Happiness

How Nave’s arranged it

• OF THE WICKED
• Is limited to this lifePsalms 17:14Luke 16:25
• Is shortJob 20:5
• Is uncertainLuke 12:20
• Is vainEcclesiastes 2:1Ecclesiastes 7:6
• Is derived from
• Their wealthJob 21:13Psalms 52:7
• Their powerJob 21:7Psalms 37:35
• Their worldly prosperityPsalms 17:14Psalms 37:3Psalms 37:4Psalms 37:7
• GluttonyIsaiah 22:13Habakkuk 1:16
• DrunkennessIsaiah 5:11Isaiah 56:12
• Vain pleasureJob 21:12Isaiah 5:12

The passages, in Bible order (70)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Numbers 11:33

   But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.

   ›Commentary on Numbers 11:332 voices

   “Chewed - Hebrew. cut off, namely from their mouths. A very great plague - Probably the pestilence. But the sense is, before they had done eating their quails, which lasted for a month.

   “On a former occasion their murmurings for flesh were raised (Ex 16:1-8) because they were in want of food. Here they proceeded, not from necessity, but wanton, lustful desire; and their sin, in the righteous judgment of God, was made to carry its own punishment.

   Everything gathered on Numbers 11:33→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Deuteronomy 33:29

   Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 33:292 voices

   “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun--The chapter concludes with a congratulatory address to Israel on their peculiar happiness and privilege in having Jehovah for their God and protector. who rideth upon the heaven in thy help--an evident allusion to the pillar of cloud and fire, which was both the guide and shelter of Israel.

   “Be found liars unto thee - Perhaps rather, “cringe before thee.” The verb means to show a feigned or forced obedience: see the marginal references. Tread upon their high places - i. e., occupy the commanding positions in their land, and so have it in subjection.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 33:29→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Esther 5:9–11

   That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king’s gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.

   ›Commentary on Esther 5:9–111 voice

   “He stood not up, nor moved for him - This was undoubtedly a serious breach of Persian etiquette, and may well have angered Haman.

   Everything gathered on Esther 5:9–11→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Esther 5:13

   Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

   ›Commentary on Esther 5:131 voice

   “Yet all this availeth me nothing - Pride will ever render its possessor unhappy. He has such a high opinion of his own worth, that he conceives himself defrauded by every one who does not pay him all the respect and homage which he conceives to be his due. The soul was made for God, and nothing but God can fill it and make it happy. Angels could not be happy in glory, when they had cast off their allegiance to their Maker.

   Everything gathered on Esther 5:13→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Job 5:17–27

   Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

   ›Commentary on Job 5:17–271 voice

   “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth - This verse commences a new argument, designed to show that afflictions are followed by so important advantages as to make it proper that we should submit to them without a complaint. The sentiment in this verse, if not expressly quoted, is probably alluded to by the apostle Paul in Heb 12:5. The same thought frequently occurs in the Bible: see Jas 1:12; Pro 3:11-

   Everything gathered on Job 5:17–27→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Job 15:21

   Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.

   ›Commentary on Job 15:212 voices

   “Ver. 21. A dreadful sound is alway in his ears, and when there is peace, he suspecteth plots. But there is nothing more happy than simplicity of heart, in that in proportion as it shews forth innocency towards others, there is nothing it dreads to meet with from others. For it has its simplicity as a kind of citadel of strength, nor is it suspicious of undergoing what it has no remembrance of having itself done. Whence it is well said by Solomon, In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence.

   “A dreadful sound is in his ears - Margin, “A sound of fears.” He hears sudden, frightful sounds, and is alarmed. Or when he thinks himself safe, he is suddenly surprised. The enemy steals upon him, and in his fancied security he dies. This sentiment might be illustrated at almost any length by the mode of savage warfare in America, and by the sudden attacks which the American savage makes, in the silence of the night, on his unsuspecting foes.

   Everything gathered on Job 15:21→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Job 20:5

   the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

   ›Commentary on Job 20:51 voice

   “That the triumphing - The word “triumphing” here (רננה renânâh),” shouting, rejoicing” - such a shouting as people make after a victory, or such as occurred at the close of harvesting. Here it means that the occasion which the wicked had for rejoicing would be brief. It would be but for a moment, and he then would be overwhelmed with calamity or cut off by death.

   Everything gathered on Job 20:5→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Job 21:7

   Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?

   ›Commentary on Job 21:72 voices

   “Ro 9:22. old--in opposition to the friends who asserted that sinners are "cut off" early (Job 8:12, 14).

   “Wherefore do the wicked live? - Job comes now to the main design of his argument in this chapter, to show that it is a fact, that the wicked often have great prosperity; that they are not treated in this life according to their character; and that it is not a fact that men of eminent wickedness, as his friends maintained, would meet, in this life, with proportionate sufferings.

   Everything gathered on Job 21:7→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Job 21:12

   singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.

   ›Commentary on Job 21:122 voices

   “Ver. 12. They take the timbrel, and harp, and rejoice at the noise of the organ. As if he said in plain speech; 'Whilst the masters swell with honours and substance, the dependants rejoice in festive sports.' But, O blessed man, wherefore dost thou tell us all these many things of the delights of the wicked? It is now a long time that thou runnest on in the description of them; after much said, in one word point out what thou thinkest.

   “They take the timbrel and harp - ישאו yisu, they rise up or lift themselves up, probably alluding to the rural exercise of dancing. תף toph, which we translate timbrel, means a sort of drum, such as the tom-tom of the Asiatics. כנור kinnor may mean something of the harp kind. עוגב ugab, organ, means nothing like the instrument now called the organ, though thus translated both by the Septuagint and Vulgate; it probably means the syrinx, composed of several unequal pipes, close at the bottom, which when blown into at the top, gives a very shrill and lively sound.

   Everything gathered on Job 21:12→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Job 21:13

    They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

    ›Commentary on Job 21:132 voices

    They spend their days in wealth,.... Or "in good" (p); not in the performance of good works, or in the exercise of that which is spiritually good; or in seeking after spiritual good things, or eternal happiness; but in earthly good, in the enjoyment of the temporal good things of this life, and which to enjoy in a moderate and becoming manner is not criminal, but commendable; but these men, and such as they, seek no other good but worldly good; their language is, "who will show us any good?"

    “They spend their days in wealth - Margin, or, “mirth.” Literally, “they wear out their days in good” - בטוב baṭôb. Vulgate “in bonis.” Septuagint, ἐν ἀγαθοῖς en agathois - “in good things;” in the enjoyment of good. They are not oppressed with the evils of poverty and want, but they have abundance of “the good things” of life. And in a moment go down to the grave - Hebrew to שׁאול she'ôl - but here meaning evidently the grave.

    Everything gathered on Job 21:13→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Psalms 17:14

    from such men, O LORD, by Your hand— from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 17:142 voices

    “Almost every word of this verse has furnished matter for discussion to scholars, for it is very obscure. We will, therefore, rest content with the common version, rather than distract the reader with divers translations. "From men which are thy hand." Having styled the ungodly a sword in his Father's hand, he now likens them to that hand itself, to set forth his conviction that God could as easily remove their violence as a man moves his own hand. He will never slay his child with his own hand.

    “Belly - Mind or appetite, as that word is used, Job xx, 20. Treasure - With extraordinary wealth and glory. Children - When many of thy faithful servants are barren, these are blessed with a numerous posterity.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 17:14→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Psalms 36:8

    They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 36:82 voices

    “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house. Those who learn to put their trust in God shall be received into his house, and shall share in the provision laid up therein. The dwelling place of the Lord is not confined to any place, and hence reside where we may, we may regard our dwelling, if we be believers, as one room in the Lord's great house; and we shall, both in providence and grace, find a soul contenting store supplied to us as the result of living by faith in nearness to the Lord.

    “They will be intoxicated with the abundance of your house, and you will give them to drink from the torrent of your pleasure. They are not placed in pastures, but in banquets: for some are in the place of pastures, others in the privilege of sacraments.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 36:8→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Psalms 37:1

    Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 37:12 voices

    “The Psalm opens with the first precept. It is alas! too common for believers in their hours of adversity to think themselves harshly dealt with when they see persons utterly destitute of religion and honesty, rejoicing in abundant prosperity. Much needed is the command, Fret not thyself because of evildoers. To fret is to worry, to have the heartburn, to fume, to become vexed.

    “Not infrequently good people, seeing others arrive at riches and honors by fraud and trickery, become green with jealousy and want to imitate them. They, too, are tempted to attain riches and fame by similar tricks and malpractices.… Do not be an imitator of wrongdoing and fraud. Rather, be an imitator of apostolic doctrine, of prophetic grace and of the virtue of the saints. Then you will bear fruit and reap the harvest of your good deeds.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 37:1→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Psalms 37:3

    Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 37:32 voices

    “Trust in the Lord. Here is the second precept, and one appropriate to the occasion. Faith cures fretting. Sight is cross-eyed, and views things only as they seem, hence her envy: faith has clearer optics to behold things as they really are, hence her peace. And do good. True faith is actively obedient. Doing good is a fine remedy for fretting. There is a joy in holy activity which drives away the rust of discontent. So shalt thou dwell in the land. In "the land" which floweth with milk and honey; the Canaan of the covenant.

    “(Verse 3.) Therefore the Prophet rightly says: Hope in the Lord, and do good; and you shall inhabit the land, and shall be fed with its riches. What is the land that he advises to inhabit, if not your soul, which you should cultivate well, frequently plowing it with spiritual plows, so that it does not become overgrown with weeds? For a good farmer works his field with daily activity and diligent care, and protects his own fields; lest a wild boar from the forest devastate them, and a cunning thief snatch away the ripe fruits.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 37:3→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Psalms 37:4

    Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 37:42 voices

    “There is an ascent in this third precept. He who was first bidden not to fret, was then commanded actively to trust, and now is told with holy desire to delight in God. Delight thyself also in the Lord. Make Jehovah the joy and rejoicing of thy spirit. Bad men delight in carnal objects; do not envy them if they are allowed to take their fill in such vain idols; look thou to thy better delight, and fill thyself to the full with thy more sublime portion.

    “(Verse 4.) Therefore, he says: Delight in the Lord, and he will grant you the desires of your heart. Why did he not say 'your desires' but 'the desires of your heart'? For the desires of the external and internal man are not the same and not all of them are approved by Christ; because the law of the flesh often opposes to the rules of the spirit. But those desires that belong to the interior man, who is renewed by the Spirit, the Lord grants them to the petitioner with effect.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 37:4→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Psalms 37:7

    Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 37:72 voices

    “Rest in the Lord. This fifth is a most divine precept, and requires much grace to carry it out. To hush the spirit, to be silent before the Lord, to wait in holy patience the time for clearing up the difficulties of Providence—that is what every gracious heart should aim at. "Aaron held his peace:" "I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it." A silent tongue in many cases not only shows a wise head, but a holy heart. And wait patiently for him. Time is nothing to him; let it be nothing to thee.

    “(Verse 7.) Be subject to the Lord and beseech Him. Not only should you be subject to God, but also beseech the Lord, so that you can fulfill your desire for submission, as it also says above: Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in Him. It is not only fitting to reveal your way; but also to hope in the Lord. However, submission should not be abject, lowly, but glorious and exalted; for he is subject to God who does the will of the Lord.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 37:7→

    Verse page →Original language →