Proverbs Chapter 5
Proverbs
Chapter 5
1. Ponder this chapter, you who do not know the poison and corruption of the lusts of the body. Perhaps painful experience had given the wise man wisdom and insight. So pay attention to it with fear and trembling.
2. Man's own strength, even the restraint of education or self-discipline, is powerless in this matter. Engrafted wisdom is the only effective safeguard. This heavenly influence teaches us to both maintain discretion so our souls are protected and to preserve knowledge so our fellow sinners can be warned (2:10-11,16; 6:20,24; 7:1-5; Psalm 17:4; 119:9, 11).
3. The temptation seems to be so plausible that it arrests our attention. The deluded victim only tastes, or expects to taste, the honey; he only hears words that are smoother than oil.
4. But the beginning is never as sweet as the end ... is bitter.
5. Her path leads straight to the grave. Every step is a step nearer hell.
6. One feature of the tempter's wiliness is most remarkable. She winds herself in a thousand crooked . . . paths, so that everyone's different moods and circumstances can be met. She works on every weakness; she seizes every unguarded moment. She has one overriding intention in mind. Not only does she give no thought to the way of life, she is determined that nobody else should either. She knows that the checks of conscience must be diverted. No time must be allowed for reflection. The intrusion of one serious thought might break the spell and open the way of escape.
7. Can we wonder, then, at this display of parental earnestness, this desperate desire to force back my sons from playing on the edge of a precipice? Now then, my sons, listen to me. We are not calling for austere restraint on youthful pleasures. But the tempter's touch, her word, even her look, must be avoided.
8. Keep to a path far from her. Do not just not go and visit her, but, as she is so highly contagious, do not go near the door of her house. To thrust ourselves into temptation is to place ourselves outside God's protection. The snare as it approaches becomes more enticing. The voice of wisdom, therefore, is: Flee youthful desires.
9-14. This is a picture of sin. It is pleasurable for a time, but its wages are eternal death (Hebrews 11:25; Romans 6:23). Every sin of unbelievers that is not repented of on this earth will bring its perpetual torment in eternity. Sinner, the path of life is open to you. Ponder it carefully, prayerfully. May the light of the Word and the teaching of the Spirit guide you to it.
15. Desire for forbidden pleasures spring out of a dissatisfaction with present possessions. Where contentment is not found at home, it will be looked for elsewhere.
Drink water from your own cistern. The beauty of this figure is illustrated from the fact that the houses of the East each had their own cistern.
Love within marriage is one of the greatest earthly gifts that God, in his mercy, has granted to his fallen and rebellious creatures. So enjoy with thankfulness your own, and do not desire water from your neighbor's well.
18. Rejoice in the wife of your youth (Deuteronomy 24:5; Ecclesiastes 9:9). Think of her as a special gift from your Father's hand.
19. Cherish her with gentleness and purity (Genesis 24:67).
A loving doe, a graceful deer. The doe and deer were objects of special delight (see Song of Songs 2:17; 3:5) and endearment—a picture of lively delight in the wife. As Bishop Davenant beautifully observes, "Abroad the man may consider himself as tossing in the waves, but at home with his wife, as in a desired haven." Whatever interrupts the harmony of this delicate relationship opens the door to imminent temptation. Tender affection is the best defense against the desires of illicit passion. Yes, it is consecrated by the Word of God itself and is a picture of the love the Lord has for the church (Ephesians 5:25, 29).
20. With such a view as we have had of the deadly enticement of sin on the one hand (verses 9-11) and the calm happiness provided on the other by God's ordinance (verses 15-19), only the infatuated would leave the wholesome spring for the polluted waters of the forbidden stream. Unless he was stupefied, would he slight the honorable state of marriage (Hebrews 13:4) to embrace the bosom of another man's wife?
21. Would not the thought that a man's ways are in full view of the Lord stop him in his tracks? No, it doesn't. Practical atheism is the root of human depravity (Psalm 14:1-3). The eye of another person, even of a child, is a check on a sinner; yet the thought of the all-seeing God, even if it enters his mind, does not alarm, convict, or restrain him. Oh, if men would but read, would but believe their Bibles, this solemn truth that God examines all their paths would flash on their consciences.
22. If no attention is paid to reason or to the all-seeing heavenly eye, the sinner may be restrained by thinking about the trouble he will land himself in. God needs no chains or prison to bring the sinner under his hand. Wherever such a man goes, his evil deeds go with him, and the cords of his sin hold him fast, ready for judgment. Does he think he can give them up when he pleases? Repetition forms a habit; a habit becomes a ruling principle. "Every lust deals with him, as Delilah with Samson. It not only robs him of his strength, but leaves him bound" (Archbishop Tillotson). "Thus I," says Augustine about the dreadfulness of sin, "delighted with the sickness of the flesh, and with the deadly sweetness of it, drew my shackles along with me, much afraid to have them knocked off. And as if my wound had been too hard rubbed by it, I put back my friends' good persuasions, as if it were the hand of one that would unchain me."
23. Closing his eyes against the light, he will die for lack of discipline. The greatness of his own great folly will lead him astray—to perdition (2 Peter 2:14-15).
But is there no remedy for this deadly curse? Thanks be to God that he provides cleansing for the impure and deliverance for the captive. The blessed Savior cleanses the leper in his precious spring. He sets prisoners free.