The Second Part of the Second Decade (Verses 16–22). – The Fruits of the Fear of God

The workings of the fear of God have been indicated; the conduct of God-fearing people has been defined. The holy Prophet now proceeds to portray the fruits of such a life. He has not forgotten that he promised reward for following the promptings of the fear of God, and he shows how this promise is fulfilled in those who walk the path he has laid out. He promised life and good days. But both are in the hands of God. The closeness of God-fearing people to God is what holy David now portrays. He does not show how life and good days flow directly from the life he has prescribed; rather, he places those who lead it in the most intimate nearness to God, saying as it were: living thus, you will be at the very source of every good; and after that, do not doubt that you will receive far more than I have promised you. You serve God—you are received by God as His own—and you will receive from Him every mercy: namely, 1) God’s special favor, verses 16–17; 2) swift hearing of prayer, verse 18; 3) nearness and consolation in sorrows, verse 19; and 4) deliverance from them, verse 20. These blessings they receive even in this life; but 5) full recompense awaits them in death and after death, verses 21–22.