And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
The closing portion of Proverbs 5 holds deep philosophy to be read slowly and pondered more deliberately than historical matter. It gives instruction meant to take hold upon the human heart of both men and women and to warn them against the sins condemned there, yet it is not well to read it aloud in a mixed assembly of men and women. In its setting the chapter warns young men against sexual temptation and directs them to fill their minds with its counsel. It teaches that people should heed instruction and reproof rather than despise them.
The verse voices the future regretful recognition of one who rejected correction and guidance, confessing hatred of instruction and a heart that despised reproof. It warns that refusing counsel after a sinful, headstrong, and disobedient course leads to suffering, trouble, and sorrow. It thereby illustrates the importance of accepting correction. Rejecting reproof and refusing instruction leads away from wisdom, which is the path of life. That rejection brings bitter regret and leads to spiritual disease, death, and ruin.
The remorse comes after pursuing sensual pleasure and suffering its consequences, from one who did not listen to his teachers. His cries and tears cannot restore the peace and innocence he cast aside or undo the ruin his conduct brought upon him. Those who violate God's commands will suffer the rod, and when their bodies are consumed they will mourn that they rejected correction. It is remorse at the last, mourning when flesh and body are consumed in disgrace and ruin and fallen virtue.
That end is reached by a path begun when children are left without gospel discipline and modest apparel. Pride is fostered in infancy by fine clothing and fashionable costume and trinkets. Youth then mingle with giddy company at parties of pleasure, the dance, nightly concerts and revels, and receive attention from unprincipled licentious young men. Those indulgences are stepping-stones to destruction, as fire taken in the bosom must burn the clothes. Wasting life on novel reading rather than useful and holy pursuits can foster a depraved appetite and bring a person to ruin. Such a reader will too late grieve over having hated instruction and despised correction.
The verse describes the remorse of young people who fall into sexual vice and a life of shame. Leaving children in dense ignorance of the nature of passion and of the great and sacred functions of the body leaves them to receive their first knowledge surreptitiously in vulgar and corrupting forms. Leaving girls in ignorance of moral dangers leaves them to walk alone on perilous paths where a single false step commits them to the fate of the prostitute. Withholding this instruction from false modesty is a crime against health of body and of soul. Fathers and mothers must therefore themselves give sons and daughters knowledge of the forces and laws of physical life and not leave them uninstructed.
Each finally lost person will speak this bitter lament for himself after the fatal plunge into ruin that has no shore and no rescue. Hating instruction and despising reproof means rejecting earnest cautions and entreaties in behalf of the soul. It means rejecting God's mercy and correction while one can still turn from evil. Persistence in refusal ends in despairing regret when it is too late to be saved and the opportunity to find mercy has passed.
The closing portion of Proverbs 5 holds deep philosophy to be read slowly and pondered more deliberately than historical matter. It gives instruction meant to take hold upon the human heart of both men and women and to warn them against the sins condemned there, yet it is not well to read it aloud in a mixed assembly of men and women. In its setting the chapter warns young men against sexual temptation and directs them to fill their minds with its counsel. It teaches that people should heed instruction and reproof rather than despise them.
The verse voices the future regretful recognition of one who rejected correction and guidance, confessing hatred of instruction and a heart that despised reproof. It warns that refusing counsel after a sinful, headstrong, and disobedient course leads to suffering, trouble, and sorrow. It thereby illustrates the importance of accepting correction. Rejecting reproof and refusing instruction leads away from wisdom, which is the path of life. That rejection brings bitter regret and leads to spiritual disease, death, and ruin.
The remorse comes after pursuing sensual pleasure and suffering its consequences, from one who did not listen to his teachers. His cries and tears cannot restore the peace and innocence he cast aside or undo the ruin his conduct brought upon him. Those who violate God's commands will suffer the rod, and when their bodies are consumed they will mourn that they rejected correction. It is remorse at the last, mourning when flesh and body are consumed in disgrace and ruin and fallen virtue.
That end is reached by a path begun when children are left without gospel discipline and modest apparel. Pride is fostered in infancy by fine clothing and fashionable costume and trinkets. Youth then mingle with giddy company at parties of pleasure, the dance, nightly concerts and revels, and receive attention from unprincipled licentious young men. Those indulgences are stepping-stones to destruction, as fire taken in the bosom must burn the clothes. Wasting life on novel reading rather than useful and holy pursuits can foster a depraved appetite and bring a person to ruin. Such a reader will too late grieve over having hated instruction and despised correction.
The verse describes the remorse of young people who fall into sexual vice and a life of shame. Leaving children in dense ignorance of the nature of passion and of the great and sacred functions of the body leaves them to receive their first knowledge surreptitiously in vulgar and corrupting forms. Leaving girls in ignorance of moral dangers leaves them to walk alone on perilous paths where a single false step commits them to the fate of the prostitute. Withholding this instruction from false modesty is a crime against health of body and of soul. Fathers and mothers must therefore themselves give sons and daughters knowledge of the forces and laws of physical life and not leave them uninstructed.
Each finally lost person will speak this bitter lament for himself after the fatal plunge into ruin that has no shore and no rescue. Hating instruction and despising reproof means rejecting earnest cautions and entreaties in behalf of the soul. It means rejecting God's mercy and correction while one can still turn from evil. Persistence in refusal ends in despairing regret when it is too late to be saved and the opportunity to find mercy has passed.