Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 28:14

"Happy is the man that feareth alway; But he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief." — Proverbs 28:14 (ASV)

The “fear” here is not so much reverential awe, as anxious, or “nervous” sensitivity of conscience. To most people this temperament seems that of the self-tormentor. To the one who looks deeper it is a condition of blessedness, and the callousness which is opposed to it ends in misery.