Proverbs 7:6-20 (NLT)
6 While I was at the window of my house, looking through the curtain, 7 I saw some naive young men, and one in particular who lacked common sense. 8 He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her house. 9 It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell. 10 The woman approached him, seductively dressed and sly of heart. 11 She was the brash, rebellious type, never content to stay at home.12 She is often in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner.13 She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look she said, 14 “I’ve just made my peace offerings and fulfilled my vows.15 You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are! 16 My bed is spread with beautiful blankets, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen. 17 I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses, 19 for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip. 20 He has taken a wallet full of money with him and won’t return until later this month.”

In these verses King Solomon tells a story he witnessed as he looked through his curtain towards the streets. He saw a young man who was out at night; a dangerous time to be alone walking. A married woman who made her rounds with men came up to seduce the young man. She tempted him and gave him excuses to ease his mind. She laid a romantic trap speaking of fine linen, perfume and spices. Then she told him how her husband was away and would not be back for a period of time.

Sin has not changed its ways. If you were to read Matthew Henry’s commentary on the above verses the following words would be found: “Such a story as this would serve the lewd profane poets of our age to make a play of, and the harlot with them would be a heroine; nothing would be so entertaining to the audience, nor give them so much diversion, as her arts of beguiling the young gentleman and drawing in the country squire; her conquests would be celebrated as the triumphs of wit and love, and the comedy would conclude very pleasantly; and every young man that saw it acted would covet to be so picked up.” Matthew Henry lived from 1662 until 1714 yet his words could describe current times. In 1995 a movie called the Bridges of Madison County was a hit in the theaters. The movie was about a married woman whose husband and children were away from home. The woman met a photographer looking for directions to a covered wooded bridge he wanted to photograph for a magazine article. A four day love affair ensues but the wife decides in the end to remain with her family. She documents her lost love in a 3 volume dairy, which her children find upon her death. Her request is to have her ashes spread near an old covered bridge where her former lover’s ashes had also been placed. Her children are left to deal with the request, which they finally submit to believing their mom sacrificed her happiness for them. Whether it was real life, a movie or a play, it was still a description of sin. Since Adam and Eve sin has remained all around us; tempting us and leading us away from God. We have fantasized about sin and glamorized it to make it more acceptable. But we have a God who wants us free from sin and listens to our pleas for help. King David wrote, “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.”