Proverbs 7 feels like a parent standing at the doorway of a world his son is about to walk into, repeating the warning because he knows how convincing temptation can sound.

As a mother myself, I know what that’s like — saying the same important things again and again, hoping our kids will hear our love inside the caution. The chapter returns to adultery as the example, yet I also see a picture of sin in general: appealing, persistent, and often disguised so well that it doesn’t even look like a trap.

The young man in the passage doesn’t go looking for death; he simply wanders near it at dusk. And just like those “older folks” told us when I was a teen, there’s a little truth to the line I laugh and repeat now: “Nothing good ever happens being out after dark.” Darkness conceals things from human eyes. It lowers defenses. It makes foolish choices feel safer than they are.

But Psalm 139 corrects my generational proverb with God’s eternal one.
No roof, no night, no secret ever hides a heart from the Lord. “Night is as bright as day” to Him (Ps 139:11-12). He already knows our paths, our weaknesses, and even the words we’ll speak before they reach our tongue (Ps 139:1-4, 13-16).

So the real issue in Proverbs 7 isn’t the time of day; it’s the posture of the soul. The father calls his son to bind truth to himself early — to keep wisdom close enough that when the voice of the seductress becomes relentless, the voice of God is already louder.

I want that for my children.
I want that for myself.

To live as the one who sees the snare and chooses the lamp instead.