Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
Here is, 1. The benefit of a holy caution. It sounds strangely, but it is very true: Happy is the man that feareth always. Most people think that those are happy who never fear; but there is a fear which is so far from having torment in it that it has in it the greatest satisfaction.
Happy is the man that feareth alway,.... Not men, but the Lord; there is a fear and reverence due to men, according to the stations in which they are; but a slavish fear of man, and which deters from the worship of God and obedience to him, is criminal, and brings a snare; and a man, under the influence of it, cannot be happy: nor...
feareth--that is, God, and so repents. hardeneth his heart--makes himself insensible to sin, and so will not repent (Pro 14:16; Pro 29:1).