A good [man] obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
Ver. 2. A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord.] Or, "Hath what he will of God"; id quod vult a Domino impetrat; quia eius voluntas est ipsissima Dei voluntas, nec aliud vult. Thus Mercer out of Rabbi Levi. Thus it is written of Luther, that by his prayers he could prevail with God at his pleasure. When great gifts were offered him, he refused them with this brave speech, Valde protestatus sum me nolle sic satiari a Deo: - I solemnly protested to God, that I would not be put off with these low things. And on a time praying for the recovery of a godly useful man, among other passages, he let fall this transcendent rapture of a daring faith, Fiat mea voluntas, "Let my will be done"; and then falls off sweetly, Mea voluntas, Domine, quia tua; " My will, Lord, because thy will!" Here was a good man, here was a blessed man; according to that rule, Beatus est qui habet quicquid vult, et nihil male vult; - Blessed is he that hath what he will, and wills nothing but what he should.
But a man of wicked devices.] Such as no good man is; he doth not plot or plough mischief; he doth not cater and "make provision for the flesh"; Rom 13:14 there is no "way of wickedness" Psa 139:24 found in him; the peace is not broken between God and him, because his mind never yields to sin, Rom 7:25 he "walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, therefore no condemnation." Rom 8:1 If an evil thought haunt his heart, as again it befalls, it is the device of the man, he is not the man of such devices. The wicked, on the contrary, is wholly made up of sinful thoughts and purposes, and is in the midst of them; therefore God will call him to a heavy reckoning. See Jer 6:19 Revelation 2:23 .