Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

• Proverbs 31:24-31

Proverbs 31:30  ”The secret to this lady’s modus operandi is found in her fear of the Lord. The reason she was wise, the reason she could prioritize her family; the reason she had everything in order is because she took God seriously. She had a divine worldview. The marketplace didn’t control her; her friends didn’t control her; the television didn’t control her. God controlled her, and so her decisions were divinely authored.”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

The Message

This section of verses concludes the description of a wife of noble character, but it also ends the vespers services (of sorts) on the book of Proverbs.  I trust that God will lead me, but we are starting with Job next week.  I have no idea how it will work, but I am dividing the bulk by “speaker.”  The rest will be by God’s guidance.

Proverbs 31:24 speaks of the wife of noble character making garments with her linen and selling it.  The flax mentioned two weeks ago is the primary ingredient in fine linen.  So, she ensures that she and her family are well dressed, but this activity brings profits to the family to care for their needs.

As for the wife of noble character, she is dressed in strength and dignity.  Of course, she is well-dressed, but when you see a wife of noble character, you may not notice the way they are dressed as much as you notice their confidence and strength.  There is a certain bearing about them.  When you are in their presence, you feel the strength exude from them.  They have no reason to worry nor any time to worry.  Thus, they can laugh at tomorrow.  They have their answer for tomorrow whatever might come.

The wife of noble character, as if it needed to be restated, is a wise woman.  She has heeded the words in the first 30 chapters of Proverbs and applied those wise sayings to the way she lives.  She is industrious and not prone to any lazy moments.

I remember when my wife would be ill with the flu or some other malady, and when I got home from work, she would be in the kitchen, cooking supper.  She would be apologetic in that she had done two loads of clothing, dry and folded, but she asked if I could put the clothing away.  Due to being sick, she fell short of the complete task, yet she had done things that I planned to do that night due to her illness.  My wife never had idle hands until near the end, when she was literally too weak to do things.  She was always making things with crochet, knitting, rubber stamping, etc.

And our children realized how industrious their mother was.  When they left the nest, she had taught them how the cook, clean, wash, etc.  And my youngest recently reminded me that he had just changed the oil in the car and he thanked me for teaching him.  Outdoor activities and anything with a motor was not my wife’s thing to do.

And the book of Proverbs ends with honor to those women who are wives of noble character.  They may not do everything on the list, but if they clothe themselves in dignity, strength, and wisdom, and they fear the Lord, the rest will take care of itself, keeping in mind that their hands cannot be left idle.

And now let us sing.

The following song is You, Me, and Jesus.  This is written and sung by Michael Boris and AC Jones, also known as, Arbor North.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  Help us to value wisdom.  For thirty-one chapters, the authors of Proverbs beg us to pay attention to what should be obvious.  Does the world work this way?  No, Lord, we live in a fallen world that thinks that if they call themselves enlightened, we will go along with the farce.  True wisdom comes from You, Lord.  Help us to focus on You.  In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.