This is spoken, not so much by way of counsel to wicked men (they will
not receive instruction, ch. xxiii. 9), but rather in defiance of them,
for the encouragement of good people that are threatened by them. See
here, 1. The designs of the wicked against the righteous, and the
success they promise themselves in those designs. The plot is laid
deeply: They lay wait against the dwelling of the righteous, thinking
to charge some iniquity upon it, or compass some design against it;
they lie in wait at the door, to catch him when he stirs out, as
David's persecutors, Ps. lix. title. The hope is raised high; they
doubt not but to spoil his dwelling-place because he is weak and cannot
support it, because his condition is low and distressed, and he is
almost down already. All this is a fruit of the old enmity in the seed
of the serpent against the seed of the woman. The blood-thirsty hate
the upright. 2. The folly and frustration of these designs (1.) The
righteous man, whose ruin was expected, recovers himself. He falls
seven times into trouble, but, by the blessing of God upon his wisdom
and integrity, he rises again, sees through his troubles and sees
better times after them. The just man falls, sometimes falls seven
times perhaps, into sin, sins of infirmity, through the surprise of
temptation; but he rises again by repentance, finds mercy with God, and
regains his peace. (2.) The wicked man, who expected to see his ruin
and to help it forward, is undone. He falls into mischief; his sins and
his troubles are his utter destruction.