Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
Ver. 5. Whoso keepeth the commandment,] scil., The king's commandment. He that is compliant, and goes as far as he can with a good conscience in his obedience to the commands of his superiors, "shall feel no evil," i.e., he shall lack no good encouragement. Rom 13:3-4 Or if men slight him, God will see to him, Eph 6:7-8 as he did to the poor Israelites in Egypt, and to David under Saul. Mordecai lost nothing at length by his love and loyalty to God and the king. Sir Ralph Percy, slain upon Hedgely Moor, in Northumberland, by the Lord Montacute, general for Edward IV, would noways depart the field, though defeated, but in dying, said, I have saved the bird in my breast, meaning his oath to King Henry VI, for whom he fought. a
And a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment,] scil., When and how to obey kings' commands, the time, the means, and manner thereof, despatching them without offence to God or man. And this "a wise man's heart discerneth," saith the Preacher; it being the opinion of the Hebrews that in the heart especially the soul did keep her court, and exercise her noble operations of the understanding, invention, judgment, &c. Aristotle saith, Sine calore cordis anima in corpore nihil efficit, Without the heat of the heart, the soul does nothing in the body. The Scripture also makes the heart the monarch of this Isle of Man.
a Speed, 869.