“Whoever scorns instruction” is a guy or gal who despises guidance. It doesn’t say why they’re hostile, just that their attitude is going to cost them – they “will pay for it.”
When we’re unwilling to listen to direction, we’re left to our own best thinking. And we all know how far that will get us!
An unwillingness to pay attention to what others say means we’re not going to be able to hear God talking to us through them. And if we don’t think He can speak to us through others I bet we won’t be very good at hearing directly from Him, either.
The others in this verse – “whoever respects a command” – are those who hold direction in high esteem. They accept that they’re not the smartest person in the room and that God can give them guidance through others.
Such people will be “rewarded” for their thinking. This is something positive for their lives, the term suggesting they’ll be fulfilled… completed…whole.
Our unwillingness to listen to others says much more about us than it does about them or what they have to say. So we better listen up!