Proverbs 28:14

“Happy [is] the man that feareth alway, etc.] Not men, but the Lord; there is a fear and reverence due to men, according to the stations in which they are; but a slavish fear of man, and which deters from the worship of God and obedience to him, is criminal, and brings a snare; and a man, under the influence of it, cannot be happy: nor is a servile fear of God intended, a fear of wrath and damnation, or a distrust of his grace, a continual calling in question his love, and an awful apprehension of his displeasure and vengeance; for in such fear is torment, and with it a man can never be happy; but it is a reverence and godly fear, a filial one, a fear of God and his goodness, which he puts…”

“feareth--that is, God, and so repents. hardeneth his heart--makes himself insensible to sin, and so will not repent (Pro 14:16; Pro 29:1).”

“The “fear” here is not so much reverential awe, as anxious, or “nervous” sensitiveness of conscience. To most men this temperament seems that of the self-tormentor. To him who looks deeper it is a condition of blessedness, and the callousness which is opposed to it ends in misery. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Alway - In all times, companies, and conditions. Proverbs 28:16”

“Happy: Pro 23:17; Psa 2:11, Psa 16:8, Psa 112:1; Isa 66:2; Jer 32:40; Rom 11:20; Heb 4:1; Pe1 1:17 but: Pro 29:1; Exo 7:22, Exo 14:23; Job 9:4; Rom 2:4 Proverbs 28:15”

“14 Well is it with the man who feareth always; But he that is stiff-necked shall fall into mischief. The Piel פּחד occurs elsewhere only at Isa 51:13, where it is used of the fear and dread of men; here it denotes the anxious concern with which one has to guard against the danger of evil coming upon his soul. Aben Ezra makes God the object; but rather we are to regard sin as the object, for while the truly pious is one that "fears God," he is at the same time one that "feareth evil." The antithesis extends beyond the nearest lying contrast of fleshly security; this is at the same time more or less one who hardens or steels his heart (מקשׁה לבּו), viz., against the word of God, against the…”