Psa 1:6, Mat 7:23, Joh 10:14, 1Cor 8:3 | JFB | STEP | 6. knoweth the way —attends to and provides for them ( ). way of the wicked —All their plans will end in disappointment and ruin ( ).

Psalms 1:6

6. knoweth the way—attends to and provides for them (Ps 101:6; Pr 12:10; Ho 13:5).

way of the wicked—All their plans will end in disappointment and ruin (Ps 37:13; 146:8; Pr 4:19).

Matthew 7:23

23. And then will I profess unto them—or, openly proclaim—tearing off the mask.

I never knew you—What they claimed—intimacy with Christ—is just what He repudiates, and with a certain scornful dignity. "Our acquaintance was not broken off—there never was any."

depart from me—(Compare Mt 25:41). The connection here gives these words an awful significance. They claimed intimacy with Christ, and in the corresponding passage, Lu 13:26, are represented as having gone out and in with Him on familiar terms. "So much the worse for you," He replies: "I bore with that long enough; but now—begone!"

ye that work iniquity—not "that wrought iniquity"; for they are represented as fresh from the scenes and acts of it as they stand before the Judge. (See on the almost identical, but even more vivid and awful, description of the scene in Lu 13:24-27). That the apostle alludes to these very words in 2Ti 2:19 there can hardly be any doubt—"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

John 10:14

14. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep—in the peculiar sense of 2Ti 2:19.

am known of mine—the soul's response to the voice that has inwardly and efficaciously called it; for of this mutual loving acquaintance ours is the effect of His. "The Redeemer's knowledge of us is the active element, penetrating us with His power and life; that of believers is the passive principle, the reception of His life and light. In this reception, however, an assimilation of the soul to the sublime object of its knowledge and love takes place; and thus an activity, though a derived one, is unfolded, which shows itself in obedience to His commands" [OLSHAUSEN]. From this mutual knowledge Jesus rises to another and loftier reciprocity of knowledge.

1 Corinthians 8:3

3. love God—the source of love to our neighbor (1Jo 4:11, 12, 20; 5:2).

the same—literally, "this man"; he who loves, not he who "thinks that he knows," not having "charity" or love (1Co 8:1, 2).

is known of him—is known with the knowledge of approval and is acknowledged by God as His (Ps 1:6; Ga 4:9; 2Ti 2:19). Contrast, "I never knew you" (Mt 7:23). To love God is to know God; and he who thus knows God has been first known by God (compare 1Co 13:12; 1Pe 1:2).