Proverbs 9:18

Her guests are in the depths of hell.

Whose guests shall we be?

It is through blindness and inconsideration that any man is entangled in the snares of the foolish woman. We are naturally starving creatures, and cannot find happiness within ourselves. As every man must have food to satisfy the natural cravings of hunger, so every soul must have some gratification to the desires of happiness. Wisdom and Folly do each spread a leash for men. The question is, Whose guests shall we be? And did we possess any wisdom, or any true and well-directed self-love, it might be easily decided. The entertainments of Wisdom are soul-quickening provision. They that hear her calls shall eat that which is good, and their souls shall live for ever. The guests of Wisdom are in the heights of heaven. They feast on the hidden manna, and on the fruits of the tree of life. The provisions of the foolish woman are a deadly, though perhaps a slow, poison. Her guests have their portion with the wicked giants who brought on the world a universal deluge, and with the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, who are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Let us consider where Joseph now is, and what blessings are come upon the crown of the head of him who so bravely resisted temptations the most alluring and the most threatening. Let us, on the other hand, remember Sodom and Gomorrah. (G. Lawson.).