John Trapp on Proverbs 5:12

Verſ. 12. And ſay, How have I hated, &c.] When caſt out with the Prodigal, and hath nothing left him but a diſeaſed body, a diſtreſſed ſoul, then all too late, hee fills the air with doleful complaints of his former folly, and cries out as hee did, Totum vitae meae tempus perdidi, quia perditè vixi. Bern. O what a wretch, what a beaſt, what a madded Devil was I, ſo wofully to waſte the fat and marrow of my dear and precious time, the flower of mine age, the ſtrength of my body, the vigour of my ſpirits, the whole of mine eſtate, in ſinful pleaſures, and ſenſual delights, &c. Loe here is a kind of repentance,Nunquam ſero ſi ſerio. which though late, yet if it were true, would bee accepted. The Mole, they ſay, begins to ſee when hee dies, and not till then. Oculos incipit aperire moriendo, quos clauſos habuit vivendo. But it is a rare thing, and ſeldome ſeen,To ſtat. ex Plinio. Eccleſ. 7.28. that any whoremonger doth truly repent. One ſuch man among a thouſand have I found, ſaith Solomon (perhaps hee meant himſelf) but a woman among all thoſe have I not found. And yet Scultetus tells us, that Dr. Speiſer Miniſter of Anſborough in Germany, preached there ſo powerfully, Anno 1523. Scultet. Annal. pag. 118. that the common harlots there tolerated, left their filthy trade of life, and became very honeſt women.

And my heart deſpiſed reproof] Experience ſhews, that they that are once given up to this ſin, are more graceleſs, prophane, and incorrigible than others, deriders and contemners of all good counſel, having loſt even the very light of nature, and ſo ſet in their ſin, and ſo wedded and wedged to their wicked waies, as that they cannot bee removed, but by an extraordinary touch from the hand of Heaven.