Proverbs 31:1-3 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 31:1-3, which read,

v.1, 2 - The words of King Lemuel, the oracle which his mother taught him:  What, O my son?  And what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows?

We come to the last chapter of Proverbs and it contains two sections.  The first is the words of a mother to her son who is a king and the second is the description of a excellent wife.  King Lemuel, by Jewish tradition, is another name for King Solomon so this is his mother's wisdom to him.  There are going to be three areas that she is going to stress to her son who is the king.  The verses give us the phrase "O son" three times to indicate the importance of what is to come.  The king is her son, her biological son, and the son she vowed to God in dedication to be given to God for service.  

v.3 - Do not give your strength to women, or your ways to that which destroys kings.

The first point made by the mother to her son as king is about holiness.  The king is advised to not give his authority to another and specifically a group of women.  The common practice was for a king to have many wives and some of them were foreign to build alliances with kings of other lands.  Along with those foreign wives came foreign gods and this was a downfall of Solomon.  If King Lemuel is King Solomon then he didn't follow his mother's wisdom given to him.  His holiness was compromised by his practice.  He followed the culture rather than following the Creator.  

Listen or read this very clear instruction in a section to kings in Deuteronomy 17:17 which reads,

He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won't go astray.  He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.

Listen or read of King Solomon's ways in 1 Kings 11:1-4, which reads,

King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh's daughter:  Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelite, "You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods."  To these women Solomon was deeply attached in love.  He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away.  When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods.  He was not whole-heartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.

Solomon did the opposite of this wisdom and it effected his holiness, his heart before God.  His being associated with these women and their foreign gods ended with him following those gods over the one true God.  This is a big lesson about who we surround ourselves with that build into our lives.  It could also be another reference for the New Testament passages warning Christians to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers in preparation for the life long commitment of marriage.  Holiness in following after God, which is our strength, is lost when we follow the practices of the world and not the direct commandments of God.

We will stop here today and leave the other two advices for King Lemuel for Friday.   It is enough to contemplate this one instruction to keep our authority figure down to one.  We can get wrapped up in the beauty presented by others but they lead to downfall.  The description of King Solomon shows us that the man who had all the money and all the girls and all the fame ended without all of his heart to God.  Beware and be warned of this practice to take upon things in your life that will drain you of your devotion to God.  They may look harmless at first but that is a common scheme of Satan to start small and then grow big.  King Solomon went against a direct command of God how many times?  It probably got easier to make this ungodly decision as time when on but this kind of easy is not good.  Let us pray.

"Lord may we see the pitfalls that are before us.  May we listen to godly counsel given to us.  May we read of Your direct words concerning sin.  May this not fall on deaf ears but may we enjoy the holiness of God as we walk in ways to glorify You.  Help us to purge those things allowed by You that we have allowed into our lives that are zapping us of our strength in You in accordance to Your word.  Amen."

Pastor Adam 
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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