Charles Spurgeon Commentary Genesis 32:20

"and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me." — Genesis 32:20 (ASV)

And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.

For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.

Depend upon it, our sins will come home to us sooner or later.

Jacob must have bitterly regretted, that night, that he had ever wronged Esau. There was a long interval between Jacob going away, and he coming back again, but his sin came home to him; and if you are a child of God and you do wrong, it is more certain to come home to you, in this life, than if you were one of the ungodly.

As for them, they are often left to be punished in another world; but if you are a child of God, you will be chastened here for your iniquity. Remember how earnestly David prayed about the sins of his youth, and his later transgressions too; and Jacob, in deep humility, must have most vividly remembered his sin against his brother.