Author: SFJ Bible

Proverbs 5

Warning Against Adultery

5:1   My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    incline your ear to my understanding,
2   that you may keep discretion,
    and your lips may guard knowledge.
3   For the lips of a forbidden¹ woman drip honey,
    and her speech² is smoother than oil,
4   but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
    sharp as a two-edged sword.
5   Her feet go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to³ Sheol;
6   she does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.


7   And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8   Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
9   lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
10   lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11   and at the end of your life you groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
12   and you say, “How I hated discipline,
    and my heart despised reproof!
13   I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
14   I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”


15   Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
16   Should your springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
17   Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
18   Let your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19     a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
  Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated⁴ always in her love.
20   Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?⁵
21   For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
    and he ponders⁶ all his paths.
22   The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23   He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is led astray.

Footnotes

[1] 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20

[2] 5:3 Hebrew palate

[3] 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of

[4] 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20

[5] 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman

[6] 5:21 Or makes level

(ESV)

Proverbs 4 12.14.24

In Proverbs 4, we are given more insight into the counsel of a father for his son. We are given more encouragement to take hold of good, godly counsel and to let its many blessings lead you in life. 

Solomon mentions many of the blessings that holding fast to good, godly counsel will give us in this life. 

For example:

Proverbs 4:6 says that this kind of wisdom “… will keep you …” and “… she will guard you.”

Proverbs 4:8-9 says that this kind of wisdom “… will exalt you …” and “… honor you if you embrace her.” And “… she will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

Proverbs 4:10 says that this kind of wisdom will make “… the years of your life … many.”

Proverbs 4:12 says that this kind of wisdom will cause your step to “… not be hampered …” and “… you will not stumble.”

So, there are practical benefits to hearing, keeping, and walking in good, godly counsel. We will be guarded, rewarded, it will prolong our days, and it will cause us to walk without stumbling. 

This is so practical and true, but somehow, we are guilty of missing its application in our lives. Many of us are quick to say, “Amen!” and “Yes, I find that to be true,” but then we are guilty of not applying it to our daily lives. Instead, we set the godly truths we have learned aside, and we end up in jeopardy. Or, instead of being rewarded, we are penalized. Instead of our days being plentiful, they are cut short, and we end up stumbling because we look to sinful desires within ourselves, or we heed the counsel of the wicked, or we step into the temptations of the worldly. 

The good news is that Proverbs is going to keep driving this point home again and again. Are you seeking and valuing wisdom? Are you heeding it and applying it? You will falter and sin and stumble if you do not. 

James said this so well in his letter, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22)

Sunday church is not enough. You are not done with your eating of the truths of God when church is over. No, your diet of God’s truths should just be beginning. Your pastor’s teaching of the word should be a catalyst for your walking in, meditating on, and living out the word of God all week long. But all too often what we end up doing is hearing it on Sunday and then never doing it throughout the week. 

It is the same thing with our daily Bible reading. Is it just a moment in your day? Do you read it and then are you done and move on to other things? Or does it wreck you, propel you, slow you down, cause you to truly be changed and motivated to live out the truths you have learned and the wisdom God has given you?

In the second part of Proverbs 4, we are admonished to avoid the path of the wicked. Warnings to avoid what is sinful and evil in the sight of the Lord are a great gift from God. 

Do you regularly invite mature, godly brothers and sisters to speak into your life—to love you enough to bring warning and to walk with you in life so they can have eyes on you to help you see what you are not seeing? 

I have found this to be a great gift in our lives in the body of Christ. We are all susceptible to sin and, therefore, blessed to be warned to avoid sin and evil that we just don’t see ourselves. 

Proverbs 4:14-15 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.

The writer goes on to highlight the way of the wicked and how he practices lawlessness and stumbles in the darkness. But the way of the Lord is life in the light, which is a blessing and a great provision of good. 

Finally, in verse 24, he brings his counsel to a close in this chapter by specifically calling for his listeners to put away the specific practice of crooked speech and devious talk—to keep your eyes looking ahead at the prize and not at the wicked things of this world and to be mindful of the steps of your feet so that you do not swerve and turn into evil.

Brothers and sisters, this is important counsel that we need to be reminded of often, as we read through Proverbs this year. Sin is tempting. Acting like the world is always before us to gain laughter or acceptance by those with whom we do life. 

We must heed this counsel to avoid acting like, or walking with, the world. We must not set down our testimony of Christ and become loose with our daily and moment-by-moment practices. 

So, take inventory this morning so you are not just a hearer but a doer. 

Are you constantly valuing the counsel of the word of God and of mature believers in your life—inviting them in and feasting on God’s word daily? 

What are you looking at lately—other people or media on the computer or phone? 

What are you saying with your mouth—coarse jokes, teasing others, cutting remarks, and/or language that doesn’t exalt God?

What are your habits, practices, or the things you do daily—the places you go and the things you do? Are they of the world, or do they make much of the name of Jesus? 

As you contemplate these questions this morning, don’t consider making changes alone. Go to God in prayer and share with a trusted brother or sister so they can walk with you and hold you accountable. May the Lord be glorified, and may our lives be better for the practical application of these things. 

By His grace and for His glory

Joshua “Shepherd” Kirstine

Soldiers For Jesus MC

Chaplain Council

SFJbible.com

Proverbs 4:20-27

20   My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
21   Let them not escape from your sight;
    keep them within your heart.
22   For they are life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their¹ flesh.
23   Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.
24   Put away from you crooked speech,
    and put devious talk far from you.
25   Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.
26   Ponder² the path of your feet;
    then all your ways will be sure.
27   Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
    turn your foot away from evil.

Footnotes

[1] 4:22 Hebrew his

[2] 4:26 Or Make level

(ESV)

Proverbs 4:14-19

14   Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15   Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
16   For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17   For they eat the bread of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence.
18   But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
    which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19   The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
    they do not know over what they stumble.

(ESV)

Proverbs 4:10-13

10   Hear, my son, and accept my words,
    that the years of your life may be many.
11   I have taught you the way of wisdom;
    I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12   When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
    and if you run, you will not stumble.
13   Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
    guard her, for she is your life.

(ESV)