The Ruin of Adultery
Solomon advises that his son should not even meet the married woman. Solomon’s son must be very careful. He should not enter her house. He should not even walk near her door.
If the son walks near her door, then he might enter. If he enters, he might listen to her. Her speech is attractive (verse 3). She will tempt him. If he listens to her, he might want to have sex with her.
Solomon’s father, David, had a similar experience (2 Samuel 11-12). From a distance, he saw a beautiful woman. She was having a bath, naked.
David did not look away. If he had looked away, he would have avoided many troubles, avoided the ruin of adultery.
Instead, David watched the woman. He sent a servant to call her. She was a married woman, but she came to David. David talked with her. They had sex. They even had a baby together.
David tried to hide his actions. He even caused the woman’s husband to die in battle. Then David married the woman.
God knew what David had done. David’s older sons fought David, because of his evil deed. The baby, who was David’s youngest son, died.
God did not kill David for his evil deed. This was because David turned to God. David asked God to forgive him. His prayer is in Psalm 51.
Later, David and the same woman had another son. This second son was Solomon, who wrote the Book of Proverbs.
Verses 9-10
A young man should not waste his strength with another man’s wife. He should use his strength wisely. When he marries, perhaps he will have his own family.
We must all be careful with our strength. We should use our strength for good things, not for evil things. Our energy is precious. Our time is valuable.
Verses 11-12
These verses teach us the result, if we live for our desires. In the end our wrong desires will ruin us. They will bring us to the ruin of adultery.
Solomon warns his son. He explains what will happen to a foolish son. The son will become an old man one day. Then the son will ask himself what his life achieved. He will see that he achieved nothing. He ruined his life, because he did not serve God. Instead, the foolish son served his emotions and desires. He wasted his energy on cruel people (verse 9). His strength brought wealth to another man’s home (verse 10).
We should think about our lives. Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 7:24-27. A wise man built a house on rock. When the storms came, the house was strong. A fool built his house on sand. When the storms came, the house fell down.
We should be like the wise man in Jesus’ story. We should build our lives on a strong base. That base should be God. When problems come, God will protect us. And he will help us.
If we build a house on something weak, the house will fall down (Matthew 7:26-27). In the same way, our lives need a strong base. Our emotions are not a strong base for our lives. If we trust our emotions, we shall become very weak.
Let us build our lives in God’s way.
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