Verse 20.—And when he shall have possessed the things he coveted, he shall not be able to keep them. 24. It is a sign of greater wrath when that is granted which is wickedly desired.—For it belongs to a greater anger when that is granted which is wickedly desired, and from thence sudden retribution follows, because he has obtained the very thing he coveted while God was angry. Whence it is also said through the Psalmist, when the people is reported to have wickedly desired the food of flesh: «As yet their meat was in their mouth, and the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the most of them» (Ps. 77:31). For the divine judgments are wont to appear more slowly when they are held back, that evil wishes may not be fulfilled.
For the more speedily an evil wish is permitted to be fulfilled, for the most part the more swiftly it is punished. Whence therefore the hypocrite is quickly multiplied that he may be mighty, from thence it comes to pass with speed that he should be no more; for the shrubs also that grow more slowly endure many years, while those that thrive in a short span of time wither the more quickly, and as it were, while they hasten to be, they tend toward not being. It follows: