Proverbs 6:20 - Meaning and Application

Here, then, is a general call to hold closely to the word of God and let it guide every part of life. We should see God’s word as both a light and a law, as Proverbs 6:23 and Proverbs 6:20 say. By its truth, it gives clear light to our minds. By its authority, it calls for our will to submit.

Scripture is a sure light because it rests on eternal truth and highest reason. No teaching from human philosophers ever shone like this, and no law from any earthly ruler has ever matched it. Yet this law is also a lamp and a light, because it shows its own goodness. The more carefully we read it, the more we see that it is wise, holy, and kind.

We must also receive this word as our father’s commandment and our mother’s teaching, Proverbs 6:20. It is truly God’s command and law, but our parents were meant to lead us to it. They gave it to us, trained us in it, and urged us to live by it. We do not believe simply because they said so, but we are glad they pointed us to what is from God.

The instructions of good parents agree with God’s word, so we should hold them fast. A grown child should remember both a good father’s command and a good mother’s law. God has given fathers honor over children and has also confirmed the mother’s authority over sons. So what faithful parents taught us from Scripture should stay with us.

We must keep this word, not cast it off as if freedom means escaping a good upbringing. Proverbs 6:21 says to bind it continually, not just on the hand, as Moses taught in Deuteronomy 6:8, but on the heart. Outward signs mean little unless they lead to inward love and obedience. The word should be written within, hidden in the conscience, and kept close.

Solomon also says to tie it around the neck, like an ornament, a necklace, or a chain. The picture is of something worn where it is always near and always noticed. It should guard the throat so that no forbidden speech goes out and no sinful desire is let in. In this way, God’s word stays before us and leaves its mark on us.

If we keep the word on our hearts, it will guide us. When we go out, it will lead us in the right way and keep us from sinful paths, Proverbs 6:22. It will say, “This is the way; walk in it,” when we are ready to turn aside. It will be like the pillar of cloud and fire that led Israel in the wilderness.

It will also guard us. When we sleep and are exposed to dark spiritual danger, it will keep us safe. If we spend the day obeying God’s commands, we can rest at night in the comfort of his promises. Then we may trust God to protect and deliver us.

The word will also be our companion. When we wake in the night and do not know how to fill our thoughts, it can speak to us through holy meditation. When we wake in the morning and begin to plan the day, it can help us think wisely, as Psalm 1:2 teaches. If we begin the day with God’s word, it will help us walk closely with him all day.

In a deeper sense, the word is life to us. The reproofs of instruction do more than expose our faults, they show us how to do better. That is the way to life, even eternal life. So we should not resent faithful correction, because it is aimed at our happiness.

Solomon then gives a special warning against sexual sin. Since this evil is so common, so serious in itself, so harmful in its effects, and so deadly to spiritual life, it is no wonder the warning is repeated often. God gave his law partly to keep people from this sin, Proverbs 6:24. The reproofs of instruction are the way of life because they keep us from the evil woman and from the flattery of a strange woman, who pretends love but means ruin.

Those who are easily won by flattery make themselves easy targets for temptation. Anyone who wants to avoid this trap must welcome wise correction as a kindness. Faithful reproofs are a mercy, not an injury, Proverbs 27:5, Proverbs 27:6.

The greatest kindness we can do for ourselves is to stay far from this sin and hate it deeply, Proverbs 6:25. We must not even desire her beauty in our hearts, because sinful desire already begins adultery there. We should not speak lightly of her charms or be drawn in by her looks. Her glances are snares, and her beauty is like an arrow that wounds and kills.

What the world may call a pleasing captivity is really ruin. It is worse than slavery, because it destroys the soul. Solomon now gives several reasons to strengthen this warning against sexual immorality.

This sin also drains a man’s wealth, wastes his property, and can leave him in beggary (Proverbs 6:26). Through a prostitute, a man may come down to a crust of bread. Many have bought the ruin of both body and soul at the cost of their money. The prodigal son spent his living on prostitutes, and ended up sharing food with the pigs.

Such poverty cuts deep when people bring it on themselves through their own folly (Job 31:12). The shame is heavier because they chose the path that led them there. Sin often pays its servants by stripping them bare. What looks like pleasure at first ends in want.

This sin also threatens death, and in that sense it hunts for life itself. The adulteress searches for the precious life, perhaps on purpose, as Delilah hunted Samson, or at least in the end the sin strikes at life. Under Moses’ law, adultery was a capital crime. The adulterer and the adulteress were to be put to death, and everyone knew it.

So those who chase a base lust while placing themselves under the law cannot be called anything but self-destroyers. They run toward the punishment that hangs over them. Lust makes them bold for a moment, but it leads them toward judgment. The fire of desire can end in the fire of hell.

It also loads the conscience with guilt and weakens it. Even a careless touch toward a neighbor’s wife cannot be innocent (Proverbs 6:29). A man who plays with this temptation is in immediate danger of falling into adultery, just as someone who takes fire into his lap or walks on hot coals is likely to be burned. The path of this sin goes downhill, and those who linger near it seldom stay clean.

Keeping company with people of bad character, entering into their circles, and touching what belongs to them pulls a person into temptation. In doing that, he steps out from under God’s protection. The sin is like a deep pit. It is foolish to stand near its edge.

A person who commits adultery is also heading straight toward destruction. The bold sinner says, in effect, that he can take the sin and avoid the penalty. That is as foolish as saying he can carry fire in his chest and not burn his clothes, or walk on hot coals and not burn his feet. God will not leave him guiltless when he goes into his neighbor’s wife. Lust lights the fire, and judgment follows.

This sin also ruins a person’s reputation and leaves lasting shame. In God’s sight, it is a far more shameful sin than stealing, even if many people do not think so (Proverbs 6:30-33). A thief may be sent to prison or worse, while the adulterer often escapes public punishment and even becomes the object of jokes. But God’s law treats adultery as the greater evil, and if God is the source of honor, his word must measure honor rightly.

Stealing, especially under extreme need, is still guilt, but people may pity the thief. If a hungry man steals food to satisfy his hunger, that does not excuse him, yet it softens the blame. Hunger can push through stone walls, and the blame falls partly on those who left him in poverty or refused to help him. Even then, if he is caught, the law required him to repay seven times in some cases, while Moses required fourfold for a sheep and fivefold for an ox (Exodus 22:1). David gave a fitting judgment in a similar case (2 Samuel 12:6).

But adultery is a far worse crime. Job called it an iniquity to be judged by the magistrate (Job 31:11). When Nathan exposed David’s sin, he first told a story about theft that David himself said deserved death (2 Samuel 12:5), then showed that David’s own sin was even worse. It shows greater shame against a man’s reason, because he cannot excuse it by hunger. He must admit that he is giving way to a brutish lust and breaking God’s hedge, not from need but from wanton desire.

For that reason, the one who commits adultery lacks understanding and should be marked as a fool. The law of God also punished it more severely. A thief paid with money, but the adulterer paid with his life. He steals to feed his appetite, but the adulterer destroys his own soul and falls as an unpitied victim under God’s justice and human justice. Sin ruins him from within as well. It wounds the conscience, weakens the mind, and puts the soul in danger of God’s wrath forever.

The shame of this sin is also lasting (Proverbs 6:33). It wounds a person’s good name and brings dishonor on his family. Repentance may remove the guilt before God, but the stain on memory often remains. David’s sin with Uriah became a lasting blemish on his own character and gave the Lord’s enemies reason to speak against God’s name too.

Finally, this sin stirs up the anger of the jealous husband, whose honor has been insulted (Proverbs 6:34-35). A man who is familiar with another man’s wife gives him reason for jealousy, and the man who actually seduces her gives even more. Even if the sin is hidden, the water of jealousy could uncover it (Numbers 5:12). If discovered, it would be better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than the offended husband.

A man wronged in this way can be as fierce in defending his honor as one avenging blood in a murder case. If a sinner is not afraid of God’s anger, he should still fear the rage of the injured husband. Jealousy is strong as death and cruel as the grave. When the adulterer is brought to judgment, the prosecutor will spare no effort or cost. He will not be softened, as he might be toward a thief. He will not accept payment, settlement, or bribes. Even if gifts are offered to calm him, he will not be content with anything less than the full penalty of the law. The adulterer must be stoned.

If a man were to give all the wealth in his house, it would make up for a theft (Proverbs 6:31). But it could never make up for adultery. In that case, such payment would be despised completely. So stand in awe and do not sin. Do not bring all this misery on yourself for a brief, greedy pleasure, which will end in bitterness.