We often insist upon the fact that goodness is the secret of true happiness, and invite

men to rejoice in the service of God; but we are here reminded of an opposite kind of joy
which some find in the course of wickedness. …
The miser loves his money on its own account through previous associations with the
ideas of what it might purchase. So the criminal may come to delight in his crimes
because the profit he gets out of them has cast a glamour over the ugly deeds themselves.
…
There is a sense of freedom in sin. There is more room to range at large over the
broad way than in the narrow path of righteousness. The sinner has burst the shackles of
law, and he revels in the licence of self-will. …
Sin gives an opportunity for the exercise of power. Much evil is done simply for the
sake of effect, in order that the doer of it may find himself producing results. But it is
easier to do harm than to do good. Therefore a man turns to evil for the larger realization
of his power. So wicked children delight in picking flies to pieces. …
At first it is painful to sin. The poor, weak soul gives way to temptation, but the very
act of sinning is accompanied with a sense of uneasiness and humiliation.
A further stage is reached when sin is committed with indifference. This is indeed a
state of moral degradation, for conscience is now practically dead, and the sinner is as
willing to have his pleasure by lawless means as in an innocent manner.
The lowest depth is reached when there is a positive pleasure in doing wrong. Evil is
then chosen on its own account, and not as the disagreeable or the indifferent means for
reaching some ulterior end. When two courses are open, the bad one is deliberately
selected as the more pleasant on its own account. A malignant joy lights up the
countenance of the abandoned sinner at the mere prospect of some new villainy. This is
Satanic wickedness. The abandoned sinner can now exclaim with Milton’s Satan –

“Evil, be thou my good!”…

It will not endure. The pleasures of sin do but endure for a season. The sweet
morsels soon turn to dust and ashes. After the wild orgie there follows a deep depression
or dread despair, or at best a sense of listless weariness. The appetite is soon exhausted.
New and more piquant forms of wickedness must be invented to stimulate the jaded
palate. At length the awful consequences must com, and anguish of soul follow the
delights of sin when God’s judgment takes effect.

The Pulpit Commentary, Proverbs p. 45, Proverbs 2:14, (W. F. Adeney)

Gold Nugget 150

“Evil, Be Thou My Good”