Proverbs 7

King Henry's emblem, a crown hung in a bush of thorns. There is a far greater proportion of bitterness than pleasure in this life (Proverbs 7:17). I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

As that Cardinal said, let him but keep his cardinalship of Paris, and he was content to lose his part in Paradise. Lust first bewitches with pleasure, and then comes the fatal dart (Proverbs 7:23): "Till a dart strike through his liver." This should be as a flaming sword to sto…

Such a one was Messalina, wife to Claudius the Emperor. (Proverbs 7:7, 10) I discerned a young man, and there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, so she caught him and kissed him. Better are the reproofs of a friend, than the kisses of a harlot.

The adulterer hastens his own death. (Proverbs 7:23) Till a dart strike through his liver. The Romans had their funerals at the gate of Venus' temple, to signify that lust brings death.

To be unchaste is a sin, but to put on a mask of religion to play the whore makes the sin the greater. Proverbs 7:14: I have peace-offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows, come let us take our fill of love. She speaks as if she had been at church, and had been saying her…

Sinners hackney themselves out in the Devil's service: What pains do some men take to satisfy their unclean lusts! They waste their estates, wear the shameful marks of their sin about them; they will visit the harlot's house though it stands the next door to Hell (Proverbs 7:27)…

As for the pleasure of sin: first, it is but seeming, it is but a pleasant fancy, a golden dream. Second, and besides, it is a mixed pleasure, it has bitterness intermingled (Proverbs 7:17). I have (says the harlot) perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

Birds fly abroad, but so as they may come to their nests at night: So men should endeavor, as much as may be, to take few occasions of being from their dwellings: and when they needs must, to let it be for as short a time as may be. For, as it is a sign of a light woman, Proverb…

Those who would be wise, must familiarize wisdom to their minds, by a continual free converse with it. They must say to Wisdom, You are my sister, and call Understanding, your kinswoman (Proverbs 7:4). So will wisdom have power in and over their minds.

No, the very sight of it in a woman, is found to overwhelm men more than strong drink (Mark 6:22). And necessarily draws with it, that which Solomon gives to unchaste women: That her feet dwell not in the house (Proverbs 7:11).

1 Timothy 5. They will go from house, &c. Proverbs 7:11. Her feet dwell not in the house. The duties of married folk in the family, are of two sorts, First, mutual.

2. Temptation is an act of moving, or stirring the powers of the man: as when wine is stirred, and wine and dregs are jumbled through other; or a Fountain troubled, and water and clay mixed in one; hence every tempted person is some way a sufferer, though he know not particularl…

So (Matthew 9:21) the diseased woman has heart-Logic within herself, if a touch of the border of his garment may heal me, then I'll go to Christ; and the unjust Steward cast Syllogisms, thus; I cannot work, and a lodging in heaven I must have, and there is but one way to come by…

5. What greater reason than to hear this (Song of Solomon 5:2): Open to me, my sister, my dove, my love, my undefiled. And wisdom's voice is sweet (Proverbs 7:14): Hearken to me therefore, O you children, and attend to the words of my mouth. (Isaiah 49:1): Listen, O Isles, to me.

Now these are the devil's agents, and the more dangerous, because they use Christ's name against his offices, and the form of his religion to destroy the power thereof; as the Dragon in the Revelations pushed with the horns of the Lamb. Others are not venomously and malignantly…

1. Because he cannot overcome you without your own consent. The wicked are taken captive by him at his will and pleasure (2 Timothy 2:26), because they yield themselves to his temptations, like the young man (Proverbs 7:22): He goes after her straightway, as an ox goes to the sl…

And herein (2.) it is unstable. For that which is vain is various, inconstant, unfixed, light, as a natural Mind is; so that it is like Hell it self for Confusion and Disorder; or the Whorish Woman described by Solomon, Prov. 7. 11, 12. And this has befallen it by the loss of th…

[⟨in non-Latin alphabet⟩] is to hide, or to be hid, kept secret, close, undiscovered. From where a virgin is called [⟨in non-Latin alphabet⟩], one not yet come into the public state of matrimony; as by the Greeks on the same account [⟨in non-Latin alphabet⟩], one shut up, or a r…

I will early destroy the wicked of the land, the word is, I will destroy the wicked of the land in the morning, and the meaning is only this, I will with all diligence and all care root out of the land all wicked persons. So there is an expression (Proverbs 7:15) which illustrat…

Their salvation depends on it. It is the note of a harlot; she is seldom at home (Proverbs 7:11-12). Her feet abide not in her house; now is she without, now in the streets.

Inasmuch as they have a price in their hands, and have not a heart to make use of it; and from where is that, but because they are fools; according to Proverbs 17:16: Therefore is there a price in the hands of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he has no heart to it? They have life an…

But as the conscience is sinfully wakened by itself in blaspheming the God of Heaven (Revelation 16:9, 11), because of pain, it also frets against providence, but is not pained for the want of saving grace and holy influences which might have prevented sin. Yes, their blasphemin…

He who shows mercy on whom he will, and hardens whom he will, and that by a strong mighty will which no man can resist, he can find fault with no man, though he sin and harden his own heart; for his absolute sovereign will is far above me and my strength; but so does the Lord, s…

5. As to the pretence of your occasions and business, there is a ready way to disappoint the craft of Satan in that pretence, namely, to mix thoughts of Christ, and the renovation of your resolutions, either to come or to cleave to him with all your occasions. Let nothing put it…

And Prov. 23. 31, 32. it is said of the wine that moveth its self, sparkling in the cup, at the last, it biteh like a Serpent, and stingeth like an Adder. The yong man that follows the enticings of the Whore, Prov. 7. 22, 23. He goes as an Ox to slaughter, and as a fool to the s…

This may be but a fabulous Story: But I am sure it is true of the Harlot, whose Syren-Songs have allured thousands to their inevitable destruction. It's a captivating sin, that leads away the sinner in triumph; they cannot deliver their souls: Proverbs 7:22. He goes after her st…

Ahab doubtless promised himself much content in the Vineyard of Naboth, but his blood paid for it in the portion of Iezreel. The Harlots Bed was perfumed to entice the simple young man, Proverbs 7:17. But those Chambers of Delight proved the Chambers of Death, and her House the…

If their wives live at home they will be abroad, mealing and lodging where their wives shall not know: their own house is as a prison to them: they are not well, but when they are out of it. Of the like lewd conceit and practice are many wives, who on no other occasion than mere…

The prophet tells us, that lust will do thus wholly, when it comes to the height (Hosea 4:11): Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart — the heart, that is, the understanding, as it is often used in the scripture. Solomon tells you of him who was enticed by the lewd w…

The former are, as the arrows that fly by day, but this, as the pestilence that walks in darkness, as these two are mentioned together in the Psalm, it spreads and infects secretly and insensibly, is not felt but in the effects of it; and it works either by calumnies altogether…

The second reason is, therefore should we hide the Word in our hearts, because God does so in the work of conversion (Hebrews 8:10): I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. The mind is compared to tables of stone, and the heart to the Ark; and so this…

My son keep your father's commandments, bind them continually upon your heart, and tie them about your neck. Sometimes it alludes to the apple of the eye (Proverbs 7:1-2). Keep them as the apple of your eye.

2. For the matter, I will keep your words. Keeping God's word notes, an exact and tender respect, when a man keeps it as a jewel, as a precious treasure that it may not be hazarded; or keeps it as the apple of his eye (Proverbs 7:2). The eye is soon offended with the least dust:…

So for uncleanness and other sins, if the practice and execution of many lusts were but delayed, we would not be so frequent in them as we are to the dishonor of God, and scandal of religion. It is said of the young man enticed by the harlot, that immediately he went after her (…

Did men see the danger that attends sin and wickedness; would they follow it to [reconstructed: destruction]? Oh no; he goes after her as a [reconstructed: fool] to the Stocks, till a Dart strikes through [reconstructed: his] Liver; as a Bird hastens to the snare, and knows not,…

2. Gratifying the sensual appetite and carnal inclination; they are much for the lust of the eye and of the flesh too, as well as for the pride of life; as (Ecclesiastes 11:9 and 12:1) tells us, that they are much set upon pleasure, the young man's favorite. The Prodigal (who wa…

Amnon, a young man, was (though the son of a very holy father) a monster of uncleanness; he set his eyes on his own sister, and then did wickedly after the sight of his eyes, by which means he made himself one of the fools in Israel, and came to an unhappy and untimely death at…

Our Lord Christ observes of the Pharisees, they pray to be seen of men, and fast so that they may appear to men to fast (Matthew 6:5, 16). Sixthly, there is a forensic zeal, that runs out upon others, like the candle in the lantern that sends all the heat out at top, or as the l…

Thus [reconstructed: the] thieves entice their companion to side with them in their course (Proverbs 1:13): we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our [reconstructed: houses] with [reconstructed: spoil]. So the harlot inveigle the young man, and presents nothing bef…

As the [illegible] hides his sting that may poison, and shows only his speckled skin that may please the eye, so it is with [illegible], it presents nothing to the view but that which may please the flesh, either profits to enrich, or honors to advance, or pleasures to delight,…

Poverty of spirit is a kind of self-annihilation; such an expression I find in Calvin; The poor in spirit (says he) are they who see nothing in themselves, but flee to mercy for sanctuary; such a one was the publican (Luke 18:13): God be merciful to me a sinner. Of this temper w…

The sinner is in the bond of iniquity, and being bound he must obey. He is said to go after his lust, as the fool to the stocks, Proverbs 7:22. The pinion'd malefactour can assoon untie his own armes and legs, and so run from his Keeper, as he from his lusts.

And Absalom covers treason and rebellion against his father and prince, with the whiteness of a vow at Hebron. What better is the whore and what more devout to say (Proverbs 7:14), I have peace offerings with me, today have I paid my vows? Under the veil of zeal (they think it)…

All men says Chrysostome, are ambitious of honor; behold then the honor of the godly! Proverbs 7:8. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, exalt her, and she shall promote you, she shall bring you to honor, when you embrace her: The Trophies of the Saints' renown,…

Hence sin is compared to a way, because it leads men to destruction. Proverbs 7:27. Her house is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers of death. Hell is an undesirable place; therefore sin which is the way there, must needs be an evil way.

Sin is first Comical, and then Tragical. I may fitly apply those words of Solomon to sin, Proverbs 7:26. She has cast down many wounded: O what a Harvest of souls is the Devil like to have! Isaiah 5:14. Hell has enlarged itself.

What more effectual argument can they use to allure our affections to the love and liking of sin than to set this false gloss upon it? When the strumpet would entice the young man to commit folly with her, she does not give her sin the right name of filthiness which it deserved…

And so the whorish woman thinks the like water will purge away all the filthiness of her lusts. I have peace-offerings (says she, encouraging herself, and her youth in their sins) at home, and I have paid my vows (Proverbs 7:14). This seems also to have been the deceit of the Ph…

7th Commandment: You shall not commit, etc. He breaks this commandment: who looks on a woman to lust after her (Matthew 5:28); who commits incest (Leviticus 18:22); who commits sodomy (1 Corinthians 6:9); who commits fornication with married or single or contracted people (Deute…

Wicked men confess sin they have committed, yet they are bold and adventurous to commit the same sin again which they have confest. And thus the Harlot did, Prov. 7. 14. I have peace-offerings with me, this day I have payed my vows.