You're listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly podcast of sermons and messages of pastor, author, and teacher David Platt. Today's episode is a rerun of one of our most listened to messages of all time.
SPEAKER_01I want to give due attention today to honoring not only the moms, but the women in our midst. And I say that because I remember when Heather and I were walking, struggling through heartbreaking years of infertility. Coming to church on Mother's Day was not easy. To be honest, emotionally, you almost wanted to avoid the day altogether. And I don't want any woman, or man for that matter, to ever think that way about any day gathering together with the church. Mother's Day is obviously a joyful day in many ways, but it's also a hard day for many people. And I always want to be sensitive to that. So we want to honor moms. At the same time, we want to acknowledge that there's hurt on a day like this, too. So I want to take us to a text that will actually appear in our Bible reading a couple of weeks from now, but I thought it would be appropriate to jump ahead for this week to a chapter in the Bible that's pretty well known, especially when it comes to Mother's Day, but a chapter that I think is often misunderstood. In part because the way the Bible talks about womanhood is so different than the way the world around us today talks about womanhood. So I've titled this journey, we're going to take through God's Word today, Womanhood and the Wisdom of God, because I find it really interesting that this book of wisdom, the book of Proverbs in the Bible, culminates specifically in a portrait of a woman. A woman who reflects God's wisdom, not the world's wisdom. So let's read the last part of this chapter together, and then I want us to think together about what God is saying to us in this culture, specifically on Mother's
Day. So let's start in verse 10, Proverbs chapter 31. This is the word of God, an excellent wife who can find. She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands. She's like the ships of the merchant. She brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes bed coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
Now, as soon as I read the end of this chapter, the first thing I need to do is pause and point out something really important. This is a picture of a perfect woman. Like, literally, in this proverb, we hear nothing about any imperfection in her at all. You think about what we just read? We read about how godly she is, how wise she is, what a wonderful wife she is. She's a homemaker, she's a great cook who makes food for her family. She makes clothes for her children with her own bare hands. She gets up before everyone else gets up, she goes to bed after everyone else goes to bed. She actually doesn't sleep. Her light never goes out. She is strong, she's humble, she's confident, she's a servant and leader, and she's an entrepreneur who's out in the world making good business deals and buying property for the benefit of her family. And on top of all of that, she loves and cares for the poor. I give you a picture of Wonder Woman in the Word of God. And I point this out because I think some, maybe many women can easily hear this passage. And instead of being encouraged, many, maybe most, are tempted to come away discouraged, thinking, I can never be that. Or single guys might read this passage and think, I want to find a wife who's perfect like that. Married men could read this passage and think, I wish my wife was perfect like that. And all of those thoughts are obviously unhealthy responses to this passage, this picture of womanhood in God's Word. But this is where I want us to realize that we have an ideal, perfect picture of this woman for a reason. So the whole point of Proverbs in the book of the Bible, we may look at this more in depth when we get to this in our Bible reading plan, but like everything else in the story of Scripture, the point is to point us to Jesus and to the wisdom that can only be found in Jesus. So what we have here at the end of the book of Proverbs is a picture of a woman who perfectly displays God's wisdom in her womanhood, which is a good thing for us to have. That should not drive us to discouragement or unrealistic expectations. Think about it. When we turn the pages of the Bible in the New Testament to the life of Jesus, we behold a perfect man. A man who perfectly displays the wisdom of God. And as followers of Jesus, we don't look to him and say, I'm so discouraged by his perfection. No, we're encouraged. Christian men, men who follow Christ, don't look at Jesus and get discouraged, saying, I'll just never be like him. Single women don't look at Jesus and think, I want to find a husband who's perfect like him. Nor do married women say, I expect my husband to be perfect like Jesus. Instead, men and women look to Jesus and say, He's a perfect picture of the wisdom of God. And we want to look like him more and more and more for our good, for God's glory. So I want to encourage us to approach Proverbs 31 in a similar way. So this is the portrait of the wisdom of God in a perfect description of womanhood, which we need to see amidst a very confused culture, and I would even say church culture that we live in when it comes to womanhood. We live in a world where what it means to be a woman is twisted, cheapened, perverted, distorted, and redefined at every turn. And in the middle of that, we desperately need to hear what God says about womanhood. So follow this in your notes. My hope is that studying this passage in God's Word will encourage women today to be and become Christ-like women. So for women today, I pray that this passage will drive you to look more like Jesus in your life, not just generically as a person, but specifically as a woman, with a wonderful picture of a woman who is, in a sense, Christ-like. Now, even as I say that, I know that as we walk through this portrait of a Christ-like woman in Proverbs 31, there will likely be areas of your life where you think, I'm so far from that. Or I'll never be that. Or maybe even I've messed up so much, there's no hope for me in this or that area or all of these areas. And before we even get to the point where that thought creeps into your mind and your heart, I want to remind you that in Christ, so as a follower of Jesus, for every woman in this room and other campuses who is trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life, know
this. Hear this good news. One, God's grace covers your past. This is the gospel at the center of this book. Yes, you are imperfect. You have sinned against God. You are separated from God as a result of your sin. But God loves you and has pursued you. Like a husband pursuing a wife, Christ loves the church. God has run to you and he has made a way for you to be forgiven of all your sin. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for all of your sins. So that no matter how much you have messed up in the past, Romans 8.1 says, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free from the law of sin and death. No matter how dark or dirty your past, no matter how many times you have messed up, no matter what you have said or done or failed to do, know this. In Christ you are clean, forgiven. You are a daughter of God. So don't let, for a second, don't let guilt over the past keep you from becoming the woman God has designed you to be in the present. If God has forgiven you, then it would be foolish for you to keep on remembering your faults from the past and letting them keep you from what God and His love for you has for you today. Which leads to the second part of this exhortation to women in Christ, because you may also be tempted to think, regardless of my past, I can't be this type of woman in the present. But that's the beauty of what I want to show you and call you to, because in and of yourself, yes, with an imperfect heart stained by sin, weakness in this world, you cannot be and become the Christ, a Christ-like woman. But you are not left to yourself. You are in Christ. And Christ has conquered sin and Christ has conquered death. And Christ has sent his spirit to live in you. He has filled you, woman of God, with his very spirit to enable you to live the life you were created to live as a woman loved by God, led by God in this world. So God's grace doesn't just cover your past, God's grace empowers your present. Like empowers you today as a woman and tomorrow when you wake up and the next day and the next day empowers your present and God's grace guarantees your future. So don't think there's no hope for me to become this kind of woman. Like, sister in Christ, based on the resurrection of Christ, there is absolute guaranteed hope for you to become this kind of woman. One day, you're gonna be free from sin and suffering and weakness in this world, fully redeemed, fully restored to the complete woman God has created you to be. So lean on God's grace today, grow in God's grace today, trust in God's grace today as you look forward to that day. This passage beckons women all across this room and other campuses to be and become Christ-like women.
And it beckons married men to love and nurture a Christ-like wife. So this chapter in God's Word compels husbands to love and nurture their wives in Christ-likeness. In the words of 1 Peter 3:7, show honor to your wife. Ephesians 5, listen to these words. From God, husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. And listen to this gave himself up for her so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without splot, spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives. Did you catch that? So this is the Bible commanding men to love our wives like Christ loves the church. So how does Christ love the church? He lays down his life for the church. So, husbands, we love our wives by laying down our lives for them. So that they might become Christ-like as a result of our love for them. So, husbands, love your wife, nurture your wife toward that end. This is the word of God. So many marriages are falling apart because men are not laying down their lives in selfless love like this. So, husbands, let this word be a charge to you to recommit your life today to serving your wife so that she grows in Christ's likeness, to so love her and honor her and pray for her and build her up and encourage her and help her to grow more and more and more into the likeness of Jesus so she might experience all that God has designed for her life. That's how this chapter speaks to married men. And then, now here's where it gets really
interesting. Because if there's one primary audience in this chapter, the primary audience is actually not women. As much as this proverb talks about women. And the primary audience is not married men, as much as there is for married men to learn here. Instead, the primary audience in this passage is actually single men. Single guys. Let me show it to you. Proverbs 31:1. It says the words of King Lemuel, an oracle that his mother taught him. Then it goes on to say, What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows? Any mom in this room knows what it's like to just say, over, what are you doing to a child? And then King Lemuel's mom begins to address the way he approaches women. And she says what the book of Proverbs says over and over again. When you read this entire book, she basically says, Don't pursue the wrong kind of woman. You read all through Proverbs, you see warnings against the adulterous woman, chapter 7, the unfaithful woman, chapters 2 and 30, the woman who neglects her family, chapter 7, the woman who bankrupts her family, chapter 6, the contentious woman who is like a constant dripping on a day of steady rain. Appropriate today? Chapter 27. Proverbs says, It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. Proverbs 11, 24. Even the physically beautiful, beautiful woman who is not wise, Proverbs 11, 22 says, like a gold ring and a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion. So after all these warnings in Proverbs, we get to the end and we have a mom saying to her son, What are you doing? Verse 10, an excellent wife who can find. And then she goes on to describe her. So the message of Proverbs 31 is clear for single men. Pray for and seek out a Christ-like wife. In the words of Proverbs 19, 14, house and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. And in this passage, God is saying, single men, seek a Christ-like wife. It's the word of God. Seek her out. Like take the initiative. Unless the Lord has called you to singleness in a 1 Corinthians 7 kind of way, similar to the Apostle Paul, work to find an excellent wife. And just so you know, brothers, there are tons of them in this church. Like tons. There's so many in this church. And the word of God is saying to you today, stop waiting, brothers, get to work. Get to work. The world is telling you to wait. The world is telling you, get a job, be successful, build a career. If a wife comes along, that's great. God's word is telling you, get a wife. An excellent one. So unless the Lord calls you to singleness, find a wife. Resist the ever-increasing trend and temptation in our day to prolong adolescence into your twenties and thirties. For some of you, it is time to stop playing video games and get a date. But stop, stop running after the things this world says run after. Start initiating seeking out a Christ-like wife. Don't wait for her to ask you out. It's your responsibility to lead out. If she rejects you, then make that as easy as possible for her. You humbly bow out and seek elsewhere. And when you seek a wife, stop seeking after what the world tells you to seek after. Seek after what the word of God tells you to seek after. Which is very different from what the world says is important in a wife. So I never would have thought studying Proverbs 31 for Mother's Day would actually lead me to realize this passage is primarily aimed at single guys, but it is. So hear the word of God, brothers, and don't just be hearers of the word, be doers of the word. Put all this together. So follow this. When women, single and married, are being and becoming more and more Christ-like, when married men are loving and nurturing Christ-likeness in their wives, and when single men are praying for and seeking out Christ-like wives, then the result is a church that is glorifying God through Christ-like women. This is what God's word is calling us to today.
As a church, let's praise Christ-like women as we promote Christ-likeness in women. Verse 30 is clear: a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Obviously, that doesn't take away praise from God. This is not an exhortation to idolatry. But when you praise women for the grace and the goodness and the wisdom of Christ that you see in them, who are you ultimately praising? Christ, God. The God who is molding them into the image of Christ for their good and for his glory. So let's praise and honor Christ-like women as the church as we promote Christ-likeness in women across the church. Church, we are filled with sisters in Christ who are tempted at every turn to confusion in the culture around us about what it means to be a woman in the image of God. And every sister in this church needs this church pointing her to the beauty of God's design for women. Younger women need older women doing this in their lives. Every woman needs other women spurring them on toward Christlieness. And every woman, single or married, needs men at some level speaking truth and showing love in their lives. So as a church, let's praise and promote Christ-likeness in women.
So with that set up, what then are the characteristics of a Christ-like woman that God calls us to promote in the lives of women across the church? So, women, what does the word call you to be and become? Husband, what does the word call you to nourish in your wife? Single brother, what does the word call you to seek out in a wife? And the answer Proverbs 31 gives is unique because in the original language of the Old Testament, this is actually an acrostic. So every verse in this poem, starting in verse 10, all the way down to verse 31, 22 verses, begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So it'd be like a poem where the first word begins with the letter A, first verse, and the second verse begins with B, C, D, all the way to Z. And it's written like that so it'll be more easy to remember for those who first heard or read this. The author, King Lemuel, which we don't know a lot about him, but he writes this down in the form of a crosstic so that he and others could more easily memorize the characteristics of this woman, which means the arrangement of this poem. So it's not like when we when we come to Paul in the book of Romans, for example, and he's developing an argument that just kind of builds on each other. Here, you've got a list of one thing after another, some similar, some different, some themes mentioned in one verse, then repeating ten verses later with the start of another verse. So I thought I'd do the same based on this passage. I want to give you an acrostic today. Instead of using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which I don't think would be very memorable for you, or even the letters of the English alphabet, so I'm basically saving you from a 26 point sermon at this point. Instead, what I want to do is take the word woman and think about womanhood and the wisdom of God with that acrostic. So each letter, W O M A N, hopefully in a way that you walk out of the next few minutes. And you've got hidden in your mind and your heart these characteristics of a Christ-like woman.
Five of them will start with W. W is for wise. The Christ-like woman is wise. Now it works out pretty well that W is our first letter, because wisdom is the overarching theme, not only the portrait of this excellent woman, but the entire book of Proverbs. Proverbs 1.7 sets the tone for the entire book when it says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And later in that chapter and throughout the book, wisdom is even personified as a woman. Listen to Proverbs 1.20. Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets, she raises her voice. Proverbs 3.13. Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels. So that's how Proverbs starts out. And so you get to the end of this book, and the same words used for wisdom are now used for this woman. Verse 10, she is far more precious than jewels. Why? Verse 30, because she fears the Lord, which is the beginning of what? Wisdom. So the Christ-like woman has Christ-like wisdom because she fears God. And because she fears God, her value cannot be fathomed. It cannot be fathomed. The fear of God, love of God, worship of God in a woman is a value that cannot be fathomed. Over and above, looks at education, personality, accomplishments, likes, dislikes any other characteristics. A woman who fears the Lord is more precious than the finest of jewels. Women be this. Be a woman who fears, reveres, worships, loves God supremely. Husbands, nurture this. Single men look for this. Church, promote this. Women who fear God. And because she fears God, her future has no fear. Two times in this text, this mother says, Because she fears God, she's not afraid of anything else. She's not afraid of her snow for her household, verse 21, of threats to her household. And then you look down at verse 25, it says, Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. I love that line. It's like Satan is dangling in front of her, worry about tomorrow's troubles, what might happen. And she sees that. Then she glances up at Almighty God, whom she fears, and she laughs. She is not worried or anxious about tomorrow. She is not afraid of what is to come because she trusts completely in her God. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. She trusts in the Lord with all her heart, and she doesn't lean on her own understanding. In all her ways, she acknowledges Him, and she knows He will make her paths straight. So much anxiety and fear and worry. These things cripple so many women. And men for that matter. But focusing on women here, hear the word of God. When you fear God, you have nothing else to fear. Nothing. You have nothing to worry about. Your life is in the hands of God. And He loves you. He is committed to providing for you. This is the word of God to you today, amidst all kinds of temptations, for you to worry in the world. Fear God and boldly face the future. And because the Christ-like woman fears God, her beauty will never fade. Her beauty will never fade. Did you notice what is almost entirely missing from this description of the Christ-like woman? There's hardly any mention of her physical beauty. The one thing that our world exalts above all else. Our culture is screaming in thousands of ways. Businesses are spending billions of dollars. Entertainment industries are spending countless hours to convince women that your need for self-esteem, self-fulfillment, self-significance is found in looking a certain way. And the word of God booms across our culture. Charm is deceitful. Beauty is vain. A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Spend time. Please hear this word from God. Spend more time focused on fearing God than what you look like. This is the beginning of wisdom. To neglect the fear of God and focus on what you look like in the world is foolishness. First mark of the Christ-like woman, she is wise, which fundamentally means she fears, loves, worships God with all her heart. Second letter.
Oh. The Christ-like woman honorably oversees her home. Now, I want to use this word overseer here carefully because we see all over the Bible the leadership role of a husband in a home, just like we read a minute ago in Ephesians chapter 5, in a way that compliments, cares for his wife. But Titus 2 contains a clear exhortation for women to love their husbands and their children in their home. 1 Timothy 5, 14 exhorts younger women to manage their households, which is exactly the picture we have here in Proverbs 31. This is a woman who is a manager, in this sense, an overseer in her home. This home is operating like it does, flourishing like it is, because of her careful oversight. Just see how others in her home view her. Her husband trusts her. Listen to verse 11. The heart of her husband trusts in her. What a beautiful statement. Her husband trusts her with his heart. This is fascinating. Because outside of this verse and one other verse in the book of Judges, everywhere else in the Bible, Scripture condemns trust in anyone or anything but God Himself. Don't trust in this, don't trust in that. But here in Proverbs 31:11, we have a picture of a husband who trusts his wife. This is valuable. Now it makes sense. A woman who can be trusted like this with her husband's heart is indeed far more precious than jewels. He trusts her with his heart, with his household, with his good. She promotes his good and protects his reputation. Did you hear the second part of verse 11? He will have no lack of gain. Why? Because she does him good and not harm all the days of her life. The center of the whole passage is verse 23, which says, Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. The whole picture here is a wife who's cared for her home, loved her husband in a way that he's gained good standing in the community around him. Now, this verse might seem out of place in this passage about the excellent woman, talking about the excellence of her husband, but that's the point. He's excelling because his wife is excellent. I think about my own life. And I could spend all day here. But there's absolutely no question that anything good in me is a result, first, of God's grace in my life. And second, because of God's grace in my wife. There is no way I could be who I am, I could do what I do if it were not for my wife. And one of our kids who will remain nameless basically, I mean, he just outright said, Mom, if something happens to you, dad wouldn't know how to do anything. And that child was right. Those kids realize the value of a mom. Which leads to the next part here, Proverbs 31. This woman, her children bless her. Why? Because she loves them and she lays down her life so they might live. Look at all the details she takes care of. From sunup to sundown, she takes seemingly mundane tasks, accomplishes them when nobody else is looking, when no one else is there to laud her for it. But there comes a day, don't miss it, verse 28, when her children rise up and call her blessed. All those long days of hard work, loving discipline, unselfish giving, are so that her children are able to stand. And it's at this point, I just want to pause and point out how this is totally being undercut, undervalued, even contradicted in the culture around us. We live in a day where the idea of a woman laying down her life to love her kids is seen almost as second class, like a backseat to more important aims in this world, even a waste of a woman's life. But I just want to pause and point out what I pray will not just be biblically obvious to us, but practically obvious to us. Is there any job more important? And I'm gonna use the word job here because this is a role responsibility that requires training, preparation, commitment, dedication on a day-by-day basis, bringing together skills, energy, time to accomplish a task. Raising children qualifies as a job more than anything else I can think of. That's part of the point of Proverbs 31. It seems like this woman never sleeps, and that is the point. Caring for a home literally is a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour job, and I can't think of a job that is more important than caring for children to the glory of God. I once read an article, and I'm gonna quote from it extensively here because I just can't improve on it. Few women realize what great service they are doing for mankind and for the kingdom of Christ when they provide a shelter for the family and good mothering, the foundation on which all else is built. A mother builds something far more magnificent than any cathedral, the dwelling place for an immortal soul, both her child's fleshly tabernacle and his earthly abode. No professional pursuit so uniquely combines the most menial tasks with the most meaningful opportunities. It continues: it's hard to locate an aging mother who believes she made a mistake of pouring her life into her children. And it would certainly be more difficult to find a child to testify that his mother loved him and poured herself into his life to his detriment and demise. And then I love this. It concludes by saying being a mother is not a destructive drought of usefulness, but an overflowing oasis of opportunity. It is not a dreary call to contain one's talents and skills, but a brilliant catalyst to channel creativity and energies into meaningful work. It is not oppressive restraint of intellectual prowess for the community, but a release of wise instruction to your own household. It is not the bitter assignment of inferiority to your person, but the bright of assurance of the ingenuity of God's plan. It is neither limitation of gifts available, nor stinginess in distributing the benefits of those gifts, but rather the multiplication of a mother's legacy to the generations to come and the generous bestowal of all God meant a mother to give to those he entrusted to her care. So, wives and moms across this church, be affirmed and honored today in the Word of God for the careful oversight you give in your home to the glory of God. Even if you do other work outside your home, as many of you do, be assured that all the work you do in your home is immeasurably valuable according to the Word of God. Don't underestimate it for a second. Those seemingly menial tasks that are taking advantage of wonderfully meaningful opportunities. At least the next characteristic here, whether in or outside the home. So the Christ-like woman is wise, carefully overseeing her home. She is mighty in her work. Mighty. And I use that word because two times in this passage, this form is described as dressed or clothed with strength. Verse 17, she dresses herself with strength, makes her arms strong. Verse 25, strength and dignity are her clothing. It's interesting. Even the form of this poetry, when you study it, it's written a lot like poems to military heroes were written in Israel's history. There's military imagery throughout. So most poems like this are written to recount the valor and might of a military hero. This one is written to recount the valor and might of a woman, evident in many different ways. She has willing and skillful hands. Verse 13, she works with willing hands, literally at the pleasure of her hands, which means she goes about her work willingly. Verse 19, she puts her hands to the distaff, her hands hold the spindle, imagery that portrays her skill in spinning and weaving to provide for her children. Her love of them drives her labor for them. She is not lazy, verse 27. She does not eat the bread of idleness. She has willing and skillful hands, with an innovative and industrious spirit. Verse 14, like the ships of the merchant. She brings her food from afar. She rises while it's at night, provides food for her household. She goes to great lengths to provide for her children, even to the point, verse 16, where this entrepreneurial woman considers a field and buys it with the fruit of her hands. She plants a vineyard. So this woman is not just going to the store to get grapes, she's planting some of her own for the benefit of her house. She explores, finds a piece of land to purchase, all this while she's got a little cottage industry going on down in verse 24, making linen garments, selling them, delivering sashes to merchants for profit. Now, obviously, let me step back. This does not mean that it's wrong to shop at the grocery store. Like, God's word is not saying that the Christ-like woman should grow all her food and make a lot of money doing it on the side. No. The picture here is a woman who is using the time and talents God has given her, even the role God has given her wisely, with an innovative, industrious spirit, and with that she has a sharp mind and a strong body. Obviously, in planning and coordinating all these things, a sharp mind, and as we read earlier in verse 17, she makes her arms strong. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean she works out her biceps regularly. This is more like an idiom in the language of the Old Testament, much like we might say today, she has a strong back. The point is she works hard with the ability God gives her. Obviously, different women have different abilities and different gifts. The picture here is working hard with whatever grace God has given. M. She is mighty in her work.
Which leads to the A in woman, she is attractive in all the right ways. Attractive in all the right ways. Now I mentioned earlier that this text hardly mentions physical attractiveness. But there is a slight, and I would say significant mention of it, but not in ways we might expect. Certainly not in ways we often hear emphasized in our culture. What are the right ways in which she is attractive? Well, in addition to all we've seen, her words are kind, and her works are admirable. Verse 26, she opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. So flowing from the W, the wisdom of this woman, flowing from her fear of God, her words are wise and kind. Whether it's teaching her children, speaking to others in her sphere of influence, she speaks kindness and wisdom. Her words make her attractive. And her works are admirable. I love the way this whole thing ends. The wisdom of a woman whose works praise her in the gates. Women, be known ultimately, not for how you look, but for how you live. Which leads right to the next part of this woman's attractiveness in Proverbs 31. Her dress is tasteful and her demeanor is delightful. Her dress is tasteful, so if we're not careful, particularly in the light of verse 30's warning against charm and beauty, we might be inclined to think that how this woman carries herself physically doesn't matter at all. But that's not totally the case. Even in this description of a woman who's working hard all day long, this Proverb depicts her, dressed in fine linen and purple, verse 22. Now again, we need to guard against misunderstandings there. This isn't saying this woman is out planting a vineyard with an elegant dress. Nor is it saying that a Christ-like woman needs certain nice clothes. The picture is a woman whose dress is tasteful and whose demeanor is delightful in a way that is indeed attractive to her husband. Keep in mind, the Bible is not anti-physical attraction when it comes to men and women. You only have to turn two books over to your right, to the Song of Solomon, to see a very detailed picture of that. And even here in verse 22, when the Bible says she makes bed coverings for herself, that's the same language that's used earlier in Proverbs to describe how an adulterous woman seduces a foolish man with bed coverings. So the picture here is a woman who attracts her husband in all the right ways. Her words are kind, her works are admirable, her dress is tasteful, her demeanor delightful. Delightful in such a way that think Proverbs 5, 18. Her husband delights in the wife of his youth. Attractive in all the right ways. Leading to the last letter. So in she is a neighbor to the needy. A neighbor to the needy. Verse 20. Amidst all of her oversight in her home, her industry innovation, she is not selfish. She's not hoarding what she has. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. This Christ-like woman gives generously and serves sacrificially. She gives generously from what she has made. I love the picture here. It's not the poor coming to her, even, it's her going to the poor. She doesn't wait for opportunities to help those in need. She creates opportunity to help those in need. And think of all she teaches her children and her husband for the matter, that matter, in the process. She gives generously and serves sacrificially. In this description of this Christ-like woman, almost every verse is dripping with self-sacrificial service. She's doing what she's doing for the sake of those in need around her, whether it's in her home or outside her home. Which makes sense when you think about a woman who's in Christ. Because when a woman's life is formed by the Savior who gave his life on a cross, and it just makes sense as the overflow of his spirit to serve as you have been served. To sacrificially love as you have been sacrificially loved. And this, this is so different in the world's definition of womanhood. This world screams, advance yourself. Look out for yourself. Do this, that for yourself. Meanwhile, God's word speaks in such a clearly countercultural way. Deny yourself. Live for the good of others. Ultimately for the glory of God, not for yourself. That's a very different way to live as a woman in this world. That doesn't mean just let others run over you. This is a picture of a woman who is wise, who carefully oversees her home, mighty in her work, and attractive in all the right ways, as a neighbor to those
in need. So you put all this together and you just think about the so what here. I want to encourage, based on this word from God, I want to encourage women all across this church to reflect on these characteristics and ask God to help you grow in these ways. To become more and more the woman God and his love and wisdom has created you to be. For so many reasons, I want to encourage you not to say that. Don't even let your mind go there. I want to encourage you, one, to affirm your wife specifically in all the ways you see God's grace in her life. Like today, this week, ongoing, specifically affirm evidences of grace you see in her life. Specific ways you see these characteristics in her. Praise her. That's what God's word tells you to do. Praise her. And then in the areas where she may need to grow, ask yourself: how can I help her grow in this way? How can I better serve her? Better lay my life down for her, better pray for her, better care for her, cherish her, nurture Christlieness in her. And then, single men, pursue a wife like this. Your takeaway from study in God's word today might be to ask a girl out. What a great sermon. You have a word from God toward that end. And if she says no, bow out humbly and move on. And in the process, become a man that a wife like this wants in her husband. And finally, church, let's encourage women in all these ways. Here's the deal the portrait we've just seen of womanhood in God's word is different from the portrait we see of womanhood in this world. This world does not, will not promote the fear of God in women. We've got to have our eyes wide open to this. This goes totally against the grain of the culture around us. So, church, we must work hard then to promote the fear of God, the love of God, the worship of God in women. And women, I'll close with this. And please see this. It's the last thing in those notes. Ultimately, the Christ-like woman trusts God's word, and God affirms her worth. Women all across this church and this room and other campuses, hear the word of God saying to you right now, like loud and clear, you are valuable. Immensely valuable. Single or married, children or no children, trust God's word in your life and rest in the reality that God loves you so much. And he's created you with a dignity and a beauty and a worth that far surpasses anything this world can ever give to you. Cling to this word, not the ways of this world. Fear God, love God, worship God, trust his word, and know, believe, feel that he, the God of the universe, affirms your worth and desires you to experience all that he's created you as a woman to experience.
SPEAKER_00We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of David Platt Messages. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radical.net.