Not Every Sweet Voice Is Safe (Proverbs 5:3–4; 22:14)
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Proverbs 5:3-4
For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Proverbs 22:14
The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit;
he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
I’ll admit, reading these verses just days before the end of the year can feel a little out of place. Some of you may be thinking, Shouldn’t we be focused on preparing for the year ahead? And I agree—but that’s actually why this passage matters.
This theme runs right through Proverbs, not because I keep returning to it, but because Solomon does. Proverbs 5 through 7 focus heavily on the forbidden woman, set within a deeply relational context: a father warning his son, and later, in Proverbs 31, a mother teaching her son what to seek and what to avoid. Let’s also not pass over what we just read in Proverbs 22 as well. So from start to finish, and everywhere in between, relationships are prevalent. Why? Because Wisdom in Proverbs is always personal and practical.
And when Proverbs talks about temptation—whether forbidden woman or forbidden man—it highlights two primary tools: looks and language.
Other chapters and verses emphasize appearance. Here, the focus is on speech.
And it is tempting.
“Honey drips from her lips.” Honey is good. Sweet. Inviting.
But Proverbs refuses to stop the story where temptation wants to stop it.
Honey may taste sweet, but the bee still stings. What goes down smoothly doesn’t stay smooth. It twists. It turns. It cuts. What promised pleasure becomes wormwood—bitter, sharp, and wounding us at our most vulnerable point. What sounded like freedom becomes a trap, a deep pit.
So what does this look like in real life? How do we guard ourselves—not just in theory, but in practice? And how do we tell the difference between words that are genuinely kind and words that are deceptively sweet?
Proverbs doesn’t answer by telling us to distrust desire. It teaches us to listen wisely.
Here are three simple questions that help.
First: Does this voice move me toward secrecy or toward light?
Wisdom can be seen. Folly needs shadows.
Second: Does this voice feed only my appetite—or also my character?
Honey tastes good. Wisdom forms me—into patience, truth, self-control, love.
Third: Does this voice cost anything?
Flattery is cheap. Love tells the truth and pays a price for my good.
Proverbs confronts one of our culture’s deepest assumptions: If it feels right, it must be right.
Desire is powerful—but it’s not wise enough to rule. It needs truth and love to guide it.
And that brings us to Jesus.
Jesus never flatters. He never manipulates. He doesn’t promise ease—He promises life. Folly is sweet at the beginning and bitter at the end. Jesus can feel bitter at first—and proves infinitely sweet in the end. His words confront in order to heal. His call costs in order to make us whole.
As the year turns, wisdom doesn’t begin with stronger resolve, but with better listening.
Not, What feels good? But, where does this voice lead?
So listen most closely to Christ—the Voice whose truth never deceives and whose love never destroys.
Let’s pray.
