Proverbs 23:33-35 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
‘Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.’ Scripture now describes the physical instability caused by drunkenness. The drunkard feels like a man lying in the middle of a stormy sea, or attempting to sleep on the top of a ship’s mast. Both pictures portray dizziness, instability, danger, helplessness, and loss of control.
The drunkard becomes physically, mentally, and spiritually unstable. Life itself begins to resemble a ship tossed by violent waves.
‘They have stricken me… they have beaten me… I will seek it yet again.’ The passage ends with one of Scripture’s most tragic descriptions of addiction. The drunkard admits, “They beat me,” and “I felt it not.” Alcohol has dulled his senses so completely that he no longer recognises the seriousness of his condition. Yet the final words reveal the deepest tragedy: “I will seek it yet again.”
Despite pain, shame, injury, broken relationships, and repeated consequences, he returns to the very thing that destroyed him. This is the nature of addiction. The substance that promises freedom eventually becomes a master. The person who once chose to drink now feels compelled to drink.
To be continued…
Living the Word 