Well, here we are wrapping up our series in Proverbs. We’ve been studying Proverbs since back in the spring, working through chapters and then topics, and we’re going to wrap it up by looking at probably the best known chapter in Proverbs, especially for the women. If you’ve been in any women’s study at any time, you’ve looked at the Proverbs 31 woman, the excellent wife, it’s a familiar section for many. It holds up a high standard for the Excellent Wife. In fact, in our home, I often refer to Julie as a Proverbs 32 woman. There is no chapter 32. But what I mean by that is she excels the Proverbs 31 woman. She goes beyond the Proverbs 31 woman. It’s just a way for us to well, for me to say, I love you. That’s a subtle way. I’m saying it right now in front of everyone. She is a great wife. Proverbs 31. But here’s the thing about Proverbs 31 it’s not just only the excellent wife. In fact, there’s a front part to chapter 31 that I think is important to address today because I think the way it wraps up the whole book of Proverbs. In fact, if you have an outline, you should have received one coming in. If not, hold up your hand will try to get you a copy. If we have those who can hand those out. I think the key thing to understand about the Book of Proverbs, and especially chapter 31, is how it points backward and forward. That’s what that blank on the page there at the top of the outline, Proverbs 31 points both backward and forward, backward, meaning it points backwards across the entire book of Proverbs. And you’re going to see, as we look at chapter 31, a bunch of different themes that came up all throughout the book. This is almost a poetical summarization of the Book of Proverbs, almost personifying a lot of the highlights of the book all together. So it’s pointing backwards across the book, but it’s also pointing forwards to a greater reality of a truer wisdom that none of us can attain to merely by reading the Book of Proverbs. And we’ll get to that. But it’s important to understand it’s not just only about a king, which is the front part of the chapter. It’s not only just about an excellent wife, but it’s about a greater picture of wisdom to come. Now, I think this is why I hope to handle Proverbs 31 a little differently today is because I think it is seen in two big sections. A section addressed to a king in the first nine verses and a section addressed to the excellent wife at the end. And I think it’s important to see both of those together in context. You know, much of the book of Proverbs stands alone. You even think of a proverb as a short, pithy statement, a sentence or two that stands alone. It doesn’t have to have the verse before it or the verse after it to explain it. Most of the book of Proverbs is that way, but here at the end we have these two long sections, nine verses, 22 verses that fit together, that are a longer section that stand apart almost from the rest of the book of Proverbs. That’s why we’re calling this message. And you see here at the top Proverbs 31, A king and his bride. Because this chapter addresses both together. And I think it’s helpful to see these in context that helps us point it forward. So let’s first start by talking about the King. Look at Proverbs 31 verse one. The words of King Lemuel, an oracle that his mother taught him. So we don’t know who King Lemuel was. There’s speculation about him. I don’t think he shows up anywhere else in the Bible. We’re not exactly sure who he is. But what is interesting here is that these are words that are captured, that he remembered that his mother taught him, which also stands apart from the rest of the book of Proverbs. The first nine chapters in particular were often very much so a father to his son. My son, my son, my son. We saw it over and over again. Then we do also see, though, father and mother instructing the son together. And now here at the end of the book, we see words just from the mother. Now what this hints at is somewhat of the life span of a king. He starts out as a young boy in the home, being instructed by both father and mother. But oftentimes the prince becomes the king because the father has passed on. And now the son who was under his mother’s rule has now become her king, her ruler, and her words later in life are going to stand out differently than they did earlier on. You know what I’m talking about when mom’s instructing you as a young kid, you’re not always listening. But later on you might remember back and go, Man, she had something good to say. These are the things that stood out to me. I also think this highlights maybe some of the nature of the relationship that might be slightly different between a mother and her son. You know, a lot of times a father might be harsher, more direct. Of course, mothers can be, too. I’m speaking in generalities, but oftentimes they may even instruct the son together. And then later, though, she might be able, in a tender way, to pull him aside and appeal to him in a more tender fashion. In fact, look at some of the words that are used here, she says in chapter two. What are you doing, my son? What are you doing? Son of my womb? We say that differently. Look, I carried you around for nine months. All that I’ve done for you. Would you listen to what I have to say? You have no idea how much I’ve sacrificed for you. Son of my womb! What are you doing? Son of my vows. She is trying to get his attention. If I have her say to one of my kids. What are you doing? I want them to pay attention to what I’m about to say. I’m trying to correct him. It’s obvious I’m not approving of what they’re doing. In fact, many translate this phrase just as listen. Listen to what I’m about to tell you. And she repeats it. Listen, listen, listen. I’m really trying to get your attention. And she’s going to give him instruction in three key areas. In fact, here at the top of your notes, three ways a king is called to serve his people. What she wants to do is to make sure he understands that his role is different. A king is not called to serve himself. He’s called to serve others. Don’t forget that. Don’t forget your calling. Don’t forget who you are in the midst of everything else that comes with being a king. Don’t forget she’s appealing to his heart. She’s appealing to him from her role as a mother. And those words stuck with him and he captured them later. Now let’s see what these three things are. Three ways a king is called to serve his people. First, a king is called to serve through self-control. Self-control. Look at verse three do not give strength. Do not give your strength to women or your ways to those who destroy kings. The implication being giving your strength to women who do destroy kings. And of course, this is a key theme. The emphasis here is not just general self-control, but specifically sexual self-control. That was a key theme all throughout the first nine chapters. It shows up over and over again in the book of Proverbs, and it’s being brought together here, specifically emphasizing that to the King. Understand that your role is not meant to be just merely for self gratification. It’s meant to be about serving others, which means you practice self-control, especially in the area of sexuality. Now, by the way, this command isn’t just for kings. This applies to all of us. We know that the book of Proverbs is directed at all of us, and especially the way this last part of the book is structured. It’s not just only for a king and only for a random, excellent wife. It’s meant to summarize all the teaching that’s showing up. And so we look at this and we think, how does this apply to us as well? Because reality is we all are going to struggle in the area of sexual self-control. But the call is not to just gratify self, but to serve others. This would have been a temptation, though, especially prominent for kings. This happened, in fact, when Israel said to Samuel, we need a king. All the other people around us have a king. Look how great they are. We want to be great like them. This upset Samuel, God said, look, they’re not rejecting you. They’re rejecting me. And Samuel gave them this warning. Look in your notes, Samuel 8:13. Just so you know, here’s what a king is going to do. Be aware you’re asking for a king. Here’s what you’re going to get. He will take your daughters to be cooks and bakers and perfumers. The text goes on. And of course, I think the subtlety here is that’s not the only reason he’s taking them. In fact, we saw Solomon take many, many, many wives, even though what’s interesting, even though the command of Scripture, if you look at Deuteronomy 17:17 here, prior to that, you know, a king should not acquire many wives for himself. And here’s why. It’s not just about sexual self-control. It’s not just about what I do with my own body. And what’s underneath that, what’s root behind that, what’s core to that is here at the rest of Deuteronomy 17:17, he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. The core issue here is not just what I do with my body. The core issue is a spiritual issue. What does this do with your heart when you reject God’s law and direction around sexuality? His heart will turn away. If you continue down that path, your heart will turn away from God. You’ve got no other choice. You have to block him out of your life to continue to ignore his law and to just satisfy self. And we saw that, of course, with Solomon, of course, the guy who wrote much of the book of Proverbs that we’ve been discussing, often called one of the wisest people to ever live. And what happened? He ends up turning away from God because his heart is drawn away by the many foreign wives that came into his life and over time eroded his faith. The core issue here is spiritual leadership, and the King is called to lead his people spiritually, not to just give himself over to whatever whims he has. And each of us, you know, we’re called not to just give ourselves over to whatever we feel we’re called to lead spiritually, to lead whoever God has put in your life to lead, whether that’s someone you’re overseeing in an area of ministry or at work or in your family. But that’s part of why we practice self-control, so that we might point others to Christ. So that’s the first thing she says to him practice sexual self-control. Second, lead with a clear mind. Look at verse four through seven. 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 all the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress. Let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more. Serve through self-controlled lead with a clear mind. Now when we talked about we had a whole message on self-control in Proverbs, and we made clear that it’s not a sin. Biblically, the Bible never says anywhere that it’s a sin to drink alcohol. It is a sin to be drunk. And here the emphasis especially is on the role of the leader. The leader is called to a higher standard. The leader is called to make sure that his mind is sharp, his mind is clear. His mind has not been clouded by things like alcohol, for instance. Again though, it’s not just for him to make sure he’s using self-control just for his own means in life, but the point is, so that he can serve others well, he’s called to have a clear mind, a clear heart, so that he might serve others well. In fact, one of my favorite verses along these lines, because it’s not just about what we consume, what liquid beverage we consume, but about everything we consume. It’s either making your mind stronger or clouding your mind. Everything. First Peter four seven has been ever since we went through the book of first Peter. I’ve been praying that verse almost every morning. God help me to be sober minded and self-controlled for the sake of our prayers. I want to be in a place where my heart and mind are ready to pray, active in prayer, not clouded even by all the nonsense you can read online or on social media, and distracted by so many things. Sober minded, self-controlled for the sake of our prayers. And this is so critical. I really believe, and I’ve said this over and over again, to the elders and to the staff. I believe. That this church, in the coming year. We’re going to see God move or not, based on how committed we are to prayer. It’s just is the case when revival has sprung up in the world. It’s been out of the overflow of prayer and the prayer is hard, by the way. It’s incredibly hard. It’s one of the hardest things you do in your spiritual life. It’s easy to sit down and just start reading the Bible. Even that’s hard sometimes, but it’s a lot easier than praying because our minds are so distracted. You try to pray for a nanosecond and you’re already thinking about that thing you got to do and forgot to do and should have done, and that thing you suddenly have to go look up on the internet that you’ve never thought of before in your life. Immediately. Your mind’s just racing. It’s so hard. The health of our church will depend on our prayers in the coming year. There’s no other way around it. We’ve got to be committed to prayer, and I think more so even than public prayer. Your personal prayer life, which will increase your intimacy with Christ, will be one of the most powerful things we we do to see God move in our church in the coming year. And what’s core to that is that we are sober minded, we have self-control. We have clarity of mind that we’re able to hear from God, that our minds are not clouded, our hearts not clouded by over things. Now the third thing he points to here she points to is model wisdom. So use self-control, lead with a clear mind, but then hear number three model wisdom. This is verses eight through nine. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth. Judge righteously. Defend the rights of the poor and the needy. Capturing his mother words twice, she says, open your mouth. And notice the contrast. By the way, open your mouth for the needs of others. Instead of opening your mouth just to consume, drink for yourself. You see the contrast. The king’s temptation. The rich, the powerful, the temptation is just to make it about me. But the call is to serve. Open your mouth for the needs of others. Notice the people who’s mentioned the destitute, the poor, the needy, and we are called. Part of our role in the church is to stand up for those who have needs. How can we come alongside those who have needs? And that’s complicated, by the way, because not every situation is, for instance, just giving someone money. Is that helping? Sometimes that’s hurting. It takes wisdom to know what that means and how we come alongside them. I get that, but our burdens should be met. How can we serve those in our midst who are hurting, who are needy? I just want to highlight someone who’s here today, first of all, to give thanks and praise to God that they’re even alive and let alone showed up today. I don’t know if you all remember us talking about how Mark Tassin was hit by a car. Well, he’s able to be here today and they’re sitting in the back. Back here? Huge praise. Huge praise that I’m. I’m telling you, even that he is alive, hit by a car. Not just alive. Now functioning. Learning to walk again if you talk to Mark is the same old Mark. And. But I’ve watched years of the encouraging thing. They’ve had some significant needs as a result, as you can imagine. And some in the church have stepped up to come alongside them and help them to come alongside the needy. We all have seasons, sometimes needy, sometimes not. We want to be a church that’s poured into the lives of others and helping them with their needs in times of need. That’s the call to the King here, to the leader. Wisdom. Model wisdom. Now, the reason I use the word wisdom here is because in order for us, for us to serve the needy, to serve the needs of the church, to serve the community that requires great wisdom. And here’s one thing that’s interesting about Solomon when he prayed. He’s famous for having prayed for wisdom, mean he could have gotten riches, and he prayed for wisdom, and he got riches along with that. But notice his prayer. It’s often forgotten. When he prayed specifically, he just didn’t pray. He didn’t pray just for general wisdom. God, would you just give me some wisdom? I could use some wisdom. Look here at verse 1 Kings 3:9 here in your notes. Here’s what he prayed. Specifically, give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this your great people? He prayed specifically for wisdom to govern the people that God had put him over. It wasn’t just make me look wise so people will know that I’m a wise person. No, no, no, he wanted wisdom to guide, to lead, to govern. And of course we know his heart was led astray. But at the core of his burden to begin with. God, would you give me wisdom to serve? Now that’s the opening of this chapter, which summarizes many of the themes we’ve seen in Proverbs. But it starts with the command to the King. And I think this is important to set the context, because an excellent wife can’t be an excellent wife without a husband. You can’t define wife apart from husband, by the way. You can’t define husband apart from wife. Just try to. There’s no way to do it. They go together so we don’t just look at one standing alone. We look at how they are linked together. And I don’t think it’s any coincidence that what comes right after a mother’s instruction to her king. Now, whether she’s still writing this or not, we can’t be sure. But whoever compiled the book of Proverbs saw you know what he needs to know next. He needs to know what it means to have an excellent wife. He’d better have a good woman alongside of him if he wants to be successful. And so that’s just the context for how we look at the excellent wife. A king who serves a king who is about serving alongside him is an excellent wife. Now let’s look at what an excellent wife is. If you look here in 31, verse ten, look first at what it says in verse ten, an excellent wife who can find she is far more precious than jewels. The first reality. The first question here is who can find an excellent wife? It can be hard to find an excellent spouse. When I’ve talked with singles over the years, Julie and I served in college ministry for a while. That’s one of the things that often comes up, hey, what are you looking for in a future spouse? They’re asking us, how do you find the right person? What do you do? One thing I noticed is that people who seem to do well on that journey often have some kind of list. They’ve made a list of. These are the things I’m looking for in a person. Now, some of those are written down, some aren’t. I don’t think it matters that much if it’s written down or not. One thing though, you should have in your mind and set in your heart, is to know these are things that are essential to someone I’m going to marry now you need to have an essential list. You need to have maybe a compromisable list. I remember one girl telling me I’ll never marry a man who wears a watch on his right wrist, wrist, wrist. Have you say that? And I actually, I don’t remember if it was right or left. Whatever. She had one. If he has a watch on the wrong hand. I’d never marry a person like that. And I thought, aren’t you even going to look at what kind of watch it is at least? You know, that might change the conversation. That’s a nice Rolex. You know what? I’m okay with that. Well, let’s talk. Maybe I can get you to move it over to the other hand. No, there’s some things on that list that we go, okay, that’s a negotiable. That didn’t have to be at the top. Christian kind, funny, easy to get along with. Caring. Like these things are the things that go up at the top of the list. Here’s what’s interesting about Excellent Wife. This is kind of a list in a sense, but it’s not just here’s exactly what I need. It’s more of like a poem of praise. And here’s how we know this. This is actually there’s 22 verses. There’s 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse starts with, in consecutive order, each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So it’s almost like an acrostic poem. A you’re adorable all the way down through Z. You’re a I don’t know what zebra. What do you say about Z? Zucchini I don’t none of them are good anyway. Did you see that? A to Z, you’re the best. It’s not about even then if you do that, you’re not. Meaning each one of these are specifically what I was looking for. You just mean you’re you’re the best ever. Comprehensively A to Z from beginning to end. And so even though this list isn’t comprehensive, it doesn’t cover so much of what it means to be a spouse. It’s meant to say, I can’t praise you enough for your excellence. Now notice where it starts though. Let’s look back at verse ten, because here in your notes there’s two four characteristics of an excellent wife. First, is she is rare, an excellent wife who can find all the time. When we were talking with those college students, people would say, and even if you’re single, you know, you’ve you’ve said it. Where are the good men? Where are the good women? Where do I find them? The excellent wife is not standing on every street corner out there. She’s probably not standing on any street corner. That doesn’t sound right. She, You know what I mean? They’re not everywhere. They’re not easy to find. They. Bring it back in. Okay? They’re not easy to find. The rare, the quality person. And here’s the quality, the definition of quality here. It ends up at the end. Chapter 30 or verse 30. Charm is deceitful, beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. You wonder who an excellent wife is. The summation of excellency, the summation of wisdom, a woman who fears the Lord. It’s how the book began in chapter one, verse seven. Fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Beginning of knowledge. How did you find that? That’s rare. The book acknowledges that. Second, though, look here. Number two. She’s rare. She’s also valuable. An excellent wife who can find. She is far more precious than jewels, far more precious than jewels. And someone pointed out to me, one of our students was wearing a hat that said, if you’re rich, I’m single, right? Which is funny, but yet it’s also tragic because I’ve known people who got married for that reason. And let me tell you that no amount of money makes up for someone who is cruel, untrustworthy, demeaning, hard to be around, no amount of money ever makes up for that. She, the excellent wife. The God fearing wife is far more valuable than any amount of money you could ever imagine. And so to have that as the priority, rare, valuable. And don’t let that person slip away. I remember my dad telling the story of, you know, he and mom met actually in high school, and they both went off to separate colleges and they were kind of on again, off again. And then one night it just hit him. What are you doing? What are you doing? Are you going to let her slip away? Are you just going to let some other dude off at another college sweep her up? What are you doing? And he said it was like a sweat panic. He’s like, I gotta do something. He hopped in his car and drove right to her and said, look, we got to get married. I can’t let I. You’re the one for me. He didn’t. Wait a second. Mom probably thinks, yeah, he waited a little too long, actually. Right. Valuable. Rare. When you find that person, don’t wait. It’s not a game. Don’t just play around. Now, I think there’s two big categories that make up the rest of the book that describe two things in particular about an excellent wife. First, notice in these first group of verses, verses 13 through 22, she is active in her serving. The king is called to serve his wife alongside him is called to serve. She is active in her serving. And let me say on the front end of this, by the way, I called Shannon Hampshire, texted Shannon Hampshire and asked her, hey, she’s one of the leaders in our women’s ministry. I’m sure you’ve taught this a lot. What do you want women, make sure women hear about Proverbs 31? And she’s like, it’s overwhelming. A lot of women read it and walk away going, I can’t do all that. Whoever can measure up to that? Okay. Fair enough. It does feel that way. I’m going to talk about I think that’s on purpose, by the way. I’m going to talk about why that is. Keep that in mind as we read this. There’s a lot here. But yet also there’s a lot that we should be inspired by. Okay. Verse 13 through 22, she is active in her service. Let’s just read through those. She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant. She brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it with the fruit of her hands. She plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength, makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hand to the distaff. Her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor, reaches out her hands to the needy. She’s not afraid of snow. For her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes bed coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. She is active and her serving. In fact, as you’re looking at that chapter, is just one action verb after another, one after another. She makes, she seeks, she rises. She considers, she dresses, she perceives, she puts her hands on the hold of things. She opens her hands. She reaches. She’s not afraid. She makes action, action, action acting. She’s active in her serving. And I’m just going to point out a couple of ways specifically here. She’s active in her serving. Look at verse 13. I think here we can say she’s intentional. She seeks wool and flax. She’s proactive. She doesn’t just wait around for others to bring her what she needs. She goes after it. She seeks it out. She finds it. Be proactive in your service. Also, though, I love that it says she works with willing hands, she’s not begrudging who likes to be around that person? Well, I guess I have to do this for you. No, it’s a willingness, it’s a joy. It’s a delight to serve a proactive in this. She’s intentional. Also look at verse 16. She considers a field and buys it with the fruit of her hands. She plants a vineyard. She is thoughtful. She considers a field and buys it. She’s thoughtful and she’s empowered. Her husband’s not micromanaging everything she does. He has entrusted things to her to manage. He trusts her. In fact, look at verse 11. It says that specifically, the heart of her husband trusts in her and he will have no lack of gain. And I just want to give a word of encouragement to many of the men in the room. Some of us can be kind of controlling, whether it’s with possessions or money. I’ve seen it time and again. I say kind of controlling. Some can be control freaks. There’s a maybe a spectrum of control. You’ve got to learn how to let go of some things and trust your spouse. Women. I’m also talking to some of you. I don’t have anybody in particular in mind. But you know, some of us on both sides can be control freaks. Now, the other side of that is that we need to be a good steward of that trust. And she clearly here has been a good steward of that. He can trust her. She has kept him in the loop on her decisions. So she’s not just off running and doing whatever she wants willy nilly again, not just for herself. Part of the picture of the Proverbs 31 woman is that she is ultimately focused on serving her family. But there’s something about being a good steward of the trust you’ve been given. Julie has entrusted me with the finances of our home, but I’m consistently, regularly informing her I have a binder with everything printed out in it. Here’s the bank information. Here’s the mortgage information, here’s the insurance information. Here’s the retirement information. Here’s all the login codes. Here’s the college savings information. And you can go look at it any time. And you can go log in and see if what I printed out is true or not, or if it’s different online. And you could ask me about it. And of course, anybody, if they work hard enough can hide stuff. But hopefully you’re developing a life that is an open book and fostering trust and make sure they know I’m not. I’m not trying to hide anything from you. I want to have your trust fully. I don’t want to give you any reason to doubt. She’s intentional along those lines. She’s thoughtful. Verse 19. She’s industrious. She puts her hand to the distaff. Her hand holds the spindle. I love all throughout here she’s developing all kinds of skills. She’s continuing to grow as a person. She’s industrious. Verse 20, she’s generous. She opens her hand to the poor, reaches out her hands to the needy. This was a hard one for me, when we first married. Because Julie loves to cook. She’s a great cook, and she would cook an amazing meal, and there’d be this huge amount left over, and I thought, I’m going to get to eat on this for days, and then I’ll watch all these little dishes go out the door to other people. And I’m like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, where are you going with that? That was really good. And she’s like, be quiet. I’ll make more. This is for other people. I didn’t make it only for you. There’s other people than you, John, in this world who need food, too. She’s generous. She’s thinking of others, not just herself. Out of the overflow of the heart, she’s able to bless others as well. She’s generous. And then verse 21, she’s prepared. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. And that’s often translated as double layered, double clothed. There’s different ways to translate that word. The point being, they’re ready for what’s coming. She’s thought ahead. The winter’s coming. I know they’re ready. I don’t have anything to worry about because we’re prepared. That’s focused on her active service. That’s the first half, I think, of the excellent woman. The second half, though, I think is focused on her inward life, her character. In fact, that’s the blank there on number four. She’s intentional to grow in character. Verse 24 through 27. She makes linen garments, sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing. She laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also he praises her. Many women have done excellently, but you surpassed them all. Look here at just a couple of instances. Verse 25 A in her character she grows in strength and dignity. Verse 25, strength and dignity are her clothing. She carries herself with strength and dignity, not in a demeaning, top down, abrasive way, but with kindness. But it’s clear she’s depending on the Lord, not herself. For her strength and dignity. Also in verse 25, be she’s content in spirit. I love this phrase. She laughs at the time to come. She laughs at the future. Many now in our time, when they think about the future, it’s not laughter, it’s fear, anxiety, tears. Worry. And this isn’t a flippant laughter, it’s a joy. I don’t have to worry about the future. I’m ready. And even if things don’t go the way I thought, God’s in control. It’s a dependance on him. It’s a contentedness in spirit, a godly contentment that I think we all want. That’s growth and character. And then lastly, she’s full of wisdom. Look at verse 26. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She’s full of wisdom, and she’s pouring it out into the lives of others and true deep wisdom. It doesn’t come easy. It doesn’t come fast. That’s come from a life dedicated to growing in character. Now, I said at the beginning, Proverbs points backwards and it also points forward. It points backwards across the whole book of Proverbs, but it also points forward to a truer wisdom. In fact, in the English Bible, the the book of the Bible that comes right after this is Ecclesiastes. But in the Hebrew Bible, in many of the early versions, it was the book of Ruth, an excellent wife who can find. You want to know what an excellent wife looks like? You want to know what an excellent woman looks like? Here you go, Ruth. And there’s so many parallels, by the way, from the story of Ruth and the Proverbs 31 woman. She’s even called an excellent or worthy woman in chapter three, verse 11, you. The same wording is used, things that are similar. In fact, her husband sits at the gates. Look at verse 23 of Proverbs 31. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. Boaz sat at the gates. And this isn’t some passive mingling, sitting around doing nothing. That is a measure at the time that would have been known as this is where leading is done in the city. This is where the elders, the rulers, the leaders gather, make decisions, govern the city, he said. At the gates was respected, was known. But here’s what this points forward to. Even more so than just an example. And Ruth and her husband Boaz. And there’s similarities. And she lived like a Proverbs 31 woman. What this points forward to even greater was their descendant. And if you read in Matthew one, Ruth is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. And part of the reason it’s okay that this is overwhelming. It’s okay that Proverbs 31 is overwhelming to both the men and the women. It’s okay that you go, I can’t live up to that standard because we’re not meant to. It’s not possible. You can’t possibly live up to the standard of the Old Testament, and you’re not meant to. What we need is someone else to come and be the perfect king that none of us have ever seen, and be the perfect bride and shape and redeem the perfect bride that none of us have ever been. And that’s King Jesus and His bride, the church. And one day he’s going to come back for all of us. He’s going to come back as the perfect king. That’s who were longing for. That’s where true wisdom is. And that’s why we turn to his word over and over again. That’s why we’ve been in the book of Proverbs seeking wisdom. But we’re looking to him more and more for wisdom above all else. He is the one that we look forward to. He is the one that true wisdom is found in, and he’s the one that today we’re going to remember. In fact, we’re going to end our service by taking communion together.