Proverbs 20:1-5

Proverbs 20:1-5
English Standard Version
20 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
    and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
2 The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;
    whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life.
3 It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,
    but every fool will be quarreling.
4 The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;
    he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
5 The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water,
    but a man of understanding will draw it out.

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First, do not let alcohol control you (get drunk), because all it does is start arguments and physical fights.  It ruins relationships when your tongue is loosened, and you say things without thinking or inhibition.  It will lead you astray and give you "liquid courage" to do foolish things that you would never dream of doing when you were sober.  Also be careful of the friends that you keep in this regard.  Choose friends that you can hang out with and have a good time while not being drunk and while not doing wicked things.  Solomon will have more to say about this as will the other Old Testament and New Testament authors.

Fear of getting caught and punished is a good motivator for many to not do evil things.  Whoever commits heinous acts of wickedness, especially acts of violence towards others puts their life at risk, for the Law of the LORD prescribes the death penalty for those who commit high-handed sins of rebellion (murder, rape, incest, human trafficking, and more).  The king of Israel was responsible for enforcing the Law of the LORD, which is why the evil man feared the king and the LORD here.

A man should try to keep out of trouble as much as possible.  He should not go looking for trouble and should definitely not get his friends and family wrapped up in the trouble that he has made for himself.

The slothful man does not do work to prepare ahead of time to make his future tasks easier.  The example here is plowing the field in autumn to help prepare the ground to receive the seed and produce a better harvest in the spring.  The man who doesn't first pull out the rocks and till the soil will not have fertile ground for the seed to take root.  It takes effort to cultivate the ground, remove the weeds, and so on (this is part of the curse of sin).  We can't just expect the ground to produce good fruit for us anymore (one day in the future when all things are made new, it just might do so again).  The man who is not willing ot put in any effort will not reap any reward.

The deep waters of the ocean were mysterious to the Jewish people.  They were often considered the place where the evil spirits rested and stirred up the water, and the Jewish people feared being out on the open seas.  Solomon compares the purposes of a man's heart to these deep waters like the ocean--mysterious and possibly hiding evil thoughts and intentions that would make them dangerous.  Solomon says that wisdom and understanding will help to draw out the motives and intentions of a man's heart and reveal to him why he does what he does (and reveal the truth about a man to others who are wise as well).  Many times, we even fool ourselves when we lie to ourselves about our motives and intentions, but God is never fooled.  He knows the secret things of our hearts even better than we do.  There is nothing hidden from Him.