LANGUAGE:
6 Marks
Of The Woman Who Fears The Lord
(Selected Scriptures)
Today is Mother’s Day, one of the few holidays that are celebrated worldwide, and a day that mothers around the world are told how much they are loved and appreciated.
According to Hallmark, the first Mother’s Day card was sold in 1920. A hundred years later over 133 million cards are sold annually. And would you believe it, Mother’s Day gifting is right up there with Christmas gifting.[i] I read that this year, Mother’s Day spending is expected to exceed 31 billion dollars, an increase of 3.6 billion from last year, making it the third-largest retail holiday. Not sure how much you are planning on spending on this day, but I am told that the average gifting hovers around $245.76.[ii]
Mother’s Day is notoriously challenging when it comes to selecting a passage of encouragement for Mother’s in particular, and women in general. And I think for most people, when it comes to Mother’s Day, Proverbs 31 comes to our minds.
Let’s open our time in prayer:
God we want to honor our moms today on Mother’s Day. For many, this is a difficult day. Please comfort those with heartaches. We celebrate with the women who have become moms this year. Lord, we thank you for our moms in every stage of life. We commit ourselves to honoring, loving, and protecting mothers everywhere. Thank you for the gift of mothers. We pray your blessing on them today and every day. Amen
As woman who is a Follower of Christ, I want you to know that you can be one of the greatest influencers in the church and our communities. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3 that a woman’s striking beauty of spirit is able to win the soul of her unbelieving husband. Her adherence to God’s design in marriage can proclaim the glory of the gospel. Her faith in and knowledge of God’s word can spill over into her ministry. Her gentle and quiet spirit is said to be precious in God’s eyes. Bottom-line, “A godly woman is someone of whom this world is not worthy, and God is not ashamed to be called her God.”[iii] Proverbs 31:30 tells us that the woman who has the fear of the Lord should be praised. The point is, women matter to God. I want you to know that as a Church we cannot fulfill our mission without the inspirational insights and support of women. They matter to the Lord, and have infinite value.
This morning I want to focus our thoughts around the question: What does it mean to be a woman who fears the Lord?
The woman who fears the Lord is the foundation of everything God has called the woman to be, and God tells us that such a woman is worthy of praise. This morning, as a means of encouragement, I want to highlight 6 marks of a woman who fears the Lord.
If you are taking notes, I want you to write this down: the woman who fears the Lord does not allow adversity to smother their identity.
Though it is not my intent to pry open the mysteries of the Proverbs 31 woman, I am intrigued by the question posed by the author in v10. An excellent wife, who can find? Some of your Bibles will translate the word excellent for virtuous, or noble character. Whatever word we use—excellent, virtuous, or noble character—the writer of Proverbs says such a woman is really hard to find. But if you happen to find such a woman, know this: she’s a rare treasure, she is more precious than jewels! What he is saying is, you cannot put a price on such a woman. She is priceless. Such is a woman is of insurmountable valuable.
So what does it mean to be an excellent wife?
To be an excellent wife I believe begins first by being an excellent woman. Interestingly, the word translated excellent comes from the Hebrew word—chayil. -- Chayil in Hebrew means strength, power, brave, or skilled.[iv] It is used regularly to describe God and mighty men, but there are a couple of times that it is used in regards to women.
One such woman is Ruth. In Ruth 3:11 Boaz, talking to Ruth, begins by saying, my people in the city which literally reads “all the people of the gate.”[v] The gate was the place of business and gossip, the place where legal transactions were carried out. It was the center of operations. If you wanted to know what was going on locally, you went to the gate and listened to the gossip.
So Boaz says to Ruth, my people in the city (ie., at the city gate) know that you (Ruth), and here’s our word, as a woman of excellence. That is, the word about town is that you are a woman of great strength. The Gk Septuagint Bible translates chayil with the word dunamis from which we get out word dynamite. By application, Ruth was a dynamite of a woman, ie., a woman of strong character.[vi] Boaz, himself a man of outstanding character,[vii recognized Ruth’s character, and saw her as a woman of great value, a woman with a solid reputation, a woman with a strong determination. I believe what made her stand out was that she didn’t allow her adversity to ‘box-her-in’.
Beverly Parkin, in her book Flowers by the Wayside, describes a flower that reminds us of Ruth. She writes these words about the regal yellow iris . . . it “grows in damp places, untroubled by storms and violent winds. There is great strength in its broad, spear-shaped leaves and the flowers bloom regardless of the weather....[viii]
Don’t miss the context of the story: Ruth was poor, a widow, a Moabite (making her a foreigner in Israel), childless and living in poverty with her mother-in-law Naomi. She didn’t just have three strikes against her, she had 5 strikes against her. But she didn’t allow her circumstances to overpowered her.
Mark this down—Ruth’s reputation permeated the city gossip as being a woman who carried herself well in spite of adversity.
In 2 Peter 1:5 (NASB95) Peter wrote to Followers of Christ struggling with great adversity. He writes in v5, Now for this very reason (the corruption of the lust of the world mentioned in v4), apply all diligence, in your faith add virtue. That’s our word excellence (ie., live a courageous excellence life, make your faith stand out for others to see).[ix] Ruth lived courageously in light of her circumstances.
The Woman Who Fears The Lord does not allow their adverse circumstances to smoother them. She guards her heart just as Proverbs 4:23 (NASB95) tells us: Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. She governs her thoughts along the lines of Philippians 4:8 (NASB95) Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Second, if you are taking notes, write this down: the woman who fears the Lord is privy to the secrets of God.
Psalm 25:14 (NASB95) The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant. Proverbs 3:32 (AV) 32For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.
Deuteronomy 29:29 (NASB95) “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. God has secrets which, if we learn them, they enable us to know the mystery of godliness—the greatest secret of all time. Without knowing the secret of godliness, you become a victim of life, of culture, of adversity. It’s possible to lose a sense of life while you are living it because you don't know the secrets of God.[x] Knowing the secret of godliness guards us when we’re anxious, when we’re tempted to retaliate with angry words.[xi]
1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us that the secrets of God are hidden from the general public, “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are (have to be) spiritually discerned.” . . . the secrets of God are only available to those who are in the inner circle because they are willing to be taught by the Spirit.[xii]
Jesus told his disciples that they have been granted to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:11). Paul often spoke of “secrets”--secrets such as Jesus’ incarnation (1 Timothy 3:16), the indwelling of the Spirit (Colossians 1:26–27), the unity of the church (Ephesians 3:4–6), the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51–52), and the gospel itself (Colossians 4:3).
The Woman Who Fears the Lord is given insight into the secrets of God which inspires her trust in His sovereign goodness in governing all things, even when the specifics are unknown.
Third, write this down: The woman who fears the Lord finds strength in the joy of the Lord.
Nehemiah 8:10 (NASB95) Nehemiah said, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” The joy of the Lord comes from an inner strengthen growing out of one’s relationship with Him. To know real joy is to know God’s joy. To know God’s joy is to know God.[xiii]
What is this joy? John Piper fleshes this out when he writes: Joy is a good feeling in the soul produced by the Holy Spirit as He makes us see and savor the glory of Christ in the Word and the world.[xiv]
Let’s not miss the context of Nehemiah’s words. The people were grieving because they realize they were guilty before God after hearing the reading of God’s Word. At the conclusion Nehemiah tells them not to grieve, for there is a refuge, a stronghold, a fortress. Because God provided forgiveness because of their acknowledgment of sinfulness. Judgment would not come, their protection was rooted in their joy in the Lord because of His forgiveness.
The fear of the Lord without joy in God, is when there is no refuge from the wrath of God. Joy comes from knowing the mercy and grace of God in His provision. When God ushers in true change, hearts are shifted to the refuge of joy. Joy in knowing that He has erased our guilt and shame which culminates in the death we deserve for our sin. Psalm 28:8 (NASB95) The LORD is their strength, And He is a saving defense to His anointed. The joy that a woman has in God amounts to the highest praise when it is expressed well in the praise to God. Despite adverse circumstances, the woman who fears the Lord holds fast to her joy rooted in the security that she has in Christ.
Her joy is not rooted in her happiness from the change of the seasons or circumstances in life. Rather her joy is rooted deeply within Christ Himself. Her joy is rooted in knowing that God is her stronghold, and such joy completes the woman who fears the Lord.
Fourth, write this down: a woman who fears the Lord walks confidently into the unknown. Proverbs 31:25 (GW) She dresses with strength and dignity, and she smiles at the future.
Right now, with the world feeling like a different place than the one we knew three months ago, I think we all need a good big dose of hope. Proverbs 14:26, “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.” The woman who fears the Lord is fearless. She is not naïve, but she knows that the Lord has a means for her safety. Proverbs 31:21, “She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.”
A woman who fears the Lord isn’t afraid to meet the world head on. Her God-given passion produces clear-eyed purpose, deep compassion and a bold spirit that has the power to change the world. She is not anxious about tomorrow, because she is confident that God has appointed for her a path and trusts Him in everything to show her mercy.
Fifth, write this down: a woman who fears the Lord speak wisdom and kindness. Proverb 31:26, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
In referring to things to come, Jesus said I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute (Luke 21:15). God gives the woman who fears the Lord a ‘mouth of wisdom’, not the ‘gift of the gab’ which the world boasts so often about. James 1:5, If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
We’ve been taught from grade school that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10) so it’s no surprise that the woman who fears the Lord “opens her mouth with wisdom.” -- Isaiah 33:6, “Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of your times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his (her) treasure.”
And kindness is on her tongue. Kindness goes beyond merely being nice. Being nice is being polite, while kindness is doing intentional, voluntary acts, of going out of your way. Being kind involves caring for others, bearing their burdens, and valuing them above yourself.[xv] It motivates us to speak life and encouragement to others instead of death and discouragement.[xvi] The woman fears the Lord is known for her wisdom and kindness.
Lastly, a woman who fears the Lord seeks to mentor other women.
Titus 2:3–5 (NASB95)3Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
The woman who fears the Lord will live not for herself alone, but will strive to mentor other women, helping others to maximize another’s personal, spiritual, and perhaps even professional growth to reach her God-given potential.
Mentoring younger women isn’t just about passing on the “how to’s” of being a good wife or mother. It also includes teaching them qualities essential to being a godly woman in relation to husbands, to her children, being self-control, being pure in thought/dress/ words/and behavior, managing home life, and cultivating godly fruits such as kindness. Investing in a younger woman does not require a seminary degree or a ministry calling. All it requires is an older woman who walks with God. Being older doesn’t mean being in your 70s. If you are 20 mentoring at 10 yr old girl you are the older woman. By mentoring others you are bringing the gospel of the Kingdom of God into reality.
Well, by looking at the clock we are running out of time. Let’s do a quick recap on what we have learned this morning.
A woman who fears the Lord . . .
When the woman who fears the Lord focus on being the person God wants them to be, they will accomplish what God wants them to accomplish.[xvii]
Let’s close in prayer:
Heavenly Father, as we close our time this morning, I want to pray a blessing on all the women in our midst—those who are single, those who are widowed, those who are married. Some days they all feel life is too hard. Some are hurting physically, emotionally and spiritually. Most are struggling, fearful and worried.
Thank you in that in the midst of it all, you haven’t left them to fend for their selves. Forgive them for doubting and wondering if you are there. Forgive them for thinking you’ve forgotten them. Forgive us all for believing we somehow know the better way.
I thank you for the women in our midst, no matter their age. May you bless them as bearers of your Word. May the mothers in our midst have the wisdom to teach and train up their children in the way they should go, so when they are old they will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). And if the children are already grown, help the mothers to continue to sow the seeds that will bear the Fruit of Your Spirit. There’s no special college degree, no on-the-job- training program. Help each mother to realize that You offer something even better than those things: Your Spirit and Your Word.
May the women in our midst come to know that You are fully trustworthy. You are All Powerful. You are Able. You are Lord over every situation no matter how difficult it may seem. You are Healer and will never waste the grief we carry today. You will use all things for good in some way. Anything is possible with you. Nothing is too difficult for you.
We pray for those who grieve today. We pray for the peace of your presence to cover their minds and thoughts, as you remind us, the enemy can never steal us out of your hands. He never has the final say over our lives. We are kept safe in your presence forever, whether in life or in death.
We thank you that your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts are bigger than our thoughts. We lay it all down at your feet, every burden, every care. Believing that is the safest place for it to be. We love you Lord, we need your fresh grace.
In the name of the Lord of the Universe, Amen
[i] https://dupagedemocrats.com/the-incredible-economics-of-mothers-day/
[ii]Kavi Dolasia, Americans Plant To Spend 31.7 Billion on Mother’s Day In 2022, https://www.dogonews.com/2022/4/29/americans-plan-to-spend-31-dollars-6-cents-billion-on-mothers-day-in-2022
[iii] Amanda Criss, The Fourfold Beauty Of A Godly Woman, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-fourfold-beauty-of-a-godly-woman
[iv] Carl Philip Weber, “624 חוּל,” ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 271. (ḥayil). Might, strength, power; able, valiant, virtuous, valor; army, host, forces; riches, substance, wealth; et al. (ASV and RSV similar with some variation.) The basic meaning of the noun is “strength,” from which follow “army” and “wealth.” It is used 244 times. In the sense of “strength,” “power,” or “might” in general, ḥayil is used about twenty times: of God (Ps 59:11 [H 12]), from God (Ps 18:32 [H 33]), physical strength of a man (Eccl 10:10), or even of plant life (Joel 2:22).
[v] Fredric W. Bush, Ruth, Esther, vol. 9, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1996), 173.
[vi] Ibid., The Greek Septuagint translates the Hebrew chayil with the word dunamis (word study) (a "dynamite" woman) which indicates inherent power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature -- dynamite has inherent power which becomes evident when the fuse is lit!
[vii] Ruth 2:1 (NASB95) Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth (mighty, valiant man), of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
[viii] https://www.preceptaustin.org/ruth_38-18#3:11.
[ix] https://www.preceptaustin.org/2_peter_15-7#1:5. William Barclay commenting on this verse explains that arête in 2 Maccabees we read of how Eleazar died rather than be false to the laws of God and his fathers; and the story ends by saying that he left his death for an example of noble courage (aretē) and a memorial of virtue, not only to young men, but also to all the nation (2 Maccabees 6:31).
[x] Cf., T.S. Elliot quote: "All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance. And all our ignorance brings us nearer to death. But nearer to death, no nearer to God. Where is the life," he asks, "that we have lost in living?" Cf., Ray Stedman, The Secrets of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-16), https://www.raystedman.org/thematic-studies/new-covenant/the-secrets-of-god
[xi] Cf., Ray Stedman, The Secrets of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-16), https://www.raystedman.org/thematic-studies/new-covenant/the-secrets-of-god
[xii]Ibid.
[xiii] John 17:2–3 (NASB95) 2even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
[xiv] John Piper, The Joy Of The Lord Is Your Stronghold, (Nehemiah 8:10), https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-joy-of-the-lord-is-your-stronghold
[xv] Romans 12:10 (NASB95) Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; ; Galatians 6:2 (NASB95) Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.; Philippians 2:3 (NASB95) 3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
[xvi] Proverbs 16:24 (NASB95) Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.; Ephesians 4:29 (NASB95)Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.; 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NASB95) Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.