mh_parser/vol_split/20 - Proverbs/Chapter 7.xml

<div2 id="Prov.viii" n="viii" next="Prov.ix" prev="Prov.vii" progress="75.58%" title="Chapter VII">
<h2 id="Prov.viii-p0.1">P R O V E R B S</h2>
<h3 id="Prov.viii-p0.2">CHAP. VII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Prov.viii-p1">The scope of this chapter is, as of several
before, to warn young men against the lusts of the flesh. Solomon
remembered of what ill consequence it was to his father, perhaps
found himself, and perceived his son, addicted to it, or at least
had observed how many hopeful young men among his subjects had been
ruined by those lusts; and therefore he thought he could never say
enough to dissuade men from them, that "every one may possess his
vessel in sanctification and honour, and not in the lusts of
uncleanness." In this chapter we have, I. A general exhortation to
get our minds principled and governed by the world of God, as a
sovereign antidote against this sin, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.1-Prov.7.5" parsed="|Prov|7|1|7|5" passage="Pr 7:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>. II. A particular representation of
the great danger which unwary young men are in of being inveigled
into this snare, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.6-Prov.7.23" parsed="|Prov|7|6|7|23" passage="Pr 7:6-23">ver.
6-23</scripRef>. III. A serious caution inferred thence, in the
close, to take heed of all approaches towards this sin, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.24-Prov.7.27" parsed="|Prov|7|24|7|27" passage="Pr 7:24-27">ver. 24-27</scripRef>. We should all pray,
"Lord, lead us not into this temptation."</p>
<scripCom id="Prov.viii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7" parsed="|Prov|7|0|0|0" passage="Pr 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Prov.viii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.1-Prov.7.5" parsed="|Prov|7|1|7|5" passage="Pr 7:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.7.1-Prov.7.5">
<h4 id="Prov.viii-p1.6">The Word of God Recommended.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.viii-p2">1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my
commandments with thee.   2 Keep my commandments, and live;
and my law as the apple of thine eye.   3 Bind them upon thy
fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.   4 Say
unto wisdom, Thou <i>art</i> my sister; and call understanding
<i>thy</i> kinswoman:   5 That they may keep thee from the
strange woman, from the stranger <i>which</i> flattereth with her
words.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p3">These verses are an introduction to his
warning against fleshly lusts, much the same with that, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.20" parsed="|Prov|6|20|0|0" passage="Pr 6:20"><i>ch.</i> vi. 20</scripRef>, &amp;c., and ending
(<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.7.5" parsed="|Ps|7|5|0|0" passage="Ps 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) as that did
(<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.7.24" parsed="|Ps|7|24|0|0" passage="Ps 7:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>), <i>To keep
thee from the strange woman;</i> that is it he aims at; only there
he had said, <i>Keep thy father's commandment,</i> here (which
comes all to one), <i>Keep my commandments,</i> for he speaks to us
as unto sons. He speaks in God's name; for it is God's
<i>commandments</i> that we are to <i>keep,</i> his <i>words,</i>
his <i>law.</i> The word of God must be to us, 1. As that which we
are most careful of. We must keep it as our treasure; we must
<i>lay up God's</i> commandments with us, lay them up safely, that
we may not be robbed of them by the wicked one, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.7.1" parsed="|Ps|7|1|0|0" passage="Ps 7:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. We must keep it as our life:
<i>Keep my commandments and live</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.7.2" parsed="|Ps|7|2|0|0" passage="Ps 7:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), not only, "Keep them, and you
shall live;" but, "Keep them as you would your life, as those that
cannot live without them." It would be death to a good man to be
deprived of the word of God, for by it he lives, and not <i>by
bread alone.</i> 2. As that which we are most tender of: Keep <i>my
law as the apple of thy eye.</i> A little thing offends the eye,
and therefore nature has so well guarded it. We pray, with David,
that God would keep us as the apple of his eye (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.8" parsed="|Ps|17|8|0|0" passage="Ps 17:8">Ps. xvii. 8</scripRef>), that our lives and comforts may
be precious in his sight; and they shall be so (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Zech.2.8" parsed="|Zech|2|8|0|0" passage="Zec 2:8">Zech. ii. 8</scripRef>) if we be in like manner tender of
his law and afraid of the least violation of it. Those who reproach
strict and circumspect walking, as needless preciseness, consider
not that the law is to be kept as the apple of the eye, for indeed
it is the <i>apple of our eye;</i> the law is light; the law in the
heart is the eye of the soul. 3. As that which we are proud of and
would be ever mindful of (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.3" parsed="|Prov|7|3|0|0" passage="Prov 7:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): "<i>Bind them upon thy fingers;</i> let them be
precious to thee; look upon them as an ornament, as a diamond-ring,
as the <i>signet on thy right hand;</i> wear them continually as
thy wedding-ring, the badge of thy espousals to God. Look upon the
word of God as putting an honour upon thee, as an ensign of thy
dignity. <i>Bind them on thy fingers,</i> that they may be constant
memorandums to thee of thy duty, that thou mayest have them always
in view, as that which is <i>graven upon the palms of thy
hands.</i>" 4. As that which we are fond of and are ever thinking
of: <i>Write them upon the table of thy heart,</i> as the names of
the friends we dearly love, we say, are written in our hearts.
<i>let the word of God dwell richly in us,</i> and be written there
where it will be always at hand to be read. Where sin was written
(<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.1" parsed="|Jer|17|1|0|0" passage="Jer 17:1">Jer. xvii. 1</scripRef>) let the word
of God be written. It is the matter of a promise (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.10" osisRef="Bible:Heb.8.10" parsed="|Heb|8|10|0|0" passage="Heb 8:10">Heb. viii. 10</scripRef>, <i>I will write my law
in their hearts</i>), which makes the precept practicable and easy.
5. As that which we are intimately acquainted and conversant with
(<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.11" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.4" parsed="|Prov|7|4|0|0" passage="Prov 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>Say unto
wisdom, Thou art my sister,</i> whom I dearly love and take delight
in; <i>and call understanding thy kinswoman,</i> to whom thou art
nearly allied, and for whom thou hast a pure affection; call her
thy friend, whom thou courtest." We must make the word of God
familiar to us, consult it, and consult its honour, and take a
pleasure in conversing with it. 6. As that which we make use of for
our defence and armour, to keep us <i>from the strange woman,</i>
from sin, that flattering but destroying thing, that adulteress;
particularly from the sin of uncleanness, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p3.12" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.5" parsed="|Prov|7|5|0|0" passage="Prov 7:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Let the word of God confirm our
dread of that sin and our resolutions against it; let it discover
to us its fallacies and suggest to us answers to all its
flatteries.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.viii-p3.13" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.6-Prov.7.23" parsed="|Prov|7|6|7|23" passage="Pr 7:6-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.7.6-Prov.7.23">
<h4 id="Prov.viii-p3.14">The Foolish Young Man; Enticements of the
Adulteress.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.viii-p4">6 For at the window of my house I looked through
my casement,   7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned
among the youths, a young man void of understanding,   8
Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to
her house,   9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black
and dark night:   10 And, behold, there met him a woman
<i>with</i> the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.   11
(She <i>is</i> loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
  12 Now <i>is she</i> without, now in the streets, and lieth
in wait at every corner.)   13 So she caught him, and kissed
him, <i>and</i> with an impudent face said unto him,   14 <i>I
have</i> peace offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows.
  15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek
thy face, and I have found thee.   16 I have decked my bed
with coverings of tapestry, with carved <i>works,</i> with fine
linen of Egypt.   17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes,
and cinnamon.   18 Come, let us take our fill of love until
the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.   19 For the
goodman <i>is</i> not at home, he is gone a long journey:   20
He hath taken a bag of money with him, <i>and</i> will come home at
the day appointed.   21 With her much fair speech she caused
him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
  22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the
slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;   23
Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the
snare, and knoweth not that it <i>is</i> for his life.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p5">Solomon here, to enforce the caution he had
given against the sin of whoredom, tells a story of a young man
that was ruined to all intents and purposes by the enticements of
an adulterous woman. Such a story as this would serve the lewd
profane poets of our age to make a play of, and the harlot with
them would be a heroine; nothing would be so entertaining to the
audience, nor give them so much diversion, as her arts of beguiling
the young gentleman and drawing in the country squire; her
conquests would be celebrated as the triumphs of wit and love, and
the comedy would conclude very pleasantly; and every young man that
saw it acted would covet to be so picked up. Thus <i>fools make a
mock at sin.</i> But Solomon here relates it, and all wise and good
men read it, as a very melancholy story. The impudence of the
adulterous woman is very justly looked upon, by all that have any
sparks of virtue in them, with the highest indignation, and the
easiness of the young man with the tenderest compassion; and the
story concludes with sad reflections, enough to make all that read
and hear it afraid of the snares of fleshly lusts and careful to
keep at the utmost distance from them. It is supposed to be a
parable, or imagined case, but I doubt it was too true, and, which
is worse, that notwithstanding the warning it gives of the fatal
consequences of such wicked courses it is still too often true, and
the agents for hell are still playing the same game and with
similar success.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p6">Solomon was a magistrate, and, as such,
inspected the manners of his subjects, looked often through his
casement, that he might see with his own eyes, and made remarks
upon those who little thought his eye was upon them, that he might
know the better how to make the sword he bore a terror to
evil-doers. But here he writes as a minister, a prophet, who is by
office a watchman, to give warning of the approach of the enemies,
and especially where they lie in ambush, that we may not be
ignorant of Satan's devices, but may know where to double our
guard. This Solomon does here, where we may observe the account he
gives,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p7">I. Of the person tempted, and how he laid
himself open to the temptation, and therefore must thank himself if
it end in his destruction. 1. He was a <i>young man,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.7" parsed="|Prov|7|7|0|0" passage="Prov 7:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Fleshly lusts are called
<i>youthful lusts</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.2.22" parsed="|2Tim|2|22|0|0" passage="2Ti 2:22">2 Tim. ii.
22</scripRef>), not to extenuate them as tricks of youth, and
therefore excusable, but rather to aggravate them, as robbing God
of the first and best of our time, and, by debauching the mind when
it is tender, laying a foundation for a bad life ever after, and to
intimate that young people ought in a special manner to fortify
their resolutions against this sin. 2. He was a young man <i>void
of understanding,</i> that went abroad into the world, not
principled as he ought to have been with wisdom and the fear of
God, and so ventured to sea without ballast, without pilot, cord,
or compass; he knew not how to depart from evil, which is the best
understanding, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.28.28" parsed="|Job|28|28|0|0" passage="Job 28:28">Job xxviii.
28</scripRef>. Those become an easy prey to Satan who, when they
have arrived to the stature of men, have scarcely the understanding
of children. 3. He kept bad company. He was a <i>young man among
the youths,</i> a silly young man <i>among the simple</i> ones. If,
being conscious of his own weakness, he had associated with those
that were older and wiser than himself, there would have been hopes
of him. Christ, at twelve years old, conversed with the doctors, to
set young people an example of this. But, if those that are simple
choose such for their companions as are like themselves, simple
they will still be, and hardened in their simplicity. 4. He was
sauntering, and had nothing to do, but <i>passed through the
street</i> as one that knew not how to dispose of himself. One of
the sins of filthy Sodom was <i>abundance of idleness,</i>
<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.49" parsed="|Ezek|16|49|0|0" passage="Eze 16:49">Ezek. xvi. 49</scripRef>. He went in
a starched stately manner, so (it is said) the word signifies. He
appeared to be a nice formal fop, the top of whose accomplishments
was to dress well and walk with a good air; fit game for that bird
of prey to fly at. 5. He was a night-walker, that hated and scorned
the business that is to be done by day-light, from which the
evening calls men in to their repose; and, having fellowship with
the unfruitful works of darkness, he begins to move <i>in the
twilight in the evening,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.9" parsed="|Prov|7|9|0|0" passage="Prov 7:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. And he chooses <i>the black and dark night</i> as
fittest for his purpose, not the moonlight nights, when he might be
discovered. 6. He steered his course towards the house of one that
he thought would entertain him, and that he might be merry with; he
went <i>near her corner,</i> the <i>way to her house</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.8" parsed="|Prov|7|8|0|0" passage="Prov 7:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), contrary to Solomon's
advice (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Prov.5.8" parsed="|Prov|5|8|0|0" passage="Pr 5:8"><i>ch.</i> v. 8</scripRef>),
<i>Come not night the door of her house.</i> Perhaps he did not
know it was the way to an infamous house, but, however, it was a
way that he had no business in; and when we have nothing to do the
devil will quickly find us something to do. We must take heed, not
only of idle days, but of idle evenings, lest they prove inlets to
temptation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p8">II. Of the person tempting, not a common
prostitute, for she was a married wife (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.19" parsed="|Prov|7|19|0|0" passage="Prov 7:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), and, for aught that appears,
lived in reputation among her neighbours, not suspected of any such
wickedness, and yet, in the <i>twilight of the evening,</i> when
her husband was abroad, abominably impudent. She is here described,
1. By her dress. She had the <i>attire of a harlot</i> (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.10" parsed="|Prov|7|10|0|0" passage="Prov 7:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), gaudy and flaunting, to
set her off as a beauty; perhaps she was painted as Jezebel, and
went with her neck and breasts bare, loose, and <i>en
deshabille.</i> The purity of the heart will show itself in the
modesty of the dress, which <i>becomes women professing
godliness.</i> 2. By her craft and management. She is <i>subtle of
heart,</i> mistress of all the arts of wheedling, and knowing how
by all her caresses to serve her own base purposes. 3. By her
temper and carriage. <i>She is loud and stubborn,</i> talkative and
self-willed, noisy and troublesome, wilful and headstrong, all
tongue, and will have her saying, right or wrong, impatient of
check and control, and cannot bear to be counselled, much less
reproved, by husband or parents, ministers or friends. She is a
<i>daughter of Belial,</i> that will endure no yoke. 4. By her
place, not her own house; she hates the confinement and employment
of that; her <i>feet abide not there</i> any longer than needs
must. She is all for gadding abroad, changing place and company.
<i>Now is she without</i> in the country, under pretence of taking
the air, now <i>in the streets</i> of the city, under pretence of
seeing how the market goes. She is here, and there, and every where
but where she should be. She <i>lies in wait at every corner,</i>
to pick up such as she can make a prey of. Virtue is a penance to
those to whom home is a prison.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p9">III. Of the temptation itself and the
management of it. She met the young spark. Perhaps she knew him;
however she knew by his fashions that he was such a one as she
wished for; so she <i>caught him about</i> the neck and
<i>kissed</i> him, contrary to all the rules of modesty (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.13" parsed="|Prov|7|13|0|0" passage="Prov 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), and waited not for his
compliments or courtship, but <i>with an impudent face</i> invited
him not only to <i>her house,</i> but to <i>her bed.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p10">1. She courted him to sup with her
(<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.14-Prov.7.15" parsed="|Prov|7|14|7|15" passage="Prov 7:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>): <i>I
have peace-offerings with me.</i> Hereby she gives him to
understand, (1.) Her prosperity, that she was compassed about with
so many blessings that she had occasion to offer peace-offerings,
in token of joy and thankfulness; she was before-hand in the world,
so that he needed not fear having his pocket picked. (2.) Her
profession of piety. She had been to-day at the temple, and was as
well respected there as any that worshipped in the courts of the
Lord. She had paid her vows, and, as she thought, made all even
with God Almighty, and therefore might venture upon a new score of
sins. Note, The external performances of religion, if they do not
harden men against sin, harden them in it, and embolden carnal
hearts to venture upon it, in hopes that when they come to count
and discount with God he will be found as much in debt to them for
their peace-offerings and their vows as they to him for their sins.
But it is sad that a show of piety should become the shelter of
iniquity (which really doubles the shame of it, and makes it more
exceedingly sinful) and that men should baffle their consciences
with those very things that should startle them. The Pharisees made
long prayers, that they might the more plausibly carry on their
covetous and mischievous provisions. The greatest part of the flesh
of the peace-offerings was by the law returned back to the
offerers, to feast upon with their friends, which (if they were
peace-offerings of thanksgiving) was to be all eaten <i>the same
day</i> and <i>none of it left until the morning,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.7.15" parsed="|Lev|7|15|0|0" passage="Le 7:15">Lev. vii. 15</scripRef>. This law of charity and
generosity is abused to be a colour for gluttony and excess:
"Come," says she, "come home with me, for I have good cheer enough,
and only want good company to help me off with it." It was a pity
that the peace-offerings should thus become, in a bad sense,
sin-offerings, and that what was designed for the honour of God
should become the food and fuel of a base lust. But this is not
all. (4.) To strengthen the temptation, [1.] She pretends to have a
very great affection for him above any man: "<i>Therefore,</i>
because I have a good supper upon the table, <i>I came forth to
meet thee,</i> for no friend in the world shall be so welcome to it
as thou shalt, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.15" parsed="|Prov|7|15|0|0" passage="Prov 7:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>.
Thou art he whom I came on purpose to seek, to <i>seek
diligently,</i> came myself, and would not send a servant." Surely
he cannot deny her his company when she put such a value upon it,
and would take all this pains to obtain the favour of it. Sinners
take pains to do mischief, and are as the roaring lion himself;
they <i>go about seeking to devour,</i> and yet pretend they are
seeking to oblige. [2.] She would have it thought that Providence
itself countenanced her choice of him for her companion; for how
quickly had she found him whom she sought!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p11">2. She courted him to lie with her. They
will sit down to eat and drink, and then rise up to play, to play
the wanton, and there is a bed ready for them, where he shall find
that which will be in all respects agreeable to him. To please his
eye, it is <i>decked with coverings of tapestry</i> and <i>carved
works,</i> exquisitely fine; he never saw the like. To please his
touch, the sheets are not of home-spun cloth; they are far-fetched
and dear bought; they are of <i>fine linen of Egypt,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.16" parsed="|Prov|7|16|0|0" passage="Prov 7:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. To gratify his smell, it
is <i>perfumed</i> with the sweetest scents, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.17" parsed="|Prov|7|17|0|0" passage="Prov 7:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. Come, therefore, and <i>let us
take our fill of love,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.18" parsed="|Prov|7|18|0|0" passage="Prov 7:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>. Of <i>love,</i> does she say? Of <i>lust</i> she
means, brutish lust; but it is a pity that the name of love should
be thus abused. True love is from heaven; this is from hell. How
can those pretend to solace themselves and love one another who are
really ruining themselves and one another?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p12">3. She anticipated the objection which he
might make of the danger of it. Is she not another man's wife, and
what if her husband should catch them in adultery, in the very act?
he will make them pay dearly for their sport, and where will the
solace of their love be then? "Never fear," says she, "the <i>good
man is not at home</i>" (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.19" parsed="|Prov|7|19|0|0" passage="Prov 7:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>); she does not call him her <i>husband,</i> for she
<i>forsakes the guide of her youth</i> and <i>forgets the covenant
of her God;</i> but "the <i>good man</i> of the house, whom I am
weary of." Thus Potiphar's wife, when she spoke of her husband,
would not call him so, but <i>he,</i> <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.39.14" parsed="|Gen|39|14|0|0" passage="Ge 39:14">Gen. xxxix. 14</scripRef>. It is therefore with good
reason taken notice of, to Sarah's praise, that she spoke
respectfully of her husband, calling him <i>lord.</i> She pleases
herself with this that he is not at home, and therefore she is
melancholy if she have not some company, and therefore whatever
company she has she may be free with them, for she is from under
his eye, and he shall never know. But will he not return quickly?
No: "he has <i>gone a long journey,</i> and cannot return on a
sudden; he <i>appointed the day</i> of his return, and he never
comes home sooner than he says he will. <i>He has taken a bag of
money with him,</i> either," (1.) "To trade with, to buy goods with
and he will not return till he has laid it all out. It is a pity
that an honest industrious man should be thus abused, and advantage
taken of his absence, when it is upon business, for the good of his
family." Or, (2.) "To spend and revel with." Whether justly or not,
she insinuates that he was a bad husband; so she would represent
him, because she was resolved to be a bad wife, and must have that
for an excuse; it is often groundlessly suggested, but is never a
sufficient excuse. "He follows his pleasures, and wastes his estate
abroad" (says she), "and why should not I do the same at home?"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p13">IV. Of the success of the temptation.
Promising the young man every thing that was pleasant, and impunity
in the enjoyment, she gained her point, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.21" parsed="|Prov|7|21|0|0" passage="Prov 7:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. It should seem, the youth,
though very simple, had no ill design, else a word, a beck, a wink,
would have served, and there would have been no need of all this
harangue; but though he did not intend any such thing, nay, had
something in his conscience that opposed it, yet <i>with her much
fair speech she caused him to yield.</i> His corruptions at length
triumphed over his convictions, and his resolutions were not strong
enough to hold out against such artful attacks as these, but
<i>with the flattery of her lips she forced him;</i> he could not
stop his ear against such a charmer, but surrendered himself her
captive. Wisdom's maidens, who plead her cause, and have reason on
their side, and true and divine pleasures to invite men to, have a
deaf ear turned to them, and with all their rhetoric cannot compel
men to come in, but such is the dominion of sin in the hearts of
men that its allurements soon prevail by falsehood and flattery.
With what pity does Solomon here look upon this foolish young man,
when he sees him follow the adulterous woman! (1.) He gives him up
for gone; alas! he is undone. he goes to the slaughter (for houses
of uncleanness are slaughter-houses to precious souls); a dart will
presently <i>strike through his liver;</i> going without his
breast-plate, he will receive his death's wound, <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.23" parsed="|Prov|7|23|0|0" passage="Prov 7:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. It is his life, his precious
life, that is thus irrecoverably thrown away, he is perfectly lost
to all good; his conscience is debauched; a door is opened to all
other vices, and this will certainly end in his endless damnation.
(2.) That which makes his case the more piteous is that he is not
himself aware of his misery and danger; he goes blindfold, nay, he
goes laughing to his ruin. The ox thinks he is led to the pasture
when he is led to the slaughter; <i>the fool</i> (that is, the
drunkard, for, of all sinners, drunkards are the greatest fools) is
led <i>to the correction of the stocks,</i> and is not sensible of
the shame of it, but goes to it as if he were going to a play. The
<i>bird</i> that <i>hastes to the snare</i> looks only at the bait,
and promises herself a good bit from that, and considers not that
<i>it is for her life.</i> Thus this unthinking unwary young man
dreams of nothing but the pleasures he shall have in the embraces
of the harlot, while really he is running headlong upon his ruin.
Though Solomon does not here tell us that he put the law in
execution against this base harlot, yet we have no reason to think
but that he did, he was himself so affected with the mischief she
did and had such an indignation at it.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Prov.viii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.24-Prov.7.27" parsed="|Prov|7|24|7|27" passage="Pr 7:24-27" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Prov.7.24-Prov.7.27">
<h4 id="Prov.viii-p13.4">The Seduction of a Youth.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Prov.viii-p14">24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children,
and attend to the words of my mouth.   25 Let not thine heart
decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.   26 For she
hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong <i>men</i> have been
slain by her.   27 Her house <i>is</i> the way to hell, going
down to the chambers of death.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Prov.viii-p15">We have here the application of the
foregoing story: "<i>Hearken to me therefore,</i> and not to such
seducers (<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.24" parsed="|Prov|7|24|0|0" passage="Prov 7:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>);
give ear to a father, and not to an enemy." 1. "Take good counsel
when it is given you. <i>Let not thy heart decline to her ways</i>
(<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.25" parsed="|Prov|7|25|0|0" passage="Prov 7:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>); never leave
the paths of virtue, though strait and narrow, solitary and
up-hill, for the way of the adulteress, though green, and broad,
and crowded with company. Do not only keep thy feet from those
ways, but let not so much as thy heart incline to them; never
harbour a disposition this way, nor think otherwise than with
abhorrence of such wicked practices as these. Let reason, and
conscience, and the fear of God ruling in the heart, check the
inclinations of the sensual appetite. If thou goest in her paths,
in any of the paths that lead to this sin, thou goest astray, thou
art out of the right way, the safe way; therefore take heed, <i>go
not astray,</i> lest thou wander endlessly." 2. "Take fair warning
when it is given you." (1.) "Look back, and see what mischief this
sin has done. The adulteress has been the ruin not of here and
there one, but she has <i>cast down many wounded.</i>" Thousands
have been undone, now and for ever, by this sin; and those not only
the weak and simple youths, such as he was of whom he had now
spoken, but <i>many strong men have been slain by her,</i>
<scripRef id="Prov.viii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.26" parsed="|Prov|7|26|0|0" passage="Prov 7:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. Herein,
perhaps, he has an eye especially to Samson, who was slain by this
sin, and perhaps to David too, who by this sin entailed a sword
upon his house, though so far the Lord took it away that he himself
should not die. These were men not only of great bodily strength,
but of eminent wisdom and courage, and yet their fleshly lusts
prevailed over them. <i>Howl, fir-trees, if the cedars be shaken.
Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.</i> (2.)
"Look forward with an eye of faith, and see what will be in the end
of it," <scripRef id="Prov.viii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.27" parsed="|Prov|7|27|0|0" passage="Prov 7:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. Her
house, though richly decked and furnished, and called a <i>house of
pleasure,</i> is the <i>way to hell;</i> and her chambers are the
stair-case that goes down to the <i>chambers of death</i> and
everlasting darkness. The cup of fornication must shortly be
exchanged for the cup of trembling; and the flames of lust, if not
quenched by repentance and mortification, will burn to the lowest
hell. Therefore <i>stand in awe and sin not.</i></p>
</div></div2>