Transcript

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 31 NLV

Executive Producer

John Train

Podcast Introduction

It’s Poetry Thursday, and we’ll read Proverbs 31 I’m calling this episode “A Wise Mother.“

Summary

In Proverbs 31, a wise mother advises her son, King Lemuel, on crucial life principles. She stresses the importance of sexual purity for both men and women, cautioning against the consequences of immorality. Additionally, the mother urges temperance when dealing with alcohol.

Another key aspect of her counsel is the call to defend the defenseless, fostering compassion and benevolence. The passage reaches its pinnacle with a poetic portrayal of an exemplary woman.

Overall, “Thoughts on Proverbs 31” offers timeless wisdom for living a purposeful and virtuous life, guiding readers toward values that resonate across generations.

Listen to the episode for more!

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The Team

Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise: Transcript Correction
Michael Haner: Podcasting 2.0 Chapters
Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Scott Snider: Show Art
Jason Paschall: Show Art
Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Brittaney: Newsletter Publisher

Transcript

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Steve Webb 0:00
An alphabet of wifely excellence.

Steve Webb 0:03
It’s the Lifespring! One Year Bible coming to you from Riverside, California and podcasting since 2004. It’s me your OG Godcaster. Steve Webb. It’s poetry Thursday. and our reading today is Proverbs 31. How about before we read, we pray first, our gracious heavenly Father, we love you. and we thank you for this time. We thank You for Your Word. We thank you for proverbs 31 and the lessons that we’ll find there. I pray God that you would bless this time in Jesus name, Amen. All right, let’s begin.

Steve Webb 0:36
Proverbs chapter 31. The words of Lemuel king of masa, which his mother taught him, what my son, what son who came from within me, what son of my promises, do not give your strength to women, or your ways to that which destroys kings. It is not for kings hola mule, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire strong drink, or they might drink and forget the law and go against the rights of all who are suffering. Give strong drink to him who is about to die at wine to him whose life is full of trouble. Let him drink and forget how poor he is. and remember his troubled no more. Open your mouth for those who cannot speak and for the rights of those who are left without help. Open your mouth be right and fair in what you decide. Stand up for the rights of those who are suffering and in need. Who can find a good wife for she is worth far more than rubies that make one rich. The heart of her husband trusts in her and he will never stop getting good things she does in good and not bad all the days of her life. She looks for wool and flax and works with willing hands. She is like chips that trade. She brings her food from far away. 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. She gives careful thought to a field and buys it. She plants grape vines from what she has earned. She makes herself ready with strength and makes her arms strong. and she sees the what she has earned is good. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the wheel to make cloth. She opens her hand to the poor and holds out her hands to those in need. She is not afraid of the snow for those in her house for all of them are dressed in red. She makes coverings for herself. Her clothes are linen cloth and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the leaders of the land. She makes linen clothes and sells them. She brings belts to those who trade her clothes or strength and honor, she is full of joy about the future. She opens her mouth with wisdom. The teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of those in her house and does not eat the bread of doing nothing. Her children rise up and honor her. Her husband does also and he praises her saying many daughters have done well. But you have done better than all of them in pleasing ways lie in beauty comes to nothing but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.

Steve Webb 3:21
Well, beloved, this chapter is a mother’s advice to her son, the son’s name is King Lemuel. and that’s really just 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 and 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 did 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 no son One 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 is 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 council 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 across texts 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, Leanne, comes as close to fulfilling these verses as I can imagine any woman can, I can 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 bad 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 it 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. Leanne 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 lemme well 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 to help them to see that true happiness comes from following God’s plan. and following the crowd will only bring heartache. If you have kids, what advice would you or have you given to them? Let me know contact information. Is it the end of the show? Or if you’ve got a modern podcast app, I’d love to get a Boostagram from you. Tomorrow will be prophecy Friday and our reading will be the book of Nahum.

Steve Webb 8:49
Today’s executive producer is John train who came in with his monthly $50 donation. Thank you so much, John, God bless you. and beloved, this is a 100% value for value podcast. If you’re finding value from the Lifespring!, One Year Bible, then you know what to do go here

Steve Webb 9:08
Lifespringmedia.com/support

Steve Webb 9:10
I’ll thank you. and I believe that God will bless you.

Steve Webb 9:17
If you have a comment, if you’ve got a question, if you’ve got a prayer request or a praise report, there are several ways that you can reach me. Choose the one that works best for you. First, send to Boostagram with a modern podcast app, or to leave a voice message, call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1-951-732-8511. Or if you have a prayer request or praise report, you can go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com and if you’ve got a comment or a question about anything you’ve heard on the show today, go to comment.lifespringmedia.com. and last, my email address is Steve at Lifespring media.com

Steve Webb 10:01
Brother Scott once again did the album art for today’s show. Thank you, Brother Scott. God bless you. and also thanks to Sister Denise Michael Haner, Jason Paschall and sister Brittaney. Thanks to today’s executive producer John train for helping to make this episode possible. God bless you, John. and beloved, thank you for inviting me in today. I’ll see you tomorrow. Okay. Until then, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

Steve Webb 10:32
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai