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 a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.
– Proverbs 7:21–23
What a powerful picture. What potent imagery of specific sin. Here is the adultery of a man who follows the smooth talk of an adulteress. He goes to her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a bird rushing into a snare, a stag caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver. He does not know that it will cost him his life. And obviously, this doesn’t just refer to a man following after a woman, it could be a woman following after a man. It could be, in a sense, a picture of any and all temptation to sin, because sin promises so much good. And yet it always, always, always destroys.
Proverbs 7:21–23 warns against the deadly pull of sin.
When we go toward sin, when we flirt with sin, when we rationalize with sin, then we are like oxen going to the slaughter. We’re like stags, caught fast, an arrow pierces our liver. We’re like birds rushing into a snare, not realizing that what we are doing, in any sin, costs us deeply. So I want to pray these verses over all of us, that God would help us to see the seriousness of sin in our lives. And any kind of temptation you are facing today, that you would not rationalize it, that you would run from it, you would not flirt with it. Instead, you would flee from it. And that I would do the same.
And then specifically for anyone who is flirting with adultery, or sexual sin in this way, all the more that you would see, don’t go to the slaughter, run from the slaughter; don’t rush into a snare, run from the snare. Oh God, we pray you would deliver us from ourselves, from our propensity to sin, from our foolish desires that would lead us to think that sin would be good for us, or good for others. God, help us to see how sin is destructive for us and others.
Proverbs 7:21–23 calls us to flee temptation before it kills us.
Always, always, always, God, help us to see this. I pray that you would use even these verses, this podcast, right now, to rescue some people from sin, from the slaughter. For anyone who is maybe tempted right now, and even in a small way toward adultery, or unfaithfulness, or sexual sin in this way or that way, God, that you would use your Word, your Spirit… By your Spirit right now, oh God, just to bring them back, to call them back, in your mercy, in your love, to keep them from the slaughter. Please, oh God.
And when I pray that over any temptation that people are experiencing in their lives right now, where they have grown accustomed to thinking, “This is not that bad,” “Maybe this is okay or good for me,” God, we pray you. Open eyes, open each of our eyes. Keep us from believing the lie that sin will lead to our good, when the reality is that it costs us our lives.
God, we pray all this with gratitude, overwhelming gratitude, for you, Jesus, for your perfect sinless life, and for the way you have paid the price on the cross for us. For you being slaughtered, being crucified for our sins. We praise you for giving your life so that we could be forgiven of our sins. So thank you, God, we praise you for your forgiveness, for wiping our slates clean by the blood of Jesus, his sacrifice for us. So, all the more so, God, please help us to live today running from the sin you have saved us from, and experiencing the life you’ve made us for.
Prayer for the Rizeigat People
And God, we pray that you’d help us to spread this good news of forgiveness of sins to all the nations, just like Luke 24 says. We pray specifically today for the Rizeigat people of Sudan, for 410,000 Muslim men, women, and children who don’t know forgiveness of sins through Jesus. God, we pray that the Rizeigat people would be reached with the good news of your grace and your mercy, the One who’s laid down his life, so that they could be forgiven and free from sin to experience eternal life with you. We pray all this according to your Word in Proverbs 7. Help us to hear it and to heed it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
