STEVE WEBB - 0:00  
An alphabet of wifely excellence.

INTRO S12E288 - 0:10  
And here we are again. Hi, this is Steve Webb and this is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible. Podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster. This is the daily show where we're reading through the entire Bible in a year. Today is Poetry Thursday and we'll complete the book of Proverbs with a reading of chapter 31. After the reading, I've got some comments. Then there'll be an On This Date in Church History segment, and we'll have a short time of prayer. I'm calling today's episode, “A Mother's Advice”. The show notes page for today is at lifespringmedia.com/s12e288. My email address is steve@lifespringmedia.com And with that, I think we should get started. 

PROVERBS 31 () - 0:50  
Proverbs, chapter 31. (1) The words of Lemuel king of Massa, which his mother taught him:

(2) What, my son? What, son who came from within me? What, son of my promises? (3) Do not give your strength to women, or your ways to that which destroys kings. (4) It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink. (5) Or they might drink and forget the law, and go against the rights of all who are suffering. (6) Give strong drink to him who is about to die, and wine to him whose life is full of trouble. (7) Let him drink and forget how poor he is, and remember his trouble no more. (8) Open your mouth for those who cannot speak, and for the rights of those who are left without help. (9) Open your mouth. Be right and fair in what you decide. Stand up for the rights of those who are suffering and in need.

(10) Who can find a good wife? For she is worth far more than rubies that make one rich. (11) The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will never stop getting good things. (12) She does him good and not bad all the days of her life. (13) She looks for wool and flax, and works with willing hands. (14) She is like ships that trade. She brings her food from far away. (15) She rises while it is still night and makes food for all those in her house. She gives work for the young women to do. (16) She gives careful thought to a field and buys it. She plants grape-vines from what she has earned. (17) She makes herself ready with strength, and makes her arms strong. (18) She sees that what she has earned is good. Her lamp does not go out at night. (19) She puts her hands to the wheel to make cloth. (20) She opens her hand to the poor, and holds out her hands to those in need. (21) She is not afraid of the snow for those in her house, for all of them are dressed in red. (22) She makes coverings for herself. Her clothes are linen cloth and purple. (23) Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the leaders of the land. (24) She makes linen clothes and sells them. She brings belts to those who trade. (25) Her clothes are strength and honor. She is full of joy about the future. (26) She opens her mouth with wisdom. The teaching of kindness is on her tongue. (27) She looks well to the ways of those in her house, and does not eat the bread of doing nothing. (28) Her children rise up and honor her. Her husband does also, and he praises her, saying: (29) “Many daughters have done well, but you have done better than all of them.” (30) Pleasing ways lie and beauty comes to nothing, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. (31) Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates. 

COMMENTS - 3:35  
Well, beloved, this chapter is a mother's advice to her son. The son's name is King Lemuel, and that's really just about all we know about him. Scholars have a fair amount of conjecture about him. But there are no facts. One thing that seems to be true is that there was no king in either Judah or Israel that had this name. So instead of spending time on who he was, let's just talk a little bit about the content of the chapter.

This mother warns her son about the dangers of sexual immorality, which is good advice. And the advice would be just as good as if it were from a mother to a daughter or a father to either son or daughter. Both men and women invite all kinds of trouble if they're not sexually pure. Yeah, I know that sounds old-fashioned, but look at the consequences on our culture today brought on by the sexual revolution that began in my generation, that began in the 60s. I was born in the 50s. The 60s is when the birth control pill came in and then, Katie bar the door, it was all open. During that time, Roe v. Wade became the law of the land. And now we've had 10s of millions of abortions in America if not hundreds of millions by now. And STDs are rampant. About a quarter of the children in the US live in a single-parent home if probably even more than that now. And we in the United States have the highest percentage of single-parent homes in the world. Beloved, God's plan for marriage is not to take our fun away. It's to give us a better and happier life. So this mother's advice to her son was good advice back then, and today.

And then this wise mother talked to her son about the dangers of alcohol. Nearly everybody has a family member or knows someone whose life was ruined by alcohol. As an example, I never met my paternal grandfather, he was killed while driving drunk before I was born. And my biological father was an alcoholic, as were three of his four brothers, if I'm not mistaken. The reason I have any doubt about that is I really didn't know that side of my family as my parents got divorced when I was three years old. I could go on with other stories about how alcohol has ruined the lives of some of the people that I know, but don't get me wrong, alcohol can be used responsibly. But a dangerous substance has to be used with the realization that it is indeed dangerous.

And then this mom talked about the importance of defending the defenseless. This was certainly important for a king or any person in a position of power, but it's true for all of us, too. What are we doing for the defenseless? What is your church doing? Some churches feed the needy, some have programs for the homeless, some are active in right-to-life activities. And then you as an individual can volunteer in soup kitchens, or do prison ministry or counsel women who are considering abortions literally the sky is the limit. Ask God what he would have you do.

And then verses 10 to 31 are probably the verses that proverbs 31 is best known for. The mother tells her son the value of a woman of character and virtue. In the original Hebrew each verse begins with a consecutive letter of the alphabet. It's an acrostic. A lot of times acrostics are written so that it's easier to memorize the material. One commentator called this “an alphabet of wifely excellence”. I like that. Someone else called it the “ABCs of wisdom”. And that's good, too.

Well, as I was rereading these verses, I was thinking about how to talk about them because my wife, the Lovely Lady LeeAnn, comes as close to fulfilling these verses as I can imagine any woman can. I could tell you about our marriage and how I truly do love her more every day. And how reading this list made me fall even more in love with her as I compared her to the list. Well, I told her how I felt, and she only said, “I fall so short. I'm not that woman”. And then I thought that you probably wouldn't even believe me, or you'd think that I was just gilding the lily, but you've heard me talk about her before. And I really feel this way about her.

So I'm just going to say this, I believe, down to my very core, that I am the most blessed man in the world. LeeAnn is a marvelous example of the Proverbs 31 woman. Her mother raised her right, and on top of everything, she loves the Lord with all of her heart. And I've thanked my mother-in-law numerous times over the years for the woman that my wife is. So that's all I'm gonna say about her… today. I can't help it. I love her. And she is that woman.

For those of you that still have kids at home, my suggestion is that you have this kind of talk that this mother had with King Lemuel with your kids. And I think it's a good idea to write it down is this wise mother here in Proverbs 31 did. Give your kids godly advice as they grow and mature. The culture today gives them all kinds of ungodly advice and it's up to believing parents to do all they can to minimize the impact of the culture around us. Help them to see the consequences of following the crowd. As they get older, you'll give them more information. Help them to see that true happiness comes from following God's plan. And following the crowd will only bring heartache.

If you've got feedback. I'd like to hear it. Go to lifespringmedia.com/s12e288. Let me know what you're thinking. Tomorrow is Prophecy Friday and we'll read the book of Nahum.

Boost!

VALUE-FOR-VALUE - 8:59  
Boostagram. I got a boostagram today from Sean of San Pedro. And he's commenting on our reading yesterday, Psalms 120 through 21, “Ascents, Part One”. During my commentary on the reading I mentioned that I could in my mind's eye see people singing the Psalms as they went about their day. And Sean of San Pedro said, “About songs of faith during your day-to-day activities. I don't know about anyone else, but for some reason, that ‘Old Rugged Cross’ has been stuck in my head for a few days.” Of course, I played “The Old Rugged Cross” on the show several days ago. So thanks for that Sean. And he sent a boostagram in of 1-2-3-4 sats, 1,234 sats. Thanks, Sean.

ON THIS DATE IN CHURCH HISTORY - 9:53  
On this date in church history, June 16, 1948, Rufus M. Jones passed away he was an American Quaker scholar, educator, philosopher, humanitarian and mystic who taught philosophy at Haverford College in Pennsylvania from 1904 to 1934, and was the founder of the American Friends Service Committee, which was founded in 1917.

CLOSING PRAYER - 10:26  
Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the wisdom that is in the book of Proverbs. We know that today's reading was advice from a mother but we also know that it is originally from you who is the source of all wisdom. Help us to be wise and take us back to this book often, Lord.

I pray for the Lifespring family, now, and asked you to be with each one today in a powerful way, and that you would reveal yourself in a special personal way to each one. You know the needs of the family and I pray that you would abundantly, and in an overflowing way, more than meet those needs in each person's life. As the song says, Lord, “have thine own way” in each of our lives. This I pray in Jesus name, amen.

If you have a prayer request or a praise, go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com.

OUTRO S12E288 - 11:20  
Comment on the show at lifespringmedia.com/s12e288. Send me an email at steve@lifespringmedia.com. Thanks to Kirsty, Sean of San Pedro and Denise. You guys are awesome.

Thank you for inviting me into your day and support the show, please, at lifespringmedia.com/support, if you receive value from the show, and if you believe that the Lifespring Family Audio Bible is filling a need. If you're happy to see it in your podcast app every day, go to lifespringmedia.com/support.

Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb.

Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai