Grudge not - Μη στεναζετε· Groan not; grumble not; do not murmur through impatience; and let not any ill treatment which you receive, induce you to vent your feelings in imprecations against your oppressors. Leave all this in the hands of God.
Lest ye be condemned - By giving way to a spirit of this kind, you will get under the condemnation of the wicked.
The judge standeth before the door - His eye is upon every thing that is wrong in you, and every wrong that is done to you; and he is now entering into judgment with your oppressors.
Grudge not one against another - Margin, “groan, grieve.” The Greek word ( στενάζω stenazō) means, “to sigh, to groan,” as of persons in distress, Romans 8:23; and then to sigh or groan through impatience, fretfulness, ill-humor; and hence “to murmur, to find fault, to complain.” The exact idea here is, not that of grudging in the sense of dissatisfaction with what others possess, or of being envious; it is that of being fretful and impatient - or, to use a common word which more exactly expresses the sense that of grumbling. This may arise from many causes; either because others have advantages which we have not, and we are discontented and unhappy, as if it were wrong in them to have such enjoyments; or because we, without reason, suppose they intend to slight and neglect us; or because we are ready to take offence at any little thing, and to “pick a quarrel” with them. There are some persons who are always grumbling. They have a sour, dissatisfied, discontented temper; they see no excellence in other persons; they are displeased that others are more prospered, honored, and beloved than they are themselves; they are always complaining of what others do, not because they are injured, but because others seem to them to be weak and foolish; they seem to feel that it becomes them to complain if everything is not done precisely as in their estimation it should be. It is needless to say that this spirit - the offspring of pride - will make any man lead a wretched life; and equally needless to say that it is wholly contrary to the spirit of the gospel. Compare Luke 3:14; Philemon 4:11; 1 Timothy 6:8; Hebrews 13:5. Lest ye be condemned - That is, for judging others with this spirit - for this spirit is in fact judging them. Compare the notes at Matthew 7:1. Behold, the judge standeth before the door - The Lord Jesus, who is soon to come to judge the world. See James 5:8. He is, as it were, even now approaching the door - so near that he can hear all that you say.
Oh, how earnestly and constantly should we seek for the Divine Presence, that there may be not only a profession but a realization of the solemn truth that the end of all things is at hand and that the Judge of all the earth standeth at the door! How can you disregard His just and holy requirements? How can you transgress in the very face of Jehovah? Can you pursue a course of sin in full view of the consequences? Can you cherish unholy thoughts and base passions in the full view of the pure angels and of the Redeemer, who gave Himself for you that He might redeem you from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works? Can we be guiltless and cherish sin in the sight of God? As you contemplate the matter in the light which shines from the cross of Christ, will not sin appear too mean, too perilous, too fearful, to indulge in? TSB 106.2
Read in context »Those who act as Pharisees may not be guilty of exactly the same sins they condemn in others, but they may be guilty of sins much greater in the sight of God. Each will be rewarded according to his work. Let those who condemn others take heed to themselves, lest they be condemned by God for Phariseeism.—Manuscript 37, 1902. TSB 265.2
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