Bridges on Proverbs 23:19-21
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 23:19-21
 
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19.  Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. 20.  Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: {of flesh: Heb. of their flesh} 21.  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
 
These repeated exhortations to hear, remind us of our Lord's earnest and affectionate call — “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9.) They shew the great importance of hearing, as the first step to be wise. For wisdom, no less than “faith, cometh by hearing.” (Romans 10:17, with chapter 1:5.) “Guide thine heart in the way.” The promise makes this call effectual — “I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment.” (Chapter 8:20.)
But the call specially warns against a besetting temptation. God's creature abuses his gifts. Wine becomes the occasion of excess. Riotous eaters of the flesh degrade the soul, as the slave of the body. Not only be not one of them, but be not amongst them. (Chapter 28:7.) Can we be among the leprous without infection? May we not get a stain, that will not easily be wiped out? Do we not insensibly receive the mold of our society? Did not Lot probably learn his dreadful wickedness by contact with the ungodly? The truest love is not to sit down with them, but to labor for their conversion; and, if this be ineffectual, to avoid them. Young people! remember — ‘Tinder is not apter to take fire, wax the impression of the seal, paper the ink, than youth to receive the impression of wickedness.’ Fancy not that the enemy intends even your present happiness. His malice holds out a poisoned bait. Poverty and shame are the temporal fruits. But the eternal ruin of his deluded victims is his far more deadly design.
Noah as a wine-bibber, and the Corinthian converts, profaning the sacred feast by drunkenness and gluttony, warn the man of God — “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” (Matthew 26:41.) Always however evangelize these parental warnings with the principles of the Gospel. “Walk not in rioting and drunkenness; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” — the only effectual cover from the wantonness of the flesh. — “Having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.”
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Matthew 11:15
15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
 
Matthew 13:9
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
 
 
Romans 10:17
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
 
with
Proverbs 1:5
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
 
 
Proverbs 8:20
20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: {lead: or, walk}
 
 
Footnote:
Isaiah 5:11, 12, 22; 22:13. Habakkuk 2:5, with Psalm 104:14, 15. 1 Timothy 4:3-5.
 

 
Isaiah 5:11, 12, 22
11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! {inflame: of, pursue} 12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. 22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
 
Isaiah 22:13
13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
 
Habakkuk 2:5
5 ¶ Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: {Yea...: or, How much more}
 
with
Psalm 104:14, 15
14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; 15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart. {oil...: Heb. to make his face shine with oil, or, more than oil}
 
1 Timothy 4:3-5
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proverbs 28:7
7 ¶ Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father. {is a companion...: or, feedeth gluttons}
 
 
Footnote:
Psalm 106:35. Compare Matthew 24:49.
 

 
Psalm 106:35
35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
 
Compare
Matthew 24:49
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
 
 
Footnote:
Genesis 19:30-32, with Ezekiel 16:49, 50.
 

 
Genesis 19:30-32
30 ¶ And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
 
Ezekiel 16:49, 50
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.
 
 
Footnote:
Greenhill, on Ezekiel 19:4.
 

 
Ezekiel 19:4
4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter 6:11; 20:13; 21:17. Isaiah 28:1-3. Joel 1:5. Luke 15:13-16.
 

 
Proverbs 6:11
11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
 
Proverbs 20:13
13 ¶ Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
 
Proverbs 21:17
17 ¶ He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. {pleasure: or, sport}
 
Isaiah 28:1-3
1 ¶ Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! {overcome: Heb. broken} 2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. 3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: {under...: Heb. with feet}
 
Joel 1:5
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
 
Luke 15:13-16
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Footnote:
Genesis 9:20, 21.
 

 
Genesis 9:20, 21
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
 
 
Footnote:
1 Corinthians 11:21.
 

 
1 Corinthians 11:21
21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
 
 
Matthew 26:41
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
 
 
Footnote:
Romans 13:13, 14. 2 Corinthians 7:1.
 

 
Romans 13:13, 14
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. {honestly: or, decently} 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
 
2 Corinthians 7:1
1 ¶ Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.