Receive your due

Proverbs
I can see how the wicked only receive their due on earth, as is stated in Proverbs 11:31, but it's a little more difficult to understand the first part of the verse - that the righteous also receive their due on earth.

"If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!"

I always tend to think of the righteous having to wait for the afterlife to receive their reward - store up treasures in heaven, and all that.  There are other verses that suggest that righteous people are rewarded on earth, but that seems a little hit and miss.  Lots of godly people live really great lives, but there are a lot of godly people who have a lot of hardship!  What do they think about receiving their due on earth?