Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Say ye to the righteous, that (it shall be) well (with him). The faithlessness of many is no proof that all are faithless. Though nothing but croaking of frogs is heard on the surface of the pool, we are not to infer there are no fish beneath (Bengel). See Isaiah 1:19-20.
For they shall eat the fruit of their doings (Proverbs 1:31) - in a good sense (Galatians 5:22; Galatians 6:8). Not salvation by works, but by fruit-bearing faith (Isaiah 45:24; Jeremiah 23:6). At the same time, righteousness shall be its own great reward. There is no arbitrary, but a natural and necessary connection between the character which is rewarded and the reward (Matthew 5:7). The reward grows out of the character as naturally as a fruit is developed from its own kind of tree. The wicked man's work is not dignified, either in the doing or in the judicial and natural result, with the name fruit (Romans 6:21; Galatians 5:19; Galatians 5:22). That honourable term is reserved for the doings of the godly and their blessed results (Revelation 22:11; Revelation 22:14).