From our Sunday service on May 3, 2026, Proverbs 23:26-24:9. This is part 3 of our Sayings of the Wise series. Watch the full message: The Sayings of the Wise #3 on YouTube.
These sayings of the wise continue the work Solomon intended for the whole collection. They were gathered so that the people of God would learn them, keep them in view, and be able to use them when they or someone else had need. The lesson remains what it has been throughout this series: God wants His people to live wisely in all areas of life. The sayings before us are intense, because they warn us away from grave mistakes, and they also show us what it means to give God the heart and to walk in His ways.
Saying 18: The Deep Ditch and the Narrow Pit
We are told to give our heart and to observe wise ways, because a whore is a deep ditch and a strange woman is a narrow pit:
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
Proverbs 23:26–28
The first of those words describes a woman who sells intimacy for gain. The second describes a woman foreign to the covenant of marriage, someone outside the bound God has set. Both are destructive. One is like a hole so deep that there is no climbing out by yourself. The other is like a well so narrow that there is not even room to take hold of a rope. Once you fall into this sin, the consequences are not easily undone. The damage may not appear at once, but it will come, and the picture of a deadly trap is not too strong for it. This is not love. It is an ambush, like robbers who wait for a traveler, take what he has, and leave him ruined. If someone loved you, they would not lead you into a destruction that betrays your promises to a spouse and to God. The only fruit of this path is transgression, dishonesty, and betrayal. That is why we should stay far from it, just as we would refuse a street where we knew an ambush was waiting. The warning is not for men only. There are men who do this to women as well, and the same danger applies. A wise person will not make opportunity for fornication or adultery. There is nothing to gain from it, and everything to lose.
Saying 19: Look Not Upon the Wine
This is one of the strongest passages in Scripture against the dangers of alcoholic drink. The person in view is not using a little wine for a practical need. He stays because the drink is there, and he keeps looking for the next opportunity to indulge:
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Proverbs 23:29–35
In that day, ordinary wine was often mixed with water. What is being described here is concentrated, attractive, and easy to drink, made in a way that invites a person to take more. Much of what is sold for drinking today is designed with the same features: it is made to look appealing, go down easily, and keep a person coming back for another. It is a poison, not a help. Alcohol loosens the tongue, which Scripture already warns is an unruly evil. The unsteadiness is not only spiritual. It is physical. Lives are lost when people will not remain in control of themselves. A wise person will not treat drinks designed to tempt further drinking as a small matter. Overconsumption leads to addiction and a loss of self-control. Why play with a fire that eventually burns?
Saying 20: Be Not Envious Against Evil Men
We are also told not to be envious against evil men, or to desire their company:
Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
Proverbs 24:1–2
This is not only a warning about their end. It is a warning about what they do to others. They muse on ways to harm, and the fruit of their life is trouble. A wise person does not envy that kind of life, because it produces misery wherever it goes. Why would we want to be known as people who cause trouble, or desire to keep company with those who do?
Saying 21: Through Wisdom Is an House Builded
By contrast, a house, or a household, is built through wisdom:
Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
Proverbs 24:3–4
If we want a family to stand, we must teach wisdom from the start, asking good questions and growing in discernment. Better decisions naturally tend toward a more secure life, and even when the riches are not material, they are still real. A wise person makes sure the family knows that wisdom is worth gaining, because a knowledgeable household will be better prepared in every situation.
Saying 22: A Wise Man Is Strong
A wise man is also strong. Physical power is one thing, but knowing how to use it is another. You can have great strength and still fail if you have no strategy:
A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Proverbs 24:5–6
None of us has enough insight alone to meet every trouble. We need people who can give trustworthy advice, because wisdom is what rescues us when chaos comes. The foolish use of power weakens a person, but the wise use of it strengthens him. If we want to be ready for the fights life brings, we need both strength and the counsel that knows how to use it.
Saying 23: Wisdom Is Too High for a Fool
Wisdom, however, is too high for a fool:
Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.
Proverbs 24:7
The gate was the place of judgment, where the elders sat to settle disputes. A man who would not grow in wisdom earlier in life has nothing useful to offer when his community needs counsel, and he is afraid to speak lest he embarrass himself or give someone bad advice. If we want to help others, we must first become people who have something true to give. A wise person will want to be knowledgeable, so that when issues arise he can actually be of use.
Saying 24: The Master Schemer
The last of these sayings warns against the person who devises to do evil. This is not merely someone who is surprised by temptation and falls. This is someone who plans an opportunity for sin:
He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person. The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.
Proverbs 24:8–9
Even if the plan is not carried through, the plotting itself is already transgression. And the scorner, the snarky person who treats correction as a joke and will not take sin seriously, is an abomination to men. A sarcastic attitude about evil is disgusting both to God and to the people around us. A wise person will not even make room in his thinking for a path he has already promised not to walk.
These seven sayings cover many areas of life, but they belong to one call. We are warned to avoid sexual sin, because it promises pleasure and brings destruction. We are warned to avoid drunkenness, because it promises enjoyment and steals self-control. We are warned not to envy evil people, because their way produces more trouble. Instead we are to build our homes with wisdom, seek good counsel, grow in knowledge, and reject even the thought of doing evil. A foolish person hears the warning and keeps walking toward the danger, asking how much he can get away with. A wise person believes that God knows what is best and asks how fully he can give God his heart and walk in His ways. Wisdom begins when God has our heart and shapes what we look at, desire, do, and avoid. God wants His people to live wisely in all areas of life. Will you surrender to His wisdom today?
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