The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.
Ver. 3. The foolishness of a man perverteth his way.] So that all goes cross with him, and God "walks contrary to him," Lev 26:21 as it befell our King John, Queen Mary, and Henry IV of France. King John saw and acknowledged it in these words, Postquam, ut dixi, Deo reconciliatus, me ac mea regna (proh dolor!) Romanae subieci ecclesiae, nulla mihi prospera, sed omnia contraria advenerunt, a Ever since I submitted to the see of Rome, nothing hath prospered with me.
And his heart frets against the Lord.] As the cause of his calamity. Birds of prey, that have been long kept in the dark, when they get abroad, are out of measure, raging and ravenous: so are ignorant spirits; they let fly on all hands, when in durance especially, and spare not to spit their venom in the very face of God, as did Pharaoh, when that thick darkness was upon him; the king of Israel that said, "Behold this evil is of the Lord, and what should I wait for the Lord any longer?" 2Ki 6:33 Mohammed, the first emperor of the Turks, being wonderfully grieved with the dishonour and loss he had received at the last assault of Scodra, in his choler and frantic rage, most horribly blasphemed against God, saying, that it were enough for him to have care of heavenly things, and not to cross him in his worldly actions. b
a Mat. Paris.
b Turk. Hist., fol. 423.