Proverbs 5:15 (Mini Sermon)

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1.      Pro 5:15 – “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.”

1. After warning his son to stay far away from the strange woman and of the dangers of not doing so, in Pro 5:15-19 Solomon gives him the antidote to her temptation.
2. “Solomon here enlarges much upon this, not only prescribing it as an antidote, but urging it as an argument against fornication, that the allowed pleasures of marriage (however wicked wits may ridicule them, who are factors for the unclean spirit) far transcend all the false forbidden pleasures of whoredom.” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, commenting on Pro 5:15-23)
3. Drink waters out of thine own cistern,
   1. Drinking waters out of thine own cistern is an exhortation in poetic language for a man to get his sexual needs fulfilled by his wife and no other (Pro 5:18-20).
   2. Cistern – 1. An artificial reservoir for the storage of water; esp. a water-tight tank in a high part of a building, whence the taps in various parts of it are supplied.

• The waters in one’s own cistern which God has provided are fresh and always in good supply.
  1. Sinners have a tendency to forsake God the fountain of living waters and His provision for their needs and instead hew out their own cisterns which are broken and can hold no water (Jer 2:13).
  2. A man who forsakes the wife that God has given him and goes after a strange woman has done the same thing and will end up with a broken and dry cistern in the end.

1. “Arguments being used to dissuade from conversation with an adulterous woman, taken from the disgrace, diseases, poverty, and distress of mind on reflection, it brings a man to; the wise man proceeds to direct to marriage, as a proper antidote against it: take a wife and cleave to her, and enjoy all the pleasures and comforts of a marriage state. As every man formerly had his own cistern for the reception of water for his own use, 2Ki 18:31; so every man should have his own wife, and but one: and as drinking water quenches thirst, and allays heat; so the lawful enjoyments of the marriage bed quench the thirst of appetite, and allay the heat of lust; for which reason the apostle advises men to marry and not burn, 1Co 7:9; and a man that is married should be content with his own wife, and not steal waters out of another cistern.” (John Gill’s Commentary, commenting on Pro 5:15)

1. and running waters out of thine own well.
   1. Running waters are elsewhere called living waters in scripture (Joh 7:38).
   2. Living adj. – 2. attrib. That lives or has life. said of the Deity (after Biblical use).  d. transf.  (a) In various phrases of biblical origin. Of water: Constantly flowing; also, refreshing.

• Running waters are a poetic description of a wife’s love (Son 4:15).

1. A wife is a well of running water; a whore is a deep ditch and a narrow pit (Pro 23:27).
2. Living water is fresh and refreshing.
3. A man’s sex life with a godly wife should never become stagnant or stale.
   1. Marital, monogamous sex should only get better as time goes on.
   2. Something is wrong in a marriage if sex is no longer enjoyable for both partners.
   3. If this ever becomes the case, seek help before one of the partners goes looking for another well.

“Let him that is married take delight in his wife, and let him be very fond of her, not only because she is the wife that he himself has chosen and he ought to be pleased with his own choice, but because she is the wife that God in his providence appointed for him and he ought much more to be pleased with the divine appointment, pleased with her because she is his own.” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, commenting on Pro 5:15-23)