At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

“Be not among winebibbers; Among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags” (KJV).

“Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags” (ESV).

Proverbs 23:20–21

The Scriptures do not just teach us to avoid sin because of the sinfulness of the action in itself—although that is part of what we are taught. We are also taught to avoid sin because sin is self-destructive and stupid. 

Let us first consider what this proverb teaches us directly, and then we can make a couple of applications. We are told to avoid the company of drunkards, and to stay away from those who are gluttonous eaters of meat. The reason is that these two characters are going to eat and drink their way into the poor house. In addition, they will eat and drink themselves into a sort of moral stupor. That stupor is going to clothe the individual concerned in the rags he aspires to. 

Two quick applications. The first is that we should let Scriptures define gluttony, and not leave that job to the fitness magazines. Gluttony is to food what drunkenness is to alcohol. In other words, gluttony is “riotous” eating. We are not talking about that second helping of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving, and not even about the pumpkin pie. Gluttony is a sin of surfeiting. 

At the same time, we want to make sure that we don’t explain away the scriptural requirement of temperance when it comes to all of our appetites. Self-control, after all, is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). And temperance here does not mean abstinence, but rather balance. As we have successfully gotten away from the culture of teetotalism, we want to make sure that we do not open the door to a culture of having one drink too many.  But drunkenness is a liar and a cheat, and it especially preys on people who are proud of how they have avoided every form of legalism.

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord”

Proverbs 21:30

The short form of this is that God cannot be gamed.

The purposes of the Lord will always, of necessity, be realized. He knows the end from the beginning. He cannot be fooled, or manipulated, or deceived, or sent off in a false direction. And yet every known sin is somehow or other banking on this proverb not being true. 

And this means, in its turn, that every known sin committed by an orthodox believer has to contain some significant element of self-deception in it. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Self-deception, by its very nature, can have multiple layers, but one of those layers is the discrepancy between what the believer acknowledges about God’s counsels intellectually, and what he is assuming in the moment of sinning.

He knows, on the one hand, that God cannot be manipulated. And yet the sin, while it is being entertained by the one sinning, has to assume that God can be manipulated.

The more intelligent a person is (that is, the more intellectual rpm his brain can exhibit), the more susceptible he is to a belief that there could be some form of his wisdom, or understanding, or counsel, that might get around the Lord’s purposes. Remember that the serpent in the garden was not the stupidest creature there, but rather the most subtle (Gen. 3:1). And that is why the most gifted are frequently guilty of the greatest follies.

Not only is this the case when we are talking about our own designs against the Lord, but it is also true when we are sometimes cowed by the bluster of unbelievers, claiming—like Rabshekah outside the walls—that they can do whatever they intend to do. In such cases, we should follow Hezekiah’s instructions and answer not a word—while we wait for the inevitable outcome.

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

He that saith unto the wicked, thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them (KJV).

He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” him the people will curse; Nations will abhor him. But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them (NKJV).

Proverbs 24:24–25

The prophet Isaiah pronounces a woe on those who call evil good and good evil (Is. 5:20). Precisely because they substitute light for darkness and darkness for light, sweet for bitter and bitter for sweet, they are under a heavy judgment.

The Lord Jesus accentuates what a grievous sin this is when He answers those who accused Him of being demon possessed (Mark 3:22), saying that He was wielding authority over demons because He was possessed by Beelzebub. This was the context in which Jesus warned them about the unpardonable sin (Mark 3:29-30). In other words, they had so inverted things in their souls that black was white, and the holiest man who ever lived was accused by them of being driven by the prince of devils. Jesus doesn’t say that they had committed this sin yet, but it was certainly the direction they were going.

In our proverb here, it is likely talking about a ruler of some sort, someone in a position of authority. When he does wrong, the people curse him, and nations abhor him. He is clearly not what we would call a private person. And what is he called to do? He is called to seek the blessing of God by calling out wickedness for what it is, wickedness. He calls a spade a spade, in other words. Not only so, if he falters at this point, and calls the wicked man righteous, then the people will curse him. He will not receive honor from other nations.

So how does it fare with us in these depraved and grotesque times of ours? In celebration of sodomy, we hold what we call pride parades. Our rulers, everyone who goes along with this kind of nonsense, are under a curse. When we the people pronounce a scriptural curse on it, this is nothing going wrong. Rather it is an attempt to get them to go right again. Perhaps a belated attempt, but an attempt nonetheless.

Sodomy is a matter of disgraceful shame, not pride. Dismembering children is  not a constitutional right, and if it were, any Constitution that granted it should be consigned to the flames of Hell. Flight suits that are altered so pregnant women might fly combat missions is not a talking point for a politician, but is rather demented and perverse.

And when a surgeon amputates the private parts of a tranny, doing it for ready money, and all the outrage is reserved for the person who used the word tranny in his discussion of it, then you may be assured that we have driven across some hellish border as a culture, and are making our way through the outskirts of the City of Destruction. But why we are still trying to make our way to the city center, I am sure I don’t know. Isn’t that where the asteroid is going to land?  

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: And in multitude of counsellers there is safety.

Proverbs 24:6

Precisely because this is a proverb, and not a proof in geometry, there is a way to apply it in folly and a way to apply it in wisdom. A proof in geometry is something that you either do right or do wrong. And in order to do it wrong, you must depart from the way.

But with a proverb, you can veer off the point while technically staying true to the words. Not only is this the way to abuse a proverb, but it is also the foundation of bad humor and lame excuses. “Did you wipe the server?” “Like what? With a rag?” 

The proverb teaches us that going to war is a big deal, and that the decision makers in such an enterprise should seek out wise counsel as they are making that decision. It then goes on to tell us one way of insuring that the counsel for such an undertaking will be wise—get a lot of it, Solomon says. 

This is an application of a principle found elsewhere in Proverbs (18:17). One person’s case seems really reasonable until you hear the other side. When debating whether or not to go to war, there should be a debate, and there are different arguments to be considered. You need to take care to hear from every relevant side. This does not guarantee that the king will make the right decision, but it will help to guarantee that he had to at least pass by the right decision. The right decision was at least presented to him. 

The way to abuse this proverb is to listen to a cacophony of voices until you don’t know up from down. A man with a watch knows what time it is, while a man with three watches is never sure.  

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

For a whore is a deep ditch; And a strange woman is a narrow pit. She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men (KJV).

For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind (ESV).

Proverbs 23:27–28

Scripture frequently describes sexual sin as a snare, and snares work because of the element of deception. A snare works because it doesn’t look like a snare that will work.

Two different kinds of immoral women are described here, and the hapless male involved is described in two different ways.

The first woman is the whore, the woman who gives a sexual encounter in exchange for money. The second woman is the adulteress, the one who is not a professional, but who is willing blow up marriages, whether it is hers or someone else’s. Both of these women are described as places where a man might fall. The whore is described as a deep ditch, or pit. The adulteress is described as a narrow pit or well.

These places where a man might fall are not marked with warning signs. Or we should rather say that the warning signs are posted in places like the book of Proverbs. Unless these words are taken to heart and memorized, they will not appear at the scene where the seduction is occurring.

The text says that at the scene, the nature of the pit or ditch or well is cleverly hidden. She lies in wait like a deadly predator stalks its prey. Often the man in such situations feels as though he is the dangerous one, he is the one taking the initiative, when in reality he is just the chump. He is the bird that the python ate. He is the prey. 

The fact that he is the victim of predatory behavior does not absolve him of responsibility for his actions, not a bit of it. The second way he is described is with terms like treacherous and traitorous. The man who resorts to prostitutes somehow believes that what he pays her is the only price he will pay, which is false. And the man who betrays his marriage covenant believes that he can still be an honest man, but he is not. He is lying, he is a traitor, he is treacherous. He shouldn’t be trusted with anything.

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