Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Ver. 5. Let your moderation] Or equality, such as was that of David, Psalms 26:12. The scales of his mind hung equal, giving him liberty in all occurrences to enjoy himself. All immoderations are enemies to health; so they are also to the quietness of the mind. (Hippocrates.) Against these (as against poisons) there be two kinds of antidotes, prayer and patience, the one hot, the other cold: the one quenching, the other quickening. The word το επιεικες, here used by the apostle, properly signifieth moderation in law businesses, or in laying claim to a man's own right, the preferring of equity before extremity (Arist. Ethic. v. 10), as holding utmost right to be utmost wrong. Summum ius summa iniuria. Austin tells us that it was grown to a proverb among his countrymen, Ut habeas quietum tempus, perde aliquid. For a quiet life, part with some part of thy fight, as Abraham did,Genesis 13:9 .
The Lord is at hand] To right you and recompense you, to pay you for all your pains and patience. Iudex pro foribus, saith St James, James 5:9 .