Proverbs 23:26-30
Prov 23:26 (KJB)
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
 
Observe - Delight in
 
Solomon here desires that his son will give his heart to him, that is, that his son’s heart will be in accord with his. That he will walk in the ways of wisdom and seek the Lord as he did. He desires that not only his son will listen and heed the wisdom that he is learning but that he will observe or delight in the ways of Solomon. These must have been the early days of Solomon because in his later years he had walked away from the Lord. His pagan wives had caused him to stray and probably by that time he could not resist being older in body. This verse is also a great call for the believer that we are to give our heart to God, that is, once we are saved we give Him our heart as we walk in concert with His ways and we observe or delight in the ways of God. We see how He works in the lives of many Christians and how He worked in the lives of the Bible characters and we should realize that we have the same standing at the cross that the saved ones of old had.
 
Prov 23:27 (KJB)
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
 
Deep - Deep emotional distress or adverse
Ditch - A pitfall or figuratively to sink down
Pit - Well or a slime pit
 
This verse carries a double meaning as first of all it teaches that those who visit prostitutes will find themselves on an emotional pitfall. They may think that paid sex is the same as true love and may mix the two in real life. This would cause an adverse reaction by any woman this man would want to date. Not only is the strange woman a deep ditch but also a narrow pit or well. This would mean that if a man would fall into this pit, the narrowness of it would prevent him from climbing out of it. This is the great pitfall that situations can occur when a man visits a prostitute, he may be setting himself up so that he would not be able to free himself for those situations. Many men have brought home diseases to their wives from prostitutes. The second meaning is that of false gospels. When a person adopts a false teaching, it causes them to go deeper into those teachings and they would not be able to free themselves because false teachings build on false teachings. It would be like being stuck in a very small place and unable to even wiggle out of it. Once false teachings grab hold of a person, it will lead them to eternal damnation.
 
Prov 23:28 (KJB)
She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
 
Just like a thief who waits on a dark road for a victim, the prostitute waits for her victims and when she finally gets one, she takes him to that deep well and the consequences are that her victims increase their sins of adultery against their wives. It causes families to break up. This is why Solomon had told his son to walk in his ways, so he will avoid the pitfall of the whorish woman. Some men can resist alcohol and some can resist other sins but the resistance of a woman by a man is the hardest of all fleshly lusts. When a husband visits a prostitute, he commits adultery not only against his wife but his sin is seen by God and the Bible states that God will judge adulterers. (Heb 13:4 KJV) Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. God has placed many safeguards around marriage because it represents the relationship of Christ to the church.
 
Prov 23:29 (KJB)
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
 
Woe - A woe cry found a lamentation
Sorrow - Exclamation of pain
Contentions - Disputes
Babbling - Complaints
 
Now the Scriptures turn to a different sin which pervades every country on earth. A series of six questions are asked in this verse but are answered in the next verse. However, we can see from the questions that this is not just talking about a negative individual, it is speaking of a person on alcohol.
 
Prov 23:30 (KJB)
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
 
Mixed wine - Mixed or mingled Alcohol, spiced wine
 
Those who have woes and sorrows and have disputes or fights and the one who babbles his complaints and then wakes up the next morning finds wounds in his body, like he was in a fight, and then looks in the mirror and sees his eyes are all red. It is the person who drinks alcohol. These are not the conditions of a person who has one beer but it is those who linger long in drinking. A person goes out at night to a nigh club and starts drinking at 10 PM and does not finish till 3 AM, he may wake up the next morning with bruises as if he was in a fight that he will not remember. This also speaks of mixed wine which would be a stronger drink than wine. By today’s standards, it be could whiskey, scotch, rum or some other devil’s brew.

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