PROVERBS 31


1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.


Instructions for kings

Give not thy strength unto women;

It is not for kings to drink wine; and

Devote yourself to the poor.

-- all true and important in their literal application; but clearly, in this final summing up of the book -- this divine instruction for kings -- the principal meaning is the spiritual.

The warning is for all who hope to be kings of righteousness, against the False Women of the Apostacy, and against folly and Evil in general; and the intoxicating wine of both false doctrine and self-indulgence; and against pride.

As to the devotion to the poor and needy, Paul's words in 1st Corinthians 1:26-28 are clear:

"Not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the weak and base and despised."

And Jesus' words --

"He anointed me to preach the Gospel to the POOR."

A current Canadian school book of history says --

"The earliest conversions were made among the humble and down-trodden -- slaves, poor city-workers, women.

"By the second century, Christianity penetrated the middle and upper classes.

"Justin Martyr set about proving Christianity and Greek philosophy were not incompatible."

We know what happened to Christianity after that. There is much food for thought in these quotations and historical facts, and a very sad lesson for today.

Bro Growcott - BYT 1.19



30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth Yahweh, she shall be praised.

Girls of my own age were frivolous. One with whom I had tried to cultivate acquaintance in Aberdeen (a brother's daughter) asked me why I "jawed so much about the nations." There was no repugnance of this sort to the truth about Jane Norrie. On the contrary, her tastes were all in the line of intellectual and scriptural things. There was an inexhaustible fund of interest in this direction which supplied the material for conversation that never flagged.

I met no one like her in this respect, and it was inevitable that our acquaintance should ripen fast, as it did, into the tenderest relation. I was only nineteen when we mutually agreed that we were suited for life companionship. Some of our friends were scandalised at such a result, but we felt sure our decision was a wise one, and therefore, without making a secret of it in any way, we shut our eyes and ears, and went our way. Time justified our policy.

My Days and My Ways Ch 5