Lemuel

She stood up and did what was needed during Adonijah's rebellion to ensure that Solomon would be the next king after David.

You know, there's even some suggestion that King Lemuel mentioned in Proverbs 31 is just another name for Solomon, which means, you know, the mother's advice in Proverbs 31 could very easily be Bathsheba's advice.

Yeah, wow.

So, you know, that's pretty impressive.

You know, I think Jewish commentators suggest that, you know, Lemuel was, you know, another name for Solomon.

So...

You know, and the fact that Bathsheba didn't let that event define her, right? You know, she, you know, she clearly, you know, moved on, you know, David loved her, she loved David and they, you know, she moved on and likely, you know, was a faithful mother who, you know, one of the things we've, Nikki and I talk about a lot is, the importance of our sisters being as grounded in the word as our brethren, because our sisters have the primary role of teaching the next generation, which it always frustrates me when

All right, let's read Proverbs 31.

The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy oracle that his mother taught him.

What, my son? And what, the son of my womb? And what? The son of my vows.

Three what's.

A lot there, if you know the word.

She would have married David and she would have made vows to him, knowing that Uriah, her husband, was murdered.

We don't actually have any proof who Lemuel was.

Lemuel sounds like an angel name.

So the wisdom of the ancient church was preserved and curated under royal patronage and royal authorship.

And it's no accident that the chapters of Proverbs that frame that wife of noble character, Proverbs 31, are words of King Lemuel's mother teaching her son how to be a king.

So wisdom is royal wisdom.

Move to the Gospels.

Finally, Proverbs 31 verse 4 to 5.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to take strong drink.

Lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of the afflicted.

And so the writer of Proverbs even goes a little step further and tells us that there is a place of personal consecration that for the sake of a particular assignment that God has given you, that it is good and just for a person to abstain from wine.

Your father was a drunkard.

You now want to test the spirit.

King Lemuel, I beseech you.

It is not for you.

Under the inspiration of God, he, quote, sought out, unquote, many sayings, and so she defined, quote, acceptable words, unquote.

In fact, the oft-quoted description of the virtuous woman in Proverbs chapter 31 is attributed to the mother of an otherwise unknown King Lemuel, not Solomon, Proverbs 31 verse 1, and that verse says, the words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him.

Evidence points to the influence of Egyptian literature on Proverbs as well.

Similarly, the inspired historians of the Old Testament tell us that they referenced archives and other historical annals to narrate faithfully the story of God's people.

And before we do that, I want to stop at chapter 30, because there, chapter 30 is underlined in red, and I have a note, and it says this is section 4.

Proverbs 30 through 31 contain the burden of Agur and Lemuel, the latter including a picture of the ideal wife of acrostic form.

So let's get over to Proverbs 31, and let's go down to who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies.

That's verse 10.

Because our women's ministry here is anchored in a text in Proverbs called Proverbs 31.

And Proverbs 31 is written by Solomon, it's written under a pseudonym, Lemuel.

And what Solomon says is that these are words that were given to him by his mother.

Do you know who his mother is? His mother is Bathsheba.