece of bad fortune and draws unwarrantable conclusions therefrom. But are there not indications, if not proofs, to be had for the seeking, that all things are under the direction of a just and righteous Ruler? Yes; if we look far and wide enough. For as we look, we see that all men, good and bad, are rewarded according to their works.
I All the laws which regulate the recompense of labour exist FOR THE UPRIGHTEOUS AS WELL AS FOR THE RIGHTEOUS. Take, e.g. :
1. The covetous man. Consider all that he foregoes in order to reap his harvest all the physical, social, domestic, literary, philanthropic, religious advantages and delights that he sacrifices; consider all the immense and ceaseless pains and toils he goes through, and the risks he runs, to achieve his object. And he gets his prize; he has earned it. He will find it weighted with more burdens and freighted with fewer and smaller blessings than he thought, end it will not last him long. Do not envy him or begrudge him what he receives; he has paid a very heavy price for it. and is surely welcome to it.
2. The hypocrite. He is a very painstaking, hardworking man; he spares himself no trouble, no sacrifice; he makes long prayers, for which he has no heart; he abstains from food he would fain be eating; he parts with money which he longs to keep; he goes through the most wearisome experiences in order that he may win a little passing honour. He has his reward; he is very welcome to it. He has earned it; we will not envy him; there is nothing more for him to receive. (Mat_6:5)
3. The man of pleasure. He also pays a very high price for his momentary gratifications the degradation of his powers, the disregard of his friends, the loss of his self-respect, the decline of his health, etc.; and all this for mere enjoyment which becomes less keen and vivid every clay. We will not envy him. Unholy pleasure is the costliest thing in the whole world.
II All the laws which regulate the recompense of labour exist FOR THE RIGHTEOUS MAN AS WELL AS FOR THE UNRIGHTEOUS.
1. By returning unto God in penitential self-surrender we seek reconciliation, peace, joy, the full re-establishment of our filial relations with God; and we had what we seek. "Surely there is a reward" (Revised Version) for us, and "our expectation is not cut off.
2. By "walking in the fear of the Lord all the day long," consulting his will and endeavouring to follow him, we seek his Divine favour and a growing measure of likeness to our Lord. And we find what we seek.
3. By kind Christian helpfulness, by sympathy and succour freely and gladly given to those in need, we seek the blessedness of him that gives, (Act_20:35) the gratitude of true and loving hearts, the present smile and final benediction of the Son of man. (Mat_25:34-40) And we find and shall find it. Surely there is a reward for us; our hope shall not be cut off. No; let us "envy not the sinner;" let us make him welcome to all he has; let us try to elevate and enlarge his hope and his reward by changing the spirit of his mind. As for ourselves, let it be in our hearts to say, "God is faithful who hath called us to the fellowship of his Son;" let us anticipate the anthem of the angels, and sing already, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, O thou King of saints! C.
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 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou…
Pro_23:17
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
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Envy of sinners forbidden, and the fear of God enjoined
I. Some of the reasons why men very frequently are induced to envy sinners.
1. They perhaps see them possessed of wealth, in the enjoyment of many outward comforts, and encircled with the means of gratification; and these are things after which human nature hankers. The idea of happiness is commonly connected with the possession of them. But, surely, to envy these fleeting possessions little becomes a wise man. Surely his lot is not to be desired who lives here under the Divine displeasure, and who must very shortly endure the righteous judgment of a justly offended God.
2. But we find men sometimes disposed to envy sinners on account of the apparent freedom from care and anxiety in which they live. But that gay unconcern about eternal things which is attributed to them we ought to commiserate rather than envy.
3. But whatever circumstances in the condition of the sinner men may admire, unbelief is the source from which all envy of his lot must proceed.
II. The nature and effects of the fear of the Lord.
1. It is not a fear of Him as an irresistible and implacable enemy; but it is a fear grounded on a just perception of the excellency of the Divine character, connected with love to Him, and with an expectation of the largest blessings from His hand.
2. But what are the effects which the fear of God will produce?
(1) In the first place, it will lead to repentance for sin, accompanied by an earnest desire of reconciliation to God, and of the restoration of His favour.
(2) But again, the fear of God is the only principle which can lead a man to an universal and unreserved obedience to His commands. (B. Scott, M.A.)
The cure for envy
The cure for envy lies in living under a constant sense of the Divine presence, worshipping God and communing with Him all the day long, however long the day may seem. True religion lifts the soul into a higher region, where the judgment becomes more clear, and the desires are more elevated. The more of heaven there is in our lives, the less of earth we shall covet. The fear of God casts out the envy of men. The death-blow of envy is a calm consideration of the future. The wealth and glory of the ungodly are a vain show. This pompous appearance flashes out for an hour, and then is extinguished. What is the prosperous sinner the better for his prosperity when judgment overtakes him? As for the godly man, his end is peace and blessedness, and none can rob him of his joy; wherefore, let him forego envy, and be filled with sweet content. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The nature and advantages of the fear of the Lord
Scarcely anything has a more immediate influence upon our duty or comfort than the due government of our passions. Hence the wise and virtuous, in all ages, have employed themselves in forming rules for their regulation. But it is found more easy to prescribe, than to reduce these rules to practice. The religion of Jesus provides the assistance requisite to enable us to comply with rules.
I. What is it to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long? Fear is a passion of the human mind, and stands opposed to hope. It always has for its object some evil, real or supposed. Here its object is the evil and danger of sinning against God, and the just displeasure of God, in consequence of offending Him. To fear these is to fear the Lord in the best sense of the phrase. We should live under the habitual influence of this holy temper, and carry it with us into all the duties of the religious and social life.
II. Why should we study to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long?
1. It is an excellent guard against the commission of sin. The man cannot knowingly and deliberately sin against God who has a suitable sense of His being, perfections, character and government.
2. It really assists us in the right performance of duty. It greatly tends to invigorate the graces of the Spirit in the soul, and to call them forth into lively exercise.
3. It excites us to the important duty of watchfulness, and greatly assists us therein.
4. God recommends this duty to our study and practice, by His Divine authority. Then if you would be in the fear of the Lord--
(1) Study to acquire more and more of the knowledge of God: the knowledge of His perfections, character, and government; especially as they are manifested in and through His Son Jesus Christ.
(2) Be much frequent in meditating upon the Divine perfections.
(3) Be much in the great duties of prayer and watchfulness. (John Rodgers, D.D.)
Of the duty of fearing God
The fear of the Lord is sometimes the whole duty of man; sometimes the devotional duties of religion.
I. The true notion of fearing God.
1. It must be such a fear as includes in it a high degree of love. Then we shall make a difficulty of nothing He commands. Then our service of Him will be rendered more acceptable.
2. It includes it in a generous hope and confidence. Hope is the spring of industry.
II. The influence this fear has to suppress in us all envious and disquieting thoughts. By a holy fear we secure to ourselves an interest in His special providence and protection and grace here, and in the promises of glory and eternal life hereafter.
III. Proper motives and arguments to enforce this duty of fearing God.
1. From the consideration of His infinite power and majesty.
2. From His intimate knowledge of all our thoughts, words, and actions, and of the secret springs of them.
3. The consideration of Gods justice. He hath appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness. This is an irresistible argument to excite us to the practice of piety. (R. Fiddes, D.D.)
The principle by which each person is to be perpetually governed
Many mistake by viewing religion as separate from common life, and as hardly to be made to accord with it.
I. The principle which is to actuate us. The fear of the Lord. The fear attends the whole of religion.
1. As a quality, to temper the whole; to bind doctrine and knowledge; to keep confidence from growing up into rank presumption, and liberty from degenerating into licentiousness.
2. As a quickener, to excite and to enliven the whole.
II. The extensiveness of its influence. To be in the fear shows the frequency of its exercise, and of its invariable constancy. See the attributes of this fear as regards--
1. Devotions, regular and ejaculatory.
2. The business of the day.
3. The trials of the day.
4. Its relaxation, recreation, and refreshment.
5. The company of the day.
6. The opportunities and occasions of the day.
III. The advantage of its habitualness.
1. It will render religion more easy and pleasant.
2. It will render your religion more obvious and certain. It furnishes the best evidences of its reality. Then be concerned to exercise diligence.
(1) All the day long you are in danger.
(2) God is all day long doing you good.
(3) All the day long you are observed, even by your fellow-creatures, much more than you are aware of.
(4) You are accountable all the day long. (W. Jay.)
The wicked not to be envied
I. What is it in sinners that we are apt to envy?
1. Many sinners have much money. Riches are not necessary to any man. Still, human nature is so weak and so corrupt that but few men can look at the wealthy without envying them.
2. Sometimes the wicked seem to have a great deal of pleasure. Take their word for it, and no people are so happy. Those who have not health, or money, or time thus to live at ease, are very apt to envy these lovers of pleasure.
3. Some sinners seem to get many of the honours of life. They seek the honour that cometh from man, and they have their reward. Silly people stand off and admire and envy.
4. Some envy the wicked for their apparent freedom from restraint. The law of God does not bind them any further than suits themselves. To a carnal mind this looks like a fine way of getting through the world, and the foolish envy these lawless ones.
5. Sometimes sinners seem to be, and for a long time are, free from afflictions, which so much distress the righteous.
II. There is no good ground fob preferring the state of sinners. There is really no Divine blessing permanently resting on the wicked, as there is on the righteous. There is also a sad amount of alloy mixed up with all that sinners have. The passions of sinners are at war with each other and with mankind. The devices of the wicked will ruin them. The wicked are not without smitings of conscience. All nature is armed against the wicked. Instead of envying sinners, pity them and pray for them. Let the righteous show that they are pleased with the choice which they have made. (W. S. Plumer, D.D.)
Divine providence
The text is a persuasive to contentment and satisfaction with Divine providence, which permits wicked men to flourish for awhile, enforced with this reason, that there is a reward laid up for all such as trust in God and meekly submit to His will.
1. Let the times be never so perilous and dangerous, yet Gods providence ought not to be questioned by us, whatever its unequal distributions be. Answering the objection that, if Gods providence governs all the issues and events of things, virtue should never go unrewarded, plead that there is no man but has grievously sinned against the Lord. Therefore they can have no cause to question His justice in their suffering. Besides this, it may be urged that affliction is a proof of Gods tender love and kindness; that the prosperity of the wicked often turns to their hurt and disadvantage; and that the day of judgment will set all things right.
2. Show how we are to demean ourselves under the actual oppressions of prosperous wickedness. The best course for a man to take is to hold himself to God, to trust in Him, and order himself according to His will.
3. We must not go out of the road of duty, and do as the wicked do, because we see them prosper.
4. The flourishing condition of the wicked is but short-lived, and therefore not to be envied.
5. There is an assured reward, if ye have patience awhile, and meekly submit to the will of God in His providential administrations. Then seek to live so that God may bless you with the continuance of His blessings. (T. Knaggs, M.A.)
All the day long
I. The prescribed course of the believer Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. We must be in the fear of the Lord before we can remain in it. The fear is for all the day, and for every clay. Some have a religion of show, others a religion of spasms. Ours must never be a religion that is periodic in its flow, like certain intermittent springs. Beware of the godliness which varies with the calendar. Note the details which are comprised in this exhortation. Remember not merely to associate religion with the routine of life, but also with special occasions. There are excellent reasons for being in the fear of the Lord all the day long. He sees us all the day long. Sin is equally evil all the day long. You always belong to Christ. You can never tell when or how Satan will attack you. Your Lord may come at any hour.
II. The probable interruption. It has happened to godly men in all ages to see the wicked prosper, and they have been staggered by the sight. There is no real cause for envying the wicked; and envying them will do you serious harm. Envy helps in no way, and hinders in many ways.
III. The helpful consideration.
1. There is an end of this life.
2. There is an end of the worldlings prosperity.
3. God has an end in your present trouble and exercise.
4. There will be no failure to your expectation. The promise of God is in itself a possession, and our expectation of it is in itself an enjoyment. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A caution against envy and a call to piety
I. A serious caution. This should be regarded--
1. Because envy is a disposition of mind whose influence can never be justified.
2. Because to envy sinners is absurd.
II. The admonitory precept. This implies--
1. To be in possession of correct and spiritual ideas of His holy and exalted character.
2. To cultivate suitable dispositions of heart towards Him.
III. An encouraging assertion. For surely there is an end, etc.
1. There is an end to that prosperity with which the efforts of sinners are crowned.
2. There is an end to the tribulation of the saints.
3. The expectation of those who continue in the fear of the Lord shall not be cut off. Human expectations are cut off by slothful and indolent habits, and by unforeseen occurrences. Instead of envying sinners, saints should pity them, pray for them, set them good examples, and try to save them. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Proverbs
A CONDENSED GUIDE FOR LIFE
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THE AFTERWARDS AND OUR HOPE
Pro 23:17 - Pro 23:18.
The Book of Proverbs seldom looks beyond the limits of the temporal, but now and then the mists lift and a wider horizon is disclosed. Our text is one of these exceptional instances, and is remarkable, not only as expressing confidence in the future, but as expressing it in a very striking way. ‘Surely there is an end,’ says our Authorised Version, substituting in the margin, for end, ‘reward.’ The latter word is placed in the text of the Revised Version. But neither ‘end’ nor ‘reward’ conveys the precise idea. The word so translated literally means ‘something that comes after.’ So it is the very opposite of ‘end’, it is really that which lies beyond the end-the ‘sequel,’ or the ‘future’-as the margin of the Revised Version gives alternatively, or, more simply still, the afterwards. Surely there is an afterwards behind the end. And then the proverb goes on to specify one aspect of that afterwards: ‘Thine expectation’-or, better, because more simply, thy hope-shall not be cut off. And then, upon these two convictions that there is, if I might so say, an afterclap, and that it is the time and the sphere in which the fairest hopes that a man can paint to himself shall be surpassed by the reality, it builds the plain partial exhortation: ‘Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.’
So then, we have three things here, the certainty of the afterwards, the immortality of hope consequent thereon, and the bearing of these facts on the present.
I. The certainty of the hereafter.
Now, this Book of Proverbs, as I have said in the great collection of popular sayings which makes the bulk of it, has no enthusiasm, no poetry, no mysticism. It has religion, and it has a very pure and lofty morality, but, for the most part, it deals with maxims of worldly prudence, and sometimes with cynical ones, and represents, on the whole, the wisdom of the market-place, and the ‘man in the street.’ But now and then, as I have said, we hear strains of a higher mood. My text, of course, might be watered down and narrowed so as to point only to sequels to deeds realised in this life. And then it would be teaching us simply the very much needed lessons that even in this life, ‘Whatever a man soweth that shall he also reap.’ But it seems to me that we are entitled to see here, as in one or two other places in the Book of Proverbs, a dim anticipation of a future life beyond the grave. I need not trouble you with quoting parallel passages which are sown thinly up and down the book, but I venture to take the words in the wider sense to which I have referred.
Now, the question comes to be, where did the coiners of Proverbs, whose main interest was in the obvious maxims of a prudential morality, get this conviction? They did not get it from any lofty experience of communion with God, like that which in the seventy-third Psalm marks the very high-water mark of Old Testament faith in regard to a future life, where the Psalmist finds himself so completely blessed and well in present fellowship with God, that he must needs postulate its eternal continuance, and just because he has made God the portion of his heart, and is holding fellowship with Him, is sure that nothing can intervene to break that sweet communion. They did not get it from any clear definite revelation, such as we have in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which has made that future life far more than an inference for us, but they got it from thinking over the facts of this present life as they appeared to them, looked at from the standpoint of a belief in God, and in righteousness. And so they represent to us the impression that is made upon a man’s mind, if he has the ‘eye that hath kept watch o’er man’s mortality,’ that is made by the facts of this earthly life-viz. that it is so full of onward-looking, prophetic aspect, so manifestly and tragically, and yet wonderfully and hopefully. Incomplete and fragmentary in itself, that there must be something beyond in order to explain, in order to vindicate, the life that now is. And that aspect of fragmentary incompleteness is what I would insist upon for a moment now.
You sometimes see a row of houses, the end one of them has, in its outer gable wall, bricks protruding here and there, and holes for chimney-pieces that are yet to be put in. And just as surely as that external wall says that the row is half built, and there are some more tenements to be added to it, so surely does the life that we now live here, in all its aspects almost, bear upon itself the stamp that it, too, is but initial and preparatory. You sometimes see, in the bookseller’s catalogue, a book put down ‘volume one; all that is published.’ That is our present life-volume one, all that is published. Surely there is going to be a sequel, volume two. Volume two is due, and will come, and it will be the continuation of volume one.
What is the meaning of the fact that of all the creatures on the face of the earth only you and I, and our brethren and sisters, do not find in our environment enough for our powers? What is the meaning of the fact that, whilst ‘foxes have holes’ where they curl themselves up, and they are at rest, ‘and the birds of the air have roosting-places,’ where they tuck their heads beneath their wings and sleep, the ‘son of man’ hath not where to lay his head, but looks round upon the earth and says, ‘The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy. I am a stranger on the earth.’ What is the meaning of it? Here is the meaning of it: ‘Surely there is a hereafter.’
What is the meaning of the fact that lodged in men’s natures there lies that strange power of painting to themselves things that are not as though they were? So that minds and hearts go out wandering through Eternity, and having longings and possibilities which nothing beneath the stars can satisfy, or can develop? The meaning of it is this: Surely there is a hereafter. The man that wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, in his sceptical moment ere he had attained to his last conclusion, says, in a verse that is mistranslated in our rendering, ‘He hath set Eternity in their hearts, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.’ That is true, because the root of all our unrest and dissatisfaction is that we need God, and God in Eternity, in order that we may be at rest. But whilst on the one hand ‘therefore the misery of man is great upon him,’ on the other hand, because Eternity is in our hearts, therefore there is the answer to the longings, the adequate sphere for the capacities in that great future, and in the God that fills it. You go into the quarries left by reason of some great convulsion or disaster, by forgotten races, and you will find there half excavated and rounded pillars still adhering to the matrix of the rock from which they were being hewn. Such unfinished abortions are all human lives if, when Death drops its curtain, there is an end.
But, brethren, God does not so clumsily disproportion His creatures and their place. God does not so cruelly put into men longings that have no satisfaction, and desires which never can be filled, as that there should not be, beyond the gulf, the fair land of the hereafter. Every human life obviously has in it, up to the very end, the capacity for progress. Every human life, up to the very end, has been educated and trained, and that, surely, for something. There may be masters in workshops who take apprentices, and teach them their trade during the years that are needed, and then turn round and say, ‘I have no work for you, so you must go and look for it somewhere else.’ That is not how God does. When He has trained His apprentices He gives them work to do. Surely there is a hereafter, But that is only part of what is involved in this thought. It is not only a state subsequent to the present, but it is a state consequent on the present, and the outcome of it. The analogy of our earthly life avails here. To-day is the child of all the yesterdays, and the yesterdays and to-day are the parent of tomorrow. The past, our past, has made us what we are in the present, and what we are in the present is making us what we shall be in the future. And when we pass out of this life we pass out, notwithstanding all changes, the same men as we were. There may be much on the surface changed, there will be much taken away, thank God! dropped, necessarily, by the cessation of the corporeal frame, and the connection into which it brings us with things of sense. There will be much added, God only knows how much, but the core of the man will remain untouched. ‘We all are changed by still degrees,’ and suddenly at last ‘All but the basis of the evil.’ And so we carry ourselves with us into that future life, and, ‘what a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their afterward!
II. Now, secondly, my text suggests the immortality of hope.
‘Thine expectation’-or rather, as I said, ‘thy hope’-’shall not be cut off.’ This is a characteristic of that hereafter. What a wonderful saying that is which also occurs in this Book of Proverbs, ‘The righteous hath hope in his death.’ Ah! we all know how swiftly, as years increase, the things to hope for diminish, and how, as we approach the end, less and less do our imaginations go out into the possibilities of the sorrowing future. And when the end comes, if there is no afterwards, the dying man’s hopes must necessarily die before he does. If when we pass into the darkness we are going into a cave with no outlet at the other end, then there is no hope, and you may write over it Dante’s grim word: ‘All hope abandon, ye who enter here.’ But let in that thought, ‘surely there is an afterwards,’ and the enclosed cave becomes a rock-passage, in which one can see the arch of light at the far end of the tunnel; and as one passes through the gloom, the eye can travel on to the pale radiance beyond, and anticipate the ampler ether, the diviner air, ‘the brighter constellations burning, mellow moons and happy stars,’ that await us there. ‘The righteous hath hope in his death.’ ‘Thine expectation shall not be cut off.’
But, further, that conviction of the afterward opens up for us a condition in which imagination is surpassed by the wondrous reality. Here, I suppose, nobody ever had all the satisfaction out of a fulfilled hope that he expected. The fish is always a great deal larger and heavier when we see it in the water than when it is lifted out and scaled. And I suppose that, on the whole, perhaps as much pain as pleasure comes from the hopes which are illusions far more often than they are realities. They serve their purpose in whirling us along the path of life and in stimulating effort, but they do not do much more.
But there does come a time, if you believe that there is an afterwards, when all we desired and painted to ourselves of possible good for our craving spirits shall be felt to be but a pale reflex of the reality, like the light of some unrisen sun on the snowfields, and we shall have to say ‘the half was not told to us.’
And, further, if that afterwards is of the sort that we, through Jesus Christ and His resurrection and glory, know to be, then all through the timeless eternity hope will be our guide. For after each fresh influx of blessedness and knowledge we shall have to say ‘it doth not yet appear what we shall be.’ ‘Thus now abideth’-and not only now, but then and eternally-’these three-faith, hope, and charity,’ and hope will never be cut off through all the stretch of that great afterwards.
III. And now, finally, notice the bearing of all this on the daily present.
‘Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.’ The conviction of the hereafter, and the blessed vision of hopes fulfilled, are not the only reasons for that exhortation. A great deal of harm has been done, I am afraid, by well-meaning preachers who have drawn the bulk of their strongest arguments to persuade men to Christian faith from the thought of a future life. Why, if there were no future, it would be just as wise, just as blessed, just as incumbent upon us to ‘be in the fear of the Lord all the day long.’ But seeing that there is that future, and seeing that only in it will hope rise to fruition, and yet subsist as longing, surely there comes to us a solemn appeal to ‘be in the fear of the Lord all the day long,’ which being turned into Christian language, is to live by habitual faith, in communion with, and love and obedience to, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Surely, surely the very climax and bad eminence of folly is shutting the eyes to that future that we all have to face; and to live here, as some of you are doing, ignoring it and God, and cribbing, cabining, and confining all our thoughts within the narrow limits of the things present and visible. For to live so, as our text enjoins, is the sure way, and the only way, to make these great hopes realities for ourselves.
Brethren, that afterwards has two sides to it. The prophet Malachi, in almost his last words, has a magnificent apocalypse of what he calls ‘the day of the Lord,’ which he sets forth as having a double aspect. On the one hand, it is lurid as a furnace, and burns up the wicked root and branch. I saw a forest fire this last autumn, and the great pine-trees stood there for a moment pyramids of flame, and then came down with a crash. So that hereafter will be to godless men. And on the other side, that ‘day of the Lord’ in the prophet’s vision was radiant with the freshness and dew and beauty of morning, and the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in his wings. Which of the two is it going to be to us? We have all to face it. We cannot alter that fact, but we can settle how we shall face it. It will be to either the fulfilment of blessed hope, the ‘appearance of the glory of the great God and our Saviour,’ or else, as is said in this same Book of Proverbs: ‘The hope of the godless’ shall be like one of those water plants, the papyrus or the flag, which, when the water is taken away, ‘withereth up before any other herb.’ It is for us to determine whether the afterwards that we must enter upon shall be the land in which our hopes shall blossom and fruit, and blossom again immortally, or whether we shall leave behind us, with all the rest that we would fain keep, the possibility of anticipating any good. ‘Surely there is an afterwards,’ and if thou wilt ‘be in the fear of the Lord all the day long,’ then for evermore ‘thy hope shall not be cut off.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
fear
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 17. Let not thine heart envy sinners, for…
v. 17. Let not thine heart envy sinners, for their apparent happiness and prosperity; but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long; that is the proper object of emulation, after which one ought to strive with all his heart.
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 General Information:
General Information:
These verses continue the "thirty sayings" (Proverbs 22:20).
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Do not let your heart envy sinners
The word "heart" is a synecdoche for the whole person. AT: "Do not allow yourself to envy sinners" or "Make sure you do not envy sinners" (See: Synecdoche)
your hope will not be cut off
This can be translated in active form. AT: "God will not allow anyone to cut off your hope" or "God will keep the promises he made to you" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
heart
envy
sin
fear
Yahweh
hope
cut off
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 23:17-18 Saying 14: Sometimes sinners prosper, but the wise…
23:17-18 Saying 14: Sometimes sinners prosper, but the wise will see that to fear the Lord is what ultimately rewards (see 1:7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.