Fears Realised and Hopes Fulfilled
Proverbs 10:24
The fear of the wicked, it shall come on him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.


The difference between the righteous and the wicked lies not in the existence of these emotions of fear and hope now, but in their issue at last. In each character there are the same two emotions now; in each, at the final reckoning, one of these emotions will be realised and the other disappointed. It is not difficult to ascertain what are the chief fears and desires of a wicked man. Cleaving to his sins, he is in enmity against God. The terrors of the Lord glance from time to time like lightning in his conscience. He fears the wrath of God, and the punishment of sin. What does he desire or hope? His desire for time is the indulgence of his appetites; his desire for eternity is that there should be no God, or at least, that He should not be just to mark iniquity. What becomes of the fears of the righteous? What becomes of the darkness when the daylight shines? When Christ comes, His coming shall be morning. The saints are subject to fears. The promise to believers is not that they shall never fear; it is that the thing feared will never come upon them. Their desire is that they may be pardoned through the blood of Christ, and renewed after His image. When these are the desires of our souls, how safe we are!

(W. Arnot, D. D. )



Parallel Verses
KJV: The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

WEB: What the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.




A Contrast
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