July 4
Scripture focus: My son, give attention to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding; that you may observe discretion and your lips may reserve knowledge. For the lips of an adulteress drip honey and smoother than oil is her speech; but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold of Sheol. She does not ponder the path of life; her ways are unstable, she does not know it. Now then, my sons, listen to me and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house, or you will give your vigor to others and your years to the cruel one; and strangers will be filled with your strength and your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien; and you groan at your final end, when your flesh and your body are consumed; and you say, "How I have hated instruction! And my heart spurned reproof! "I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to my instructors! "I was almost in utter ruin in the midst of the assembly and congregation." Drink water from your own cistern and fresh water from your own well. Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets? 7Let them be yours alone and not for strangers with you.
Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; be exhilarated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He watches all his paths. His own iniquities will capture the wicked, and he will be held with the cords of his sin. He will die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he will go astray. Proverbs 5
Proverbs stresses again and again the importance of staying wise. This does not entail flying through life by the seat of one’s pants only choosing to exert control over situations when it suits one. Granted, in a given situation more than one individual is usually involved. Aren’t our most pressing issues regarding faithfulness about relationships? We all possess unique responsibility and no single person bears an entire relationship’s burdens alone, but as a result of not following this instruction I found myself “caught in the toils of [my] sin.” Proverbs 5:23 NRSV.
Where do we turn when caught? That question is pivotal and worth adding to our list of things to consider when we find ourselves in a stew pot. swm
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2 comments:
I was taught a long time ago through reading of David that first and foremost, we turn to God to acknowledge and repent of our sin and then to the person we have sinned against.
If I remember correctly, David did not apologize to Bathsheba for committing adultery with her (I often wonder if she was a willing participant) and having her husband killed or if marrying her was his way of making amends for.
I have since learned (while still pondering these questions of mine) that amends should not always be made if it harms another (Step 9.)
So, back to the question at hand, until otherwise corrected ... my final answer is "GOD."
The issue of when to seek forgiveness is a tricky one- scripture focuses on how to forgive more so than how to seek forgiveness. But I'm not sure that it ever says anything about seeking forgiveness being wrong- I'll have to double check. It requires a lot of discernment, there's at least a few situations I can think of where it does not seem wise- but who knows- maybe that's just because we get scared of dealing with the consequences.
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