SemperFiDawg
Political Forum Arbiter of Truth (And Lies Too)
7 My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.
6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.
8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight, as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.
10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
11 (She is unruly and defiant,
her feet never stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.)
13 She took hold of him and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:
14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[a] stepping into a noose[b]
23 till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.
24 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to what I say.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray into her paths.
26 Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death.
God has really grabbed me by the ear on this one and used it to help focus my walk with him. It's like I can't read it enough, comprehend it enough. Every time I read it I hear something new and useful.
The proverb starts with the instructions to "store up", "keep" and "guard" God's commands and teachings. To "bind them on my fingers" is to APPLY them to everything I touch. To "write them on the tablet of my heart" is to cherish them and pursue them in my every motive. "They will keep me from the adulterous woman" is simply an assurance that if I do this, they will keep me safe. In fact they are my only defense. The proverb makes this very clear.
But who is this woman? That's the pertinent question if I am to APPLY this. Reading it does nothing if I can't understand it and use it. It IS an instruction to me after all, and instructions inherently imply action on my part. The whole proverb strikes me as a parable, and I believe it is.
That said, this is how I've come to understand it. The woman represents any temptation. At their very core all temptations are lies. They are lies designed to entice us to abandon God's perfect design for our life by offering deviant paths to deviant desires.
(And this is gonna get deep for a minute, but I will try my best to keep it as simple as possible and as brief as possible. The heart of the issue is deviant desires, and I don't think I can understand the fix if I don't know the root problem. A deviant desire is best recognized by who it seeks to glorify. If it seeks to glorify God, it's not deviant. If it doesn't, it is. It's that simple. So in short, temptations are desires that have the effect of glorifying someone other than God. 99.99% of the time that person is ourselves or better yet, me).
So in the proverb temptation( the woman) is everywhere, "her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks". She appeals to this young, simpleton. He's referred to as simple, because the desire to glorify God is not his primary desire. As a result he is utterly defenseless because of it.
All the other enticements:
She took hold of him and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:
14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
are just details. The young, simpleton was a dead man walking from the start because of his cavalier attitude toward God, and just like me and anyone else, was only awaiting the temptation that would lead to his death. Apart from God self-destruction is not just assured, but guaranteed. It's only a matter of time/temptation. The proverb paints our portrait, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.
There will be some who will be tempted to see this as a commentary on OSAS. It's not. Not at all. Any person saved or not, who fails to or ceases to place God's glory first and foremost in their life are subject to this ending. That is beyond debate. It's something I try my best to be mindful of all day, every day.
and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.
6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.
8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight, as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.
10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
11 (She is unruly and defiant,
her feet never stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.)
13 She took hold of him and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:
14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[a] stepping into a noose[b]
23 till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.
24 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to what I say.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray into her paths.
26 Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death.
God has really grabbed me by the ear on this one and used it to help focus my walk with him. It's like I can't read it enough, comprehend it enough. Every time I read it I hear something new and useful.
The proverb starts with the instructions to "store up", "keep" and "guard" God's commands and teachings. To "bind them on my fingers" is to APPLY them to everything I touch. To "write them on the tablet of my heart" is to cherish them and pursue them in my every motive. "They will keep me from the adulterous woman" is simply an assurance that if I do this, they will keep me safe. In fact they are my only defense. The proverb makes this very clear.
But who is this woman? That's the pertinent question if I am to APPLY this. Reading it does nothing if I can't understand it and use it. It IS an instruction to me after all, and instructions inherently imply action on my part. The whole proverb strikes me as a parable, and I believe it is.
That said, this is how I've come to understand it. The woman represents any temptation. At their very core all temptations are lies. They are lies designed to entice us to abandon God's perfect design for our life by offering deviant paths to deviant desires.
(And this is gonna get deep for a minute, but I will try my best to keep it as simple as possible and as brief as possible. The heart of the issue is deviant desires, and I don't think I can understand the fix if I don't know the root problem. A deviant desire is best recognized by who it seeks to glorify. If it seeks to glorify God, it's not deviant. If it doesn't, it is. It's that simple. So in short, temptations are desires that have the effect of glorifying someone other than God. 99.99% of the time that person is ourselves or better yet, me).
So in the proverb temptation( the woman) is everywhere, "her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks". She appeals to this young, simpleton. He's referred to as simple, because the desire to glorify God is not his primary desire. As a result he is utterly defenseless because of it.
All the other enticements:
She took hold of him and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:
14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
are just details. The young, simpleton was a dead man walking from the start because of his cavalier attitude toward God, and just like me and anyone else, was only awaiting the temptation that would lead to his death. Apart from God self-destruction is not just assured, but guaranteed. It's only a matter of time/temptation. The proverb paints our portrait, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.
There will be some who will be tempted to see this as a commentary on OSAS. It's not. Not at all. Any person saved or not, who fails to or ceases to place God's glory first and foremost in their life are subject to this ending. That is beyond debate. It's something I try my best to be mindful of all day, every day.
