PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed" (Proverbs 7:14-20).

“I have peace offerings with me,” this is one of the appeals. “I'm religious too . . . I have peace offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows,” that way she can do what she wants to do. Okay? Don't tell me that's not really how a Roman Catholic thinks. That’s exactly how a Roman Catholic thinks. “I did my penance.” Some of you thought that way when you were there. If you're not careful, you'll think that way as a Baptist. “All I have to is to confess my sins, and he is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins, as long as I get right.” Right?

“I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows, therefore came I forth to meet thee . . .,” you're lying. You came forth to meet anybody. Anybody that was there. “. . . therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face,” be careful young people: young men, young women; you'll meet someone one day, and if you're not careful it will be the first one you ever met, and they'll say the right things and you will think that you've struck gold with that one on the first opportunity. All they are doing is saying, “I came forth to meet thee,” no, they came forth to meet anyone that happened to be there and use anybody. You really have to be careful with that.

“Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face,” seeking the wrong face though, right? We are to seek the Lord's face, “and I have found thee.” You found him, but you were looking for anybody.

“I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt,” the best that the world can offer. The fine linen of Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world (or a biblical example of what Egypt would be through a word picture), finest thing the world can give.

“I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.” This is the only place in the Bible you'll find the word “solace,” and it's a sad admittance, actually. In the speeches of sinners, you often find the truth. What she's saying there is an admittance to a sorrowful, regretful life. “Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves,” well, solace? You need comfort? You're living in sin? You're living like the devil? And this is the way you comfort yourself.

Verse 19, “For the goodman is not at home.” Alright, that goodman is a type, of course, of Jesus Christ. “For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey,” back in verse 9, “In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night,” Jesus Christ is on a long journey. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. He's coming back soon, but he's going on a long journey. You better watch out for that woman. You had better watch out for that woman.

Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so let's read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let's keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.

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