Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who redness of eyes?
The wise man does not open with a warning. He opens with a riddle. Six short questions pile up a list of miseries, and none of them names a cause. One commentator notes that the questions also carry the force of cries, and that the last one may mean darkened eyes rather than red ones:
"Who has (or, oh!) woe? Who has (or, alas!) sorrow? … Who has redness (or, darkness) of eyes?"
The next verse answers the riddle. One writer reads the six questions as symptoms with a single cause:
Verse 29 asks six questions: who has woe, sorrow, strife, complaining, wounds without cause, and redness of eyes? If these symptoms are present, the sufferer certainly has only himself to blame. He has given himself over to indulging in strong drink.
Other sins ruin a person too. Why does this one close the chapter with such a long list of shame?
Of all the desires of the flesh, none exposes a person to so much shame and grief, from start to finish, as drunkenness. Other sins may be deadly to yourself or to those closest to you, but this one dulls the mind more, deadens feeling, and leads to both foolishness and violence. "Who has woe? … Who has redness of eyes?" The answer is easy: "Those who linger long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine." Heavy drinking always looks for more and stronger stimulants, until the craving for them becomes overpowering.
The warning is not dropped in at random. It closes a chapter that opened at a ruler's dinner table:
The chapter began with the evil of self-indulgence in eating, above all in a ruler's house. It ends with the even plainer danger of heavy drinking, wherever it happens. What a vivid sketch the wise man draws!
The wise man then goes back to the start of the process — the look of the cup. His advice is to stop the desire before it grows:
The advice that follows is just as wise: cut the desire off at the very start. "Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly." Resist the beginnings. Do not be caught by the attractive look. "Avoid it, do not pass by it, turn from it, and go on your way." "The wine of violence" is not the only danger. What is bright and pleasant is a danger too.
The bite comes at the end, not the beginning. The same holds for anything we insist on having our own way in:
What is the end of it in this world, which the preacher warns about here? "In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder." This is true of following our own will in anything, and it is especially the effect of giving in to this degrading pleasure. What physical pain it brings! What self-blame it leaves on the conscience!
The cup also pictures every pleasure people reach for to fill an emptiness inside:
This is why fallen man has a hunger in his heart that nothing seems able to satisfy. The world offers to cure this painful sickness. But the sheer number of its remedies is evidence against its proud claims. Those who have tried them complain bitterly that they have spent their money on what is not bread, and their labour on what does not satisfy… And wine is only a picture of the best of earthly joys, which never satisfy, and are nothing but emptiness and grief of spirit.
Naming the disease is not the same as curing it. One writer warns that a pledge to give up drink treats only a symptom:
What the sinner needs at the start is a new life. He cannot take one step toward God before that. And this is exactly what the Gospel announces at once, without money and without price. The gift, the free gift of God, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord… So to occupy people with a pledge never to drink is to hand them a fake medicine at best. And it treats one symptom, not the root of the disease. It turns them away from the Gospel, which cures the drunkard as effectively as it cures anyone else.
- Riddle — The verse names six miseries before it names their cause. The reader has to answer for himself.
- Blame — The wounds come "without cause" from outside. The sufferer has only himself to blame.
- Beginning — The advice is to resist the first look, and to cut the desire off at the very start.
- End — What sparkles in the cup bites at the last, and the same is true of all our own will.
- Cure — A pledge treats one symptom. A new life through Jesus Christ reaches the root, and the Gospel cures the drunkard as effectively as anyone else.
-- They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.
Verse 29 asks six questions about a man with woe, quarrels, unexplained bruises and bloodshot eyes. Verse 30 gives the answer. It is not bad luck. It is a habit with two parts: staying too long, then going out to look for something stronger.
Commentators read verses 29 and 30 as one unit: a diagnosis and its cause. The second half cuts deepest. The drinker is not simply overtaken. He goes looking.
Of all the cravings of the flesh, none exposes a person to so much shame and grief, from first to last, as drunkenness. Other cravings may bring deadly ruin on us or on our partners. But this one dulls the mind more, empties it of sense, and leads to both folly and violence. "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?" The answer is easy: "Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine." Heavy drinking always seeks more and stronger stimulation, until the craving for it becomes overpowering.
A modern reader might assume that mixing means watering down. Here the opposite is true — and mixing wine is not always bad in Scripture.
The mixing here was not, as in some cases, to dilute the drink. It was to increase its strength… The same verb is used for mixing spice with wine in Proverbs 9:5 and Isaiah 5:22, which Gesenius groups together. One is a good connection, the other an evil one.
The six symptoms of verse 29 are not sent from outside. Trace them back and they end at a choice, and at something that looked good.
If these symptoms are present, it is certain that the sufferer has only himself to blame. He has given himself up to indulging in intoxicating liquor (v. 30). It seems very attractive and enticing (v. 31), not only by its taste, but by its look. However, at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper (v. 32).
The search never ends, and the chapter follows it to the end. The man who has been beaten and cannot feel it still wants more.
Their talk is just as idiotic. "They have struck me"; yet, "I am not hurt." "They have beaten me"; yet, "I did not feel it." "When shall I awake?" they mumble. Even then they are not ashamed to say, "I will seek it yet again."
The trap works by attraction. So the advice in verse 31 aims earlier than the drinking. It aims at the look.
The advice given is just as wise: stop the desire at the start. "Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly." Resist the beginnings. Do not be caught by the attractive look. "Avoid it, do not go near it, turn from it, and pass on." "The wine of violence" is not the only danger. The bright, pleasant kind is a danger too.
The cup stands for something wider. The heart has a hunger that no earthly joy can fill.
This is why man in his fallen condition has hunger in his heart, which nothing seems able to satisfy. The world offers to cure this painful sickness. But the sheer number of its remedies is itself evidence against its proud claims… And wine is only a picture of the best of earthly joys. They never satisfy. They are only vanity and a chasing after wind.
One writer sets drunkenness beside being filled with the Spirit. Both carry a person outside himself, but from opposite sources.
The Spirit-filled believer is the subject of an extraordinary lift. He is carried clean outside himself, centred in Christ, and enabled for the service of God in a power which is more than human. The man who is drunk with wine is carried outside himself in a way that is wholly evil. By the Spirit of God we may be carried outside ourselves in a way that is wholly good.
- Seeking. The six miseries of verse 29 belong to those who stay long and then go looking for more. The drinker does the searching, so he alone is to blame.
- Stronger. The mixed wine was spiced to increase its strength, not to dilute it. Heavy drinking always needs a bigger dose to do the same job.
- Sooner. Because the bait is the sparkle in the cup, the warning targets the look, not the last glass: resist the beginnings.
- Circling. Beaten and unable to feel it, the drunkard still says he will seek it again. The search closes into a loop that teaches him nothing.
- Satisfied. Wine pictures the best of the world's joys, and they never fill the heart's hunger. The alternative is not emptiness. It is being filled with the Spirit and carried outside yourself in a way that is wholly good.
Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and goeth down smoothly
Proverbs 23 closes with a long warning about drink, and this verse aims at the eye rather than the throat. Why does the warning stop us at the look, before a drop is swallowed, and what does the cup stand for?
The verse follows what the drink does in the cup and in the throat. Translators have rendered the last phrase in two ways, and one writer explains which sense fits:
As far as the sense goes, the words translated "moves itself upwards" would be far better rendered "goes down sweetly," "smoothly," or "straightly." The verse pictures a man getting drunk, not wine fermenting. The seductive power belongs to the cup of wine. The verse gives no hint at all about signs the liquid shows in the vat. It certainly does not become alcoholic after it is poured into the cup, as that odd reading suggests.
The counsel is preventive. It targets the moment when nothing has gone wrong yet:
The advice to nip the desire in the bud is just as wise. "Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles (or gives its colour) in the cup and goes down smoothly (or moves itself aright)." Resist it at the start. Do not be caught by the attractive look. "Avoid it, do not go on it, turn from it, and pass on." The danger is not only "the wine of violence," but the bright and pleasant cup as well.
The chapter has already listed woe, sorrow, quarrels, complaints, bruises and bloodshot eyes. One writer sets this appetite apart from all the others:
Of all the lusts of the flesh, none exposes a person so much to shame and grief as drunkenness, from first to last. Others may destroy you or those closest to you. This one dulls the mind more, leaves a person more senseless, and leads to both folly and violence... Lack of restraint always looks for stronger stimulants, until the craving for them takes over.
Verse 31 describes the charm, and verse 32 tells how it ends. One writer traces those bloodshot eyes back to the man himself:
If these symptoms are present, it is certain that the sufferer has only himself to blame. He has given himself up to indulging in intoxicating liquor (v. 30). It seems very attractive and enticing (v. 31), not only by its taste, but by its look. However, at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper (v. 32). It will damage his mind and heart. His imagination runs wild and twisted words come out of his mouth, because he has lost control of his senses (v. 33).
Commentators do not read this as a blanket ban on wine. The same writer who presses the warning also traces how the rest of the Bible speaks of it:
He sees in the New Testament neither contradiction nor difficulty. The Lord began His miracles by turning water into wine (John 2)... Finally, the Holy Spirit more than once dwells on the end of the drunkard (1 Cor. 6, Gal. 5)... and warns believers, especially prominent ones, against excess in daily life. At the same time, He takes care (1 Tim. 5:23) to calm the worries of a devoted young servant of Christ. He tells him to use a little wine instead of water, for his stomach and his frequent illnesses. God is so kind that He takes an interest even in the physical weakness and needs of those who love Him!
The warning begins with a literal cup. But the cup also pictures a deeper thirst:
Man in his fallen condition has a hunger in his heart, which nothing seems able to satisfy... Wine is only a picture of the best earthly joys. They never satisfy. They are empty, like chasing the wind.
Taken that way, the warning reaches people who never touch a glass:
Our joy comes from a purer spring than the wine vat. Our strength comes from a mightier source than anything that only stirs up nature. By wine, Scripture means not the literal drink, but whatever stimulates and excites the flesh. A person can avoid wine completely and still be under its power in a spiritual sense. Anything that merely gives fleshly energy, fleshly stimulation, or fleshly excitement in the things of God has to be refused.
- Look — the command lands on the eye. The advice is to nip the inclination in the bud, because the bright and agreeable is a danger as real as the violent.
- Linger — stay with the cup and it takes charge. Lack of restraint always looks for stronger stimulants, until the craving takes over.
- Lose — drink damages the mind and heart. The imagination runs wild, twisted words come out, and self-control is gone. At the last it bites.
- Limit, not ban — Scripture warns the drunkard and warns against excess. Yet it tells Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach.
- Look higher — wine pictures the best earthly joys, and they never satisfy. A person can drink nothing at all and still be ruled by whatever stirs up the flesh.
at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
This warning closes a chapter about appetite, and it comes late on purpose: the cup looks pleasant first, and only then does the verse name what it is. The question the verse forces is one of timing — by which moment do you judge a pleasure, its first taste or its last?
The verse turns on the words "in the end." One commentator asks what that end is, and answers with two kinds of ruin — in the body, and in the conscience.
What is the end in this world that the preacher warns about here? "In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder." This is true of all our own self-will, and it is especially the effect of giving in to this degrading pleasure. What physical pain it brings, and what self-reproach for the conscience!
One reference work traces the snake behind the word "adder."
Translators give this word as "adder" only once, here, and as "cockatrice" four times… It is thought to be the "yellow viper" of Palestine, which hides in dens and whose poison is deadly. It is said to resist the tricks of the snake charmers. The cockatrice was an imaginary creature, and the translators perhaps used the name for some unknown deadly snake.
Why does this one appetite get so much attention? One writer sets it beside the other desires of the flesh, and shows why the craving grows instead of settling.
Of all the lusts of the flesh, none from first to last brings so much shame and grief as drunkenness. Others may bring deadly ruin to a person or to a partner. But this one dulls the mind more, deadens the feelings more, and leads to folly and violence alike… Heavy drinking always seeks more and stronger stimulation, until the thirst for it takes over.
Because the sting comes last, the guard must go up first — while you are still only looking at the cup. One writer tells you to stop before the desire forms, and to treat the pleasant look as a real danger.
Resist the beginnings; do not be caught by the attractive look. "Avoid it, do not pass by it, turn from it, and pass on." "The wine of violence" is not the only danger; the bright and the pleasant are dangers too.
The verses that follow show the bitten man, and the strangest detail is that the pain does not reform him. The drunkenness dulls the very suffering that ought to have been his warning.
He will be like a man lying down on a stormy sea, or on the top of a mast. He is tossed back and forth and left to the beating of the wind and waves. Yet he barely feels the pain of it, because he is in a drunken stupor (vv. 34-35). He learns nothing useful from the experience either. He would rather repeat his foolish ways, though they bring him down lower and lower.
Commentators also read the picture beyond drink. One writer applies the bite to sin itself, and says where independence from God ends.
The sting of the scorpion is in its tail. This is the way of sin. Sin may have its "pleasures for a season," but, like the enchanted wine-cup, "in the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder" (Prov. 23:32). Sin — independence from God — is not only barren: it carries poison inside it, and death at the end.
Another writer treats wine as a stand-in for the best that earth can give. His point is what a creature made for God can and cannot live on.
God placed the thinking creature at the start in a happy relationship with Himself. So that creature cannot find lasting satisfaction in anything below him, whatever resources he seems to have… And wine is only a picture of the best of earthly joys. They never satisfy. They are only emptiness and frustration.
- Look — the danger enters through the eye. Refuse the attractive look. What is bright and pleasant can ruin you as surely as violence itself.
- Linger — no other appetite brings so much shame and grief. It never stays at its first strength; it keeps demanding more, until the thirst takes over.
- Bite — the sting comes last, and that is the point. Judge the cup by its end: physical pain, and a conscience that turns on itself.
- Stupor — the pain stops teaching. The man barely feels it, goes back to the same folly, and sinks lower.
- Beyond — the same shape fits all self-will and every earthly joy. Sweet at the start, poison at the end, and never enough for a heart made for God.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall speak froward things;
This verse comes at the end of a long warning about heavy drinking. It describes the stage where drink has taken control of the senses — what a person then sees, and what he then says.
Drink is not like the other appetites. It does something to a person the others do not do, and the passage names exactly who ends up this way.
Of all the body's cravings, none brings so much shame and grief, from start to finish, as drunkenness. Others may be deadly to you or to your partner, but this one numbs the mind more, deadens feeling, and leads to both folly and violence... The question is easily answered: those who linger long over wine, and those who go to try mixed drinks. Heavy drinking always seeks more and stronger stimulants, until the thirst for them takes over.
There is no one else to blame for the wounds listed in verse 29.
If these symptoms are present, it is certain that the sufferer has only himself to blame. He has given himself up to indulging in intoxicating liquor (v. 30).
The verse names the eyes and the heart. Drink takes both out of the person's control. Older translations read "your eyes shall behold strange women" here, where the ESV has "strange things." Writers who used the older wording bring out the shame that follows.
The foolish things it produces are so stupid that they expose the victims to mockery. They also stir up feelings and words that are strange to them at ordinary times. "Your eyes shall behold strange women, and your heart shall utter perverse things" — behaviour they themselves regret when sober. They can hardly believe they brought such disgrace on themselves.
Sight and speech are only the surface. The mind and heart behind them have stopped working properly.
Drink will badly affect the mind and heart. The imagination runs wild, and perverse words come out of the mouth, because the man has lost control of his senses (v. 33).
Verse 33 shows the outcome. Verse 31 shows where a person can still stop it. The warning goes to the eye, before anyone lifts the cup.
The advice that follows is just as wise: stop the desire at the start. "Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly." Resist the first steps. Do not let the attractive look catch you. "Avoid it, do not go near it, turn from it, and pass on." "The wine of violence" is not the only danger. The bright and pleasant kind is dangerous too.
The picture runs on past verse 33. It ends with a man asleep on a heaving sea, who wakes and goes back for more.
He will be like a man lying down on a stormy sea, or on the top of a mast. He is tossed back and forth and left to the beating of the elements. Yet he hardly feels the pain of it, because of his drunken stupor (vv. 34–35). He learns nothing valuable from the experience either. He would rather repeat his folly, though it brings him lower and lower.
Some writers take the principle beyond the bottle. Anything that stirs up the flesh can take hold of a person the way wine does.
Our joy comes from a purer spring than the wine vat. Our strength comes from a mightier source than anything that only stimulates nature. By wine, Scripture does not mean the literal drink. It means whatever stimulates and stirs up the flesh, whatever that may be. A person can refuse alcohol altogether, and yet be completely under its power, spiritually speaking.
The New Testament does more than forbid drunkenness. It puts something in its place, and the point turns on who is in control.
Ephesians 5:18 sets two conditions against each other. It says, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." Both conditions speak of influence or government. If I am drunk with wine, I am under the influence of alcohol; I am governed by it. It shows in what I do.
- Sip — The trouble starts with a choice, not an accident. It belongs to those who linger long over wine and go to try mixed drinks. The craving always wants more.
- Sight — The warning goes to the eye. "Do not look" comes before the cup, because the attractive, sparkling look is itself part of the danger.
- Speech — Verse 33 describes lost control, not chosen wickedness. The imagination runs wild and perverse words come out. Once sober, the person is ashamed of them.
- Stupor — The end of the road is a man asleep on a heaving sea. He feels no blows and learns nothing. On waking, his first thought is more drink.
- Spirit — The real question in every case is who governs. The answer is not just to avoid wine but to be filled with the Spirit. Anything that stirs up the flesh can rule a person the way wine does.
and thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, and as he that lieth down upon the top of a mast
Proverbs 23 closes with a portrait of the heavy drinker, and this verse is the picture at its centre: a man asleep in the last place anyone should sleep. Two images stand side by side. One man floats out at sea. Another lies high on a ship's mast. Both ask the same question: what does drink do to a person's sense of danger?
One commentator ranks this one sin above every other for the shame it brings.
Of all the lusts of the flesh, none from first to last exposes so much to shame and grief as intoxication. Others may be deadly to a person or to their partner, but this one dulls the senses more, and it leads to both folly and violence. "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?" The answer comes at once: "Those who linger long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine." Heavy drinking always looks for more and stronger stimulants, until the craving takes over.
The drunk man is in danger and cannot feel it. Then comes a second picture, worse than the first.
But this is not all. "You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea." All sense of danger is gone in this brief madness. Only one thing goes beyond it — the opposite danger: "like one who lies on the top of a mast."
A man asleep at the masthead is not still. Every wave swings him through the air. The same numbness that hides the danger also hides the bruises.
He will be like one who lies down on a rough sea or on the top of a mast. He is tossed back and forth and left to the beating of wind and waves. Yet his drunken stupor keeps him from feeling much of the pain (vv. 34-35). Nor does he learn anything valuable from his experience, for he prefers to repeat the folly of his ways, though it brings him down lower and lower.
When the sleeper stirs, his own words show how far the numbness has gone.
The talk is just as foolish. "They have struck me", yet, "I am not hurt." "They have beaten me", yet, "I did not feel it." "When shall I awake?" they babble out. Even then they are not ashamed to say, "I will seek it yet again."
Going back for another drink is not a free choice. One writer shows what each cup does to the drinker, and makes him the example of a wider rule.
Men are riveting their own chains… Take the drunkard. Every cup he takes makes him more of a slave to it. He knows how hard and bitter that service is, and what a terrible master he works for. "He that commits sin is the slave of sin," says the Lord. He cannot give up his master's service when he pleases. There is One surely ready to hear his cry; but that is another matter.
Because the end of the road is a man asleep at the masthead, the counsel in this passage aims much earlier — at the moment the glass still looks attractive.
No less wise is the advice given to nip the inclination in the bud. "Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly." Resist the beginnings. Do not be caught by the attractive look. "Avoid it, do not pass by it, turn from it, and pass on." "The wine of violence" is not the only danger, but the bright and the agreeable also.
Some people are already past resisting the beginnings. For them the answer is not willpower but rescue.
The power that drink has over people is astonishing… yet I believe grace can give victory over it, as over every sin — a real deliverance. Clear thinking about the truth is not the question here. Real deliverance is… In a sin that has a grip on a man, power comes in, and the sin stops being present to his mind as a temptation. That is the real intervention of God, and it is what a man must look for in such cases.
- Look — the warning starts at the eye, not the mouth. The danger is the bright, sparkling look, so turn away and pass on.
- Numbness — no sin dulls a person more. It takes away the sense of danger, so a man can sleep out at sea or high on a mast.
- Blows — every wave throws the sleeper about, yet he says he was not hurt and felt nothing. The bruises teach him nothing.
- Chains — "I will seek it yet again" is the slave's answer. Every cup rivets the chain tighter, and he cannot leave that service when he pleases.
- Rescue — One stands ready to hear his cry. Grace gives real deliverance, not just clearer thinking.
-- ''They have smitten me, [and] I am not sore; they have beaten me, [and] I knew it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.''
Here Solomon lets the drunkard speak for himself. Beaten and bruised, the man feels nothing. His first thought on waking is the next drink. It raises the hardest question in the whole picture — not why a man starts, but why he goes back.
The drink has done its work on the body before it speaks through the mouth. One writer shows what that numbness costs the man.
He will be like someone lying down on a stormy sea, or on the top of a mast. He is thrown back and forth, left to the beating of the weather. Yet he feels almost none of the pain, because of his drunken stupor (vv. 34-35). He learns nothing worth having from the experience either. He would rather repeat his folly, though it drags him lower and lower.
Read the words slowly and they contradict themselves. One writer fastens on the shameless ending.
The talk is just as senseless. "They struck me"; yet, "I was not hurt". "They beat me"; yet, "I did not feel it". "When shall I awake?" they mumble. Even then they are not ashamed to say, "I must have another drink."
"I must have another drink" is not a one-off decision. It is where the chain has been heading from the first cup. The same writer traces it back to the questions that open the passage.
Of all the lusts of the flesh, none from beginning to end brings so much shame and grief as drunkenness. Others may be fatally ruinous to us or to those closest to us. But this one is more stupefying, more senseless, and inclined to both folly and violence. "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?" The answer comes easily: "Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine." A lack of self-control always looks for more and stronger stimulants. In the end the craving for them becomes overpowering.
The man cannot feel the bruises now, but the passage has already said what waits for him.
What is the end in this world that the preacher warns about here? "In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder." This is true of everything we do by our own will, but it is especially the effect of giving in to this degrading pleasure. What bodily suffering it brings, and what self-reproach for the conscience!
Since he feels nothing, is he still answerable? One writer answers with a courtroom picture.
Let me answer with a comparison. Think of that poor woman making her two hundred and first appearance before the magistrates on the old charge of being "drunk and disorderly." Suppose someone argued that she had sunk so low that she was morally unable to resist alcohol or choose a better life. Suppose he said she was therefore no longer responsible, or liable to punishment. Would that argument stand? Of course not. No sane person thinks you only have to sink low enough into crime to be free of responsibility.
The cure comes much earlier than this verse, while the cup still only looks attractive.
No less wise is the advice to cut the desire off at the start. "Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly." Resist the beginnings; do not be caught by the attractive look. "Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on." The "wine of violence" is not the only danger. The bright and pleasant kind is a danger too.
Wine is not the only thing that goes to a person's head. One writer widens the warning.
Wine stands for anything that merely excites or stimulates for the moment. A man may be intoxicated by pleasures, as Solomon was for a time. He may be intoxicated by personal pride, by making money, or by any of the many things that stir the desires of the flesh. These can affect the thoughts so much that they spoil sound, sober judgment for a time. Let us remember this as we are told, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18).
The verse leaves the man in a cycle he cannot break. One writer sets that helplessness beside something stronger.
How real and great is the depravity of man when left to himself and to Satan! How real and still greater is the delivering grace of God in the name of the Lord Jesus and by His own Spirit! In Jesus He has revealed Himself to us. We were slaves of lust and passion under Satan's power. So He worked by Jesus to rescue all who believe with a sure title, and made it good in our souls by His Spirit.
- Craving: the appetite never stands still. It looks for more and stronger stimulants until the desire overpowers the man.
- Numbness: the same stupor that dulls the blows also dulls the lesson, so he learns nothing and sinks lower.
- Responsibility: sinking low never cancels responsibility. No court would accept the plea of helplessness.
- Prevention: the cure is at the beginning, not the end. Refuse the attractive look, and turn away before the first cup.
- Rescue: drink, pleasure, pride, money — all can intoxicate. God's delivering grace in Jesus is greater, and He makes it good in the soul by His Spirit.