The scope of the passage is a warning against seventh-commandment sins, which youth is so prone to, the temptations to which are so violent, the examples of which are so many, and which, where admitted, are so destructive to all the seeds of virtue in the soul. We are warned--
I. That we do not listen to the charms of this sin.
1. How fatal the consequences will be! The terrors of conscience. The torments of hell.
2. How false the charms are! The design is to keep them from choosing the path of life, to prevent them from being religious. In order thereunto, to keep them from pondering the path of life.
II. That we do not approach the borders of sin. The caution is very pressing.
1. We ought to have a very great dread and detestation of the sin.
2. We ought industriously to avoid everything that may be an occasion of this sin, or a step towards it. Those that would keep out of harm must keep out of harm’s way.
3. We ought to be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy, and not be over-confident of the strength of our own resolutions.
4. Whatever has become a snare to us and an occasion of sin, we must part with at any cost (Mat_5:28-30).
III. The arguments enforcing the caution. The mischiefs that attend this sin.
1. It blasts the reputation.
2. It wastes the time.
3. It ruins the estate.
4. It is destructive to the health.
5. It will fill the mind with terror, if ever conscience be awakened.
Solomon here brings in the convinced sinner reproaching himself and aggravating his own folly. He will then most bitterly lament it. (Matthew Henry.)
