Fools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.
The heart knows its own bitterness,
and no stranger shares its joy.
The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.Proverbs 14:9-11
Kidner thinks that the AV rendering of 9 is more likely than the RSV, and that it 'contrasts the unconcern of fools for the damage they do, God-ward and manward, with the care of the upright to preserve goodwill'. The thought expressed in the moving words of 10 bears witness to the truth that there are some experiences in life that we must bear and endure on our own; they cannot be endured for us, nor can they, in the ultimate sense, be shared. Perhaps a close friend might in measure be able to enter into the burden, but certainly not any casual acquaintance (taking this as the force of 'a stranger' in 10), It is true that God has given us the gift of fellowship to palliate the aches and distresses of life, and one of the sweetest and most comforting things in human sorrow is to know the fellowship of kindred spirits - and that can be imparted to us with, a look as well as by much being said. Yet, in the last analysis, there is that inner sanctum where on the human level we bear our sorrow alone. It is only the One that sticketh closer than a brother who can fully enter in and give the comfort that can most fully assuage human grief. There is an obvious and deliberate contrast intended in 11 between 'house' and 'tabernacle'. The house of the wicked, which seems (to him) so enduring and lasting, bears witness to something which is extremely common and a source of constant amazement to spiritual minds, namely that the worldling lives as if he were going to live in this world for ever. He does not take death into account at all; it is for him the one forbidden subject. But there is nothing so sure in life as death. And, paradoxically, the temporary dwelling place of the believer proves to be more permanent than the lasting house (cf the parable of the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7:24-29).