Proverbs 10:24

Fears and Desires

Commonplace –

“The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted” (Proverbs 10:24).

In this Proverb, Solomon touches on fear and desire, emotions common to all people. Fear is not a bad thing in moderation. Some fears drive us to avoid certain things or prevent us from doing something dangerous, like the fear of being burned drives a person to avoid touching something hot. In a similar way, desires also drive us. We have our basic desires, which keep us alive: to eat, to be breath, etc. We also have desires that motivate us to do something difficult in order to achieve something worthy, like pursue a college degree or run a marathon.

In this verse, Solomon touches on the fear of the wicked and how “it shall come upon him”. This is a fear that creeps up and catches a person unaware versus being afraid of consequences. A wicked person may act impulsively to commit a foolish deed and only consider the consequences afterward.

In contrast to the fear of the wicked, Solomon notes that “the desires of the righteous shall be granted”. Here we see the righteous as someone who puts forth his desire and waits patiently for that desire to be granted. In order for it to be granted, it had to begin as a request. So the righteous person acknowledges God, makes a request in prayer, and waits for the answer.

In his Commentary, Matthew Henry opens his discussion of Proverbs 10:24 with the following worthy summary:

“It is here said, and said again, to the righteous, that it shall be well with them, and to the wicked, Woe to them; and these are set the one over the other, for their mutual illustration” (694).

Works Cited

Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 10:24.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

© 2025 Angela Hormberg