“With much seductive speech she persuades him. With her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast, till an arrow pierces its liver. As as bird rushes into a snare, he does not know that it will cost him his life.”
– Proverbs 7:21–23
Proverbs 7:21–23 is a sobering picture of a man being led away by a woman into adultery. And I want you to listen to it with that context, and thinking about not just the temptation to adultery, though certainly that. But the temptation to sin all together. Listen to this description.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray That God Will Keep Us From Sin
Oh God, give us grace to heed this warning. You see it here in this passage, how attractive sin is. In this case how attractive adultery is, how it just lures a man or women away. But the lure is like an ox going to the slaughter. And see this. I’m guessing there might even be some who are listening to this right now who are tempted toward adultery in some way, see it, see it for what it is. You are like an ox being led to a slaughter. Don’t see that. Or stag caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver. You do not know, it will cost you your life.
Let’s pray that God will keep us from toying with sin. May we take God at His Word and flee from adultry and every temptation.
Hear the word of God, heed the warning of God. Hear the grace of God and even you listening to this podcast right now. If your mind is even starting to take a step towards there, then run from it, run from it. Hear the grace of God right now just telling you, “Don’t go to the slaughter, it will cost you your life.”
Proverbs 7:21–23 Is a Warning Against Sin
So I hope, I pray that this text will be a warning in that way, even right now. And then at the same time, at the same time that we would all see this is how sin works. Sin is attractive. This is how the devil works. He does not come with a pitchfork and say, “I’m going to lead you to death.” He entices us with that which looks good. Think Genesis 3, when she saw the fruit, it was desirable to the eye, it was pleasing. That’s why she ate it. She didn’t eat it because she thought it was going to be bad, she ate it because she thought it was going to be good. And she did not know it would cost her life.
Proverbs 7:21–23 Reminds Us Sin Is Destructive
So, God helps us to see sin this way. Help us to see sin for what it is, for the destructive force that it is, that kills our soul. That ultimately, ultimately damns us. God we pray, we pray that you would keep us from toying with sin, keep us from listening to sin, help us to run from it. God I pray for that in my own life, I pray for that for everybody that’s listening right now. Please help us. I pray for those who are even in their minds, or desires, or have even taken steps like down a slippery slope toward adultery, God we pray that you would pull them back right now. I pray that you would pull them back right now by your word. Open their eyes, open their eyes like a cow realizing I’m about to die. Run, run, run.
So God I pray for that, I pray for that in my life, in every temptation I have to sin. Please O God, please help me to run. I pray for that for everybody who’s listening right now. Please O God, help us to run today, help us to see the seductive power of sin and not be fooled from it. We are seeing here in Proverbs 7:21–23 that wisdom leads to purity and foolishness leads to wickedness. And so we pray for wisdom like this. We pray for wisdom, and purity, and holiness, and good in our lives. For your glory we pray. And for our good that our lives might not be lost. We pray this in Jesus’s name, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
