He that walketh in his (b) uprightness feareth the LORD: but [he that is] perverse in his ways despiseth him.
(b) That is, in uprightness of heart, and without hypocrisy.

He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord,.... It is plain that the fear of the Lord is upon the heart and before the eyes of such that walk according to the word of God, with a sincere desire to glorify him; for it is by the fear of the Lord that men depart from evil, and because of that they cannot do what others do; and therefore when a man walks uprightly, and his conversation is in all holiness and godliness, it shows that the fear of God has a place in his heart, which influences his outward behaviour;
but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him; either God himself, whom the upright walker fears; for he that acts perversely, contrary to the law of God, or transgresses that, and goes out of the way, despises God the lawgiver, tramples upon his authority, stretches out his hand, and commits acts of hostility against him; and he that perverts the Gospel of Christ despises his ministers, and despises Christ himself, and him that sent him. Or else the meaning is, that such a perverse walker despises him that fears the Lord; so Aben Ezra interprets it; and such are generally the contempt of wicked men: to this sense is the Vulgate Latin version,
"he that walks in a right way, and fears God, is despised by him that walks in an infamous way;''
but the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "is despised": meaning the perverse man.

Here are grace and sin in their true colours. Those that despise God's precepts and promises, despise God and all his power and mercy.

uprightness--is the fruit of fearing God, as falsehood and ill-nature (Proverbs 2:15; Proverbs 3:32) of despising Him and His law.

2 He walketh in his uprightness who feareth Jahve,
And perverse in his ways is he that despiseth Him.
That which syntactically lies nearest is also that which is intended; the ideas standing in the first place are the predicates. Wherein it shows itself, and whereby it is recognised, that a man fears God, or stands in a relation to Him of indifference instead of one of fear and reverence, shall be declared: the former walketh in his uprightness, i.e., so far as the consciousness of duty which animates him prescribes; the latter in his conduct follows no higher rule than his own lust, which drives him sometimes hither and sometimes thither. הולך בּישׁרו .rehtih (cf. ישׁר הולך, Micah 2:7) is of kindred meaning with הולך בּתמּו, Proverbs 28:6 (הולך בּתּום, Proverbs 10:9), and הולך נכחו, Isaiah 57:2. The connection of נלוז דּרכיו follows the scheme of 2-Kings 18:37, and not 2-Samuel 15:32, Ewald, 288c. If the second word, which particularizes the idea of the first, has the reflexive suff. as here, then the accusative connection, or, as Proverbs 2:15, the prepositional, is more usual than the genitive. Regarding לוּז, flectere, inclinare (a word common to the author of chap. 1-9), vid., at Proverbs 2:15. With בּוזהוּ, cf. 1-Samuel 2:30; the suffix without doubt refers to God, for בוזהו is the word that stands in parallel contrast to 'ירא ה.