Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
Lasting happiness belongs to the one who fears God continually, remaining reverent and responsive toward Him, alert to His claims, and fearful of doing wrong. By contrast, the one who hardens his heart shall fall into trouble and ruin. That hardening means hardening against reproof and correction and refusing to confess and acknowledge sin.
Refusing to face specific wrongs leaves the conscience without strength against temptation and leads to repeated sin. Stubborn refusal to confess wrongdoing resists God's Spirit and makes repentance and reformation difficult. The preceding verse adds that confessing and forsaking sin brings mercy.
The warning applies to those who receive God's privileges yet persist in impenitence; they must fear being cut off unless they continue in God's goodness. It applies to all who share the privileges once given to Israel; they must not become proud but continue in faith and obedience, because those who do not continue in God's goodness can be cut off.
Lasting happiness belongs to the one who fears God continually, remaining reverent and responsive toward Him, alert to His claims, and fearful of doing wrong. By contrast, the one who hardens his heart shall fall into trouble and ruin. That hardening means hardening against reproof and correction and refusing to confess and acknowledge sin.
Refusing to face specific wrongs leaves the conscience without strength against temptation and leads to repeated sin. Stubborn refusal to confess wrongdoing resists God's Spirit and makes repentance and reformation difficult. The preceding verse adds that confessing and forsaking sin brings mercy.
The warning applies to those who receive God's privileges yet persist in impenitence; they must fear being cut off unless they continue in God's goodness. It applies to all who share the privileges once given to Israel; they must not become proud but continue in faith and obedience, because those who do not continue in God's goodness can be cut off.