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I. THE ABSURDITY OF THOSE FEARS. It is a disparagement to us to give way to them. In the original the pronoun is feminine, "Who art thou, O woman;" unworthy the name of a man, such a weak and womanish thing is it to give way to perplexing fears. It is absurd —

1. To be in such a dread of a dying man.

2. To fear "continually every day" (ver. 13); to put ourselves upon a constant rack, so as never to be easy, nor have any enjoyment of ourselves. Now and then a danger may be imminent and threatening, and it may be prudence to fear it; but to be always in a toss, to tremble at the shaking of every leaf, is to make ourselves all our lifetime subject to bondage, and to bring upon ourselves that sore judgment which is threatened (Deuteronomy 28:66, 67).

3. To fear beyond what there is cause for. Thou art afraid of "the fury of the oppressor." It is true there is an oppressor, and he is furious. He designs, it may be, when he has an opportunity, to do thee mischief, and it will be thy wisdom, therefore, to stand upon thy guard; but thou art afraid of him "as if he were ready to destroy," as if he were just now going to cut thy throat and there were no possibility of preventing, it. A. timorous spirit is thus apt to make the worst of everything, and sometimes God is pleased presently to show us the folly of it. "Where is the fury of the oppressor?" It is gone in an instant, and the danger is over ere thou art aware. His heart is turned, or his hands are tied.

II. THE IMPIETY OF THOSE FEARS. Thou "forgettest the Lord, thy Maker," etc. Our inordinate fearing of man is an implicit forgetting of God.

( M. Henry.)

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KJV: I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;

WEB: "I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass;