Wherefore the king said unto me, Why [is] thy countenance sad, seeing thou [art] not sick? this [is] nothing [else] but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
Ver. 2. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad?] Some would have chided him, and bid him be packing, for they liked not his looks, there might be treason hatching in his heart; he was a man of an ill aspect. But love thinks no evil.
Seeing thou art not sick?] Sickness will cause sadness in the best. Those stoics that said a wise man must be merry, though sick, when sickness came, were convinced, se magnificentius locutos esse quam verius, that they spake rather bravely than truly. And therefore Cicero to a merry life requireth three things: 1. To enjoy health. 2. To possess honour. 3. Not to suffer necessity. Faith in Christ is more to the purpose than any or all of these.
This is nothing else but sorrow of heart] The heart commonly sitteth in the conntenance, and there showeth how it stands affected. Momus needeth not carp at man's make, and wish a window in his breast, that his thoughts might be seen; for, "a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken," Proverbs 15:13. The Hebrews say that a man's inside is turned out and discovered, in oculis, in loculis, in poculis, in his eyes, purse, and cup.
Then I was very sore afraid] Grieved before, now afraid. Thus, aliud ex alio malum: fluctus fluctum trudit, One sorrow followeth another, and a Christian's faith and patience is continually exercised. But in the multitude of Nehemiah's perplexed thoughts within him, God's comforts refreshed his soul, Psalms 94:19. He casts his suit or his burden upon the Lord, Psalms 55:22, and doubteth not but he will effect his desire.