Proverbs 14:14

King James Version (KJV)

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways -

Who is the backslider? סוג sug .

The man who once walked in the ways of religion, but has withdrawn from them.

The man who once fought manfully against the world, the devil, and the flesh; but has retreated from the battle, or joined the enemy.

The man who once belonged to the congregation of the saints, but is now removed from them, and is set down in the synagogue of Satan.

But who is the backslider in Heart?

Not he who was surprised and overcome by the power of temptation, and the weakness of his own heart.

But he who drinks down iniquity with greediness.

Who gives cheerful way to the bent of his own nature, and now delights in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind.

Who loves sin as before he loved godliness.

What are his own ways? Folly, sin, disappointment, and death; with the apprehension of the wrath of God, and the sharp twingings of a guilty conscience.

What is implied in being filled with his own ways? Having his soul saturated with folly, sin, and disappointment. At last ending here below in death, and then commencing an eternal existence where the fire is not quenched, and under the influence of that worm that never dieth. Alas, alas! who may abide when God doeth this?

And a good man shall be satisfied from himself -

Who is the good man? (טוב איש ish tob ).

The man whose heart is right with God, whose tongue corresponds to his heart, and whose actions correspond to both.

The man who is every thing that the sinner and backslider are not.

He shall be satisfied from himself - he shall have the testimony of his own conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, he has his conversation among men.

3. He shall have God's Spirit to testify with his spirit that he is a child of God. He hath the witness in himself that he is born from above. The Spirit of God in his conscience, and the testimony of God in his Bible, show him that he belongs to the heavenly family. It is not from creeds or confessions of faith that he derives his satisfaction: he gets it from heaven, and it is sealed upon his heart.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Shall be satisfied - These words are not in the original. Repeat the verb from the first clause, “He who falls away from God in his heart, shall be filled with his own ways; and the good man (shall be filled) with that which belongs to him.”

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