“The sayings of King Lemuel contain this message, which his mother taught him. O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,” [Pro 31:1-2 NLT]
What would happen if the single men in our culture found the most desirable thing about a woman was her character rather than her appearance or her body. Would the women of our culture seek to display character rather than their bodies? Don’t mistake my question, but rather put it in the frame of pursuing character first. In that frame, let us consider the words of Proverbs 31. We might label the thought process, character first.
Proverbs 31 is a wonderful chapter that describe the characteristics of a godly woman. There are many ministries and studies devoted to the theme of being a Proverbs 31 woman and many have been challenged, blessed and encouraged by them. But as the chapter opens, it is important to look at the verses in context. Who is this written to? It is not written to a woman. It is written to King Lemuel (more on him in a bit). It is written to a man and describes what he should look for in a woman. That we would encourage others to seek character rather than pursue lust.
And who is it written by? King Lemuel’s mother, who may quite possibly be one woman in the scriptures who experienced the consequences of the king looking on appearances and then sacrificing character.
Who is king Lemuel? According to some the name was a pet name for Solomon. Thus, this would make the woman speaking this his mother, Bathsheba. God called Solomon Jedidiah, which means “beloved of the Lord.” Lemuel means “devoted to the Lord.” Several commentators believe this may have been a pet name for Solomon used by Bathsheba. Most pet names arise because of love – and most are spoken in love as well. How this was the case for Bathsheba.
This is described as being the “prophecy” that his mother taught him. Prophecy here is “massa” which means a burden or a load. It was a weight that his mother carried with her all her days – and it was truths as a result of that burden that she spoke strongly to her son. Considering what happened to Bathsheba and David it is easy to see why this would have been a burden to her. She may have heard whisperings in the palace all of her life – whisperings that were the result of her sin with David. Thus we can see that her burden would be to save her son from a similar fate by warning him of some things to avoid as a man – and especially as a king. Those words come later – for now let’s take a closer look at that pet name – Lemuel.
Bathsheba speaks of Solomon as her son – as the son of her womb and the son of her vows. We can only imagine the difficulty and pain Bathsheba felt after her sin with David – and the loss of their child born of their sin. Would God ever give her another child? Had her sin cost her everything? These are the words of a woman who needed to know God’s grace.
Ever wonder why Solomon was called Jedidiah by God? This means “beloved of the Lord,” and was to be a sign to David and Bathsheba that this boy was dearly loved of the Lord. What a glorious picture of grace this is to us! And now that we see that his mother who carried him considered him the “son of her vows” it becomes even more precious to us. It is easy to see Bathsheba coming to her own repentance. These words may be her own Psalm 51 moment. She knew she should not have committed adultery with the king. She knew she should not have consented to the cover up with him – one in which she unwittingly was an accessory to the murder of her own husband. Oh the guilt and pain that must have racked her from day to day. Then came the death of her first child – the very child that resulted from her sin. It would be easy to see her sinking into utter despair and depression. Yet we don’t’ see her doing this. Instead we see her turning to the Lord in repentance and in making new vows to God to be a woman of character and godliness! And how God accepted her brokenness as a gift and a prize. He gave her a son – and afterward God gave him a pet name – Jedidiah – the beloved of God – for the Lord loved this child that resulted from the grace on the other side of David’s sin.
But the consequences of sin remained. From that wisdom Bathsheba writes what a man should look for and find valuable in a woman. If young men would seek the kind of woman described in Proverbs 31, perhaps more young ladies would desire to be that type of woman. And if that were to occur in our culture, perhaps, just perhaps, character would be a priority for both men and women.
This week, model character and promote it to our young people.
In His Hands,
John
