John Trapp on Habakkuk 2:9

Verſe 9. Wee to him that coveteth an evill covetouſneſſe] For there is a good covetouſneſſe (which few are guilty of) 1 Cor. 12.31. Covet earneſtly the beſt guifts: And yet ſhew I unto you a more excellent way: Covet earneſtly the beſt graces, ſuch as are faith, hope and charity, theſe better then gifts. A ſhop full of barrells enrich not, unleſſe they be full of commodities. Gifts (as to heaven) are but the lumber of a Chriſtian: 'tis grace makes him rich toward God, and of that he cannot be too covetous. But the covetouſneſſe of the Caldeans here threatened and thundered againſt, was of another nature. It is called an evill covetouſneſſe, and hath its name in the Originall of piercing or wounding, as Joel 2.8. and fitly, both in reſpect of a mans ſelf 1 Tim. 6.10. and others Prov. 1.19. Am. 9.1. and here. Woe to ſuch, and deſtruction too, as Hoſ. 7.13. The Lord to ſhew his juſt indignation againſt Covetous perſons ſmiteth his fiſts at them, as Balac did at Balaam Num. 24.10. See Ezek. 22.13. Behold, I have ſmitten mine hand at thy diſhoneſt gaine which thou haſt made, and at thy blood which hath been in the middſt of thee. Now leſt people ſhould object or conceive that thoſe were but great words: and that the Lord would not do ſo as he ſaid; or that they ſhould deale well enough with Him: therefore it followeth verſe 14. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be ſtrong in the dayes that I ſhall deale with thee? I the Lord have ſpoken, and will do it,

to his houſe] i. e. his family and poſterity, which he intends to advance, but indeed undoes them, by leaving them a curſed hoard of ill-gotten goods: wherein they do them a greater diſpleaſure then Joab, and Gehezi, did in leaving their children the leproſy for a legacy. Iob ſpeaketh chap. 15.34. as though the wicked, when they ſet up their houſes by pilling and polling, by getting riches without right, did but make a ſtack of wood, and then comes a ſpark of Gods wrath, and makes an end of all. As in another place, Brimſtone, ſaith He, ſhall be ſcattered upon his habitation chap. 18.15. ſo that if the fire of Gods diſpleaſure do but light upon it,De vita Conſtant: lib. 5. &c. Thus Diocleſian that cruell perſecutour had his houſe wholy conſumed with lightening, and a flame of fire that fell from heaven upon it, as Euſebius tells us. Add hereunto, that many times there comes a ſon that is as good with a fork, as his father was with a rake: as great a ſpend-all, as his father was a get-all.

that he may ſet his neſt on high] and there feather it at his pleaſure (ſee Obad 4.) and ſecure his children, like as the Eagle builds on high, to ſave her yong from the ſerpent that ſeekes to deſtroy them.

that he may be delivered from the power of evill] which he hat cauſe to feare from others, to whom he hath been ſo injurious and oppreſſive. But how will he be hid or freed from the terrours of his own guilty conſcience: well he may build cities with Cain, and ſet up high towers with Phocas, but what ſaid the oracle to him? Though thou ſet up thy ſtrong-holds as high as heaven, yet ſin at the foundation thereof, will ſoon overturn all, and lay it levell with the ground.