Thoughts From Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5:8-14

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”

 Throughout history there have been men and women who are known by their commitment to sexual gratification.

The Bible gives readers the ideal contrast in the conduct of Joseph and David.  Joseph escaped with his virtue and honor. David surrendered both to his lust. Be sure the scriptures are plain in God honoring Joseph and disapproving of David’s adulterous conduct.

A look at verses 12-14 is instructive in the self-realization of the sorry state sexual indulgence causes.

A.      Vs 12 - the guilty is active in self-incrimination. He had failed in the basics. cf 12:1

B.     Vs 13 - It is too late so all he can do is regret his failures. It is too little, too late. "I did not listen” when I could have, when I should have.

C.     Vs 14 - Reproach at this point is no consolation. Ruin faces him. But his counsel is good. "Stay at home"

Do not complicate this. The virtuous man and woman are always honored. The tale of long lives of virtue always find favor.