Sermon Tone Analysis

The Virtuous Wife {Proverbs 31:10-31}

This morning I would like to take some time to acknowledge our gratitude to God for our mothers.

This mother’s day as we look at Proverbs 31 I want us to notice and consider not just mothers but all women and express our gratitude for our sisters in Christ regardless of whether they are married or single, younger or older, with children or without children.

This morning we’re going to reflect on understanding Christian womanhood.

Our culture is shifting rapidly in it’s understanding of views and relationships men and women have to one another.

What does it mean to be a man?

What does it mean to be a woman?

Are there distinctions between the two in any way?

Is God’s design for man and woman unique in any way?

These are huge questions, and how we answer them carries huge consequences both in the church and in our culture.

In the words of John Piper,

“The tendency today is to stress the equality of men and women by minimizing the unique significance of our maleness or femaleness.

But this depreciation of male and female personhood is a great loss.

It is taking a tremendous toll on generations of young men and women who do not know what it means to be a man or a woman.

Confusion over the meaning of sexual personhood today is epidemic.

The consequence of this confusion is not a free and happy harmony among gender-free persons relating on the basis of abstract competencies.

The consequence, rather, is more divorce, more homosexuality, more sexual abuse, more promiscuity, more social awkwardness, and more emotional distress and suicide that come with the loss of God-given identity.”

Piper said that 10 years ago!

Such loss of God-given identity obviously has huge ramifications for understanding what happens when a man and a woman come together in marriage.

Or do you even have to have a man and a woman come together in order to have marriage?

These questions are at the core of so much that is going in the culture and in the church today, so I wanted to on this day Mother’s Day consider Christian womanhood and when, Lord willing, we will get to Father’s Day, consider “Christian Manhood.”

How does the cross of Christ uniquely attribute value and honor and beauty to women?

And what does the cross of Christ uniquely enable women to do in this world?

I want to bring us to Proverbs 31 which gives us a picture of a woman of wisdom.

Let’s read it together, starting in Proverbs 31:10-31.

I want to pause and acknowledge something.

This is a picture of a perfect woman.

In this proverb, we hear nothing about any imperfections in this woman.

Think about what we just read.

We read about how godly she is, how wise she is, what a wonderful wife she is, what an amazing woman she is.

She’s a homemaker, she’s a great cook who, not only makes food for her family, but 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 practically never sleeps.

She’s strong, she’s humble, she’s confident, she’s a servant, she’s a leader, she’s an entrepreneur who’s out in the world making good business deals, buying property for the benefit of her family.

And on top of all that, she loves and cares for the poor.

She is wonder woman.

As a result, women can easily read this passage and, instead of coming away encouraged, many or most or maybe all of you may be tempted to come away discouraged, thinking, “I can never be that.”

Or single men can read this passage and think, “I want to find a wife who’s perfect like that.”

Or married man can read this passage and think, “I kind of wish my wife was perfect like that.”

All of these things are obviously unhealthy responses to this passage, this picture of womanhood in God’s Word.

This is where I want us to realize that we have an ideal, a perfect picture of this woman for a reason.

The whole point of the book of Proverbs in the Bible is ultimately to point us to Christ and to the wisdom that can only be found in Christ.

What we have here at the end of the book of Proverbs is a picture of a woman who perfectly displays the wisdom of God in her womanhood, and that is a good thing.

It should neither discourage us nor deceive us with overly lofty ideals.

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.

As followers of Christ, we don’t look at Jesus and say, “I’m just so discouraged by Jesus’ perfection.”

No, we’re encouraged by the perfection of Jesus that we see on the pages of Scripture.

We see Jesus as a perfect picture of the wisdom of God in a man, and we want to look like Him more and more and more for our good and for His glory.”

I want to invite us to approach Proverbs 31 in a similar way.

Consider Proverbs 31 as a picture of a woman who clearly reflects God’s wisdom, and in so doing, women, long to look more and more and more like her as you ultimately grow into the image of the Christ to whom this picture is pointing you to.

Men, live to serve and love and help the women around you in Christ grow more and more and more into His image in ways that are reflected here in this proverb.

In the midst of a confused culture and church women, be and become Christlike women.

Our world today is twisting, cheapening, perverting, distorting, and trying to redefine what is means to be a woman.

I want to encourage you this morning to seek to become Christlike women.

Let this text this morning inspire you to look to Christ in your life, and let it inspire you to what it means to be a woman in Christ.

Women, I’ve prayed for you this morning, because I know that this text from Proverbs may expose areas in your life that need growth.

Or you may look at it and say “I’ll never be that.”

Or “I’ve already messed up so much, there’s not hope for me in those areas.”

Before we even get to the point where those thoughts creep into your mind I want to remind you that the mercy of God covers your past.

for every woman who is trusting in Christ, know this: The mercy of God covers your past.

You may have messed up in every way possible, but know this, Christian sister: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

(Romans 8:1).

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 have been forgiven.

Cling to that truth, that reality.

Don’t let guilt over the past keep you from becoming the woman God has designed you to be in the present.

With that setup, what then are the characteristics of a Christlike woman?

The answer Proverbs 31 gives us in unique, because in the original language of the Old Testament, it’s an acrostic.

Each verse in this poem (starting in verse 10 and going all the way down to verse 31, 22 verses) begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

It would be like a poem that was written, and the first verse begins with the letter A, the second verse begins with the letter B, and then C, D, all the way to Z.

It’s written like that so that it would be more easily memorable by the hearer (or the reader).

The author here (King Lemuel, who we don’t know a lot about) writes this down in the form of an acrostic so that he (and others) could more easily memorize the characteristics of this woman, which means the arrangement of the poem is not like Paul in the book of Romans systematically developing an argument.

Instead, it’s a list of one thing after another—some similar, some different, some themes mentioned in one verse and then reappearing 10 verses later with the start of another verse.

So what I want to do this morning is give you an acrostic.

Instead of using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet (which would be of no help to us today) or even the letters of the English alphabet (primarily because I don’t have time for a 26-point sermon right now), I want to take the word “WOMAN” as we think about “Christian Womanhood.”

With the beginning of each letter “W-O-M-A-N,” I want to give you a characteristic of the Christlike woman.

My hope is that this might enable you to more easily remember the truths that are in Proverbs 31 that we want to be/become, nurture, seek out, praise, and promote in women around us.

She is WISE

Let’s dive in to the “W.” “W” is for wise.

The Christlike woman is wise.

Now this works out well that “W” is our first letter because wisdom is the overarching theme, not only of the portrait of the excellent woman, but also the entire book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 1:7 set the tone for the rest of the book when it said, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7).

Later in that chapter, and then throughout the book, wisdom is even personified as a woman.

Proverbs 1:20, “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice” (Proverbs 1:20).

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 …” (Proverbs 3:13–15).

That’s how Proverbs starts out.

Then, you get to the end of the book, and the same words used for wisdom are now used for this woman.

Verse 10, “She is far more precious than jewels” (Proverbs 31:10).

Why? Verse 30, “A woman who fears the LORD …” (Proverbs 31:30), which is the beginning of what?

Wisdom.

The Christlike woman has Christlike wisdom because she fears God, she reveres God, she is humble before God, she trusts God, she honors God, and because of this, she is wise.

Because she fears God, her value cannot be fathomed.

Over and above looks and education, personality and accomplishments, likes and dislikes, any other characteristic, a woman who fears the Lord is more precious than the finest of jewels.

Because she fears God, she boldly faces the future.

Two times in this text, this mother says, “Because she fears God, she is not afraid of anything else.”

Verse 21, “She is not afraid of snow for her household …” (Proverbs 31:21), of threats to her household.

Then, you look down at verse 25, and it says, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come” (Proverbs 31:25).

What a great line!

It’s like Satan is dangling in front of her warning about tomorrow’s troubles and what might come up, and she glances up at Almighty God, whom she fears, and laughs at Satan’s folly.