The Proverbs :: A Guidebook for MenSample

Here, at the end, we find one of the most famous Proverbs, our third author, and an incredible introduction: “The sayings of King Lemuel — an inspired utterance his mother taught him.” (Editor’s note: This is the ultimate move by a mom. Drop wisdom so profound on your son that it ends up in Holy Scripture.) It seems essential that the Proverb explicitly dealing with the finding of a wife comes at the end of the book. It is as if God knew already that we would need to learn to lead ourselves with wisdom long before we should ever take a chance on leading someone else. Our natural state, our selves without God, may be able to seemingly hold things together for a time. But the real sacrifice needed for true leadership will eventually call more out of us than we can give apart from His power and His provision in our lives. Reflect on the opening of this book at the fundamental truth we started off acknowledging: There is, within every man, a deep desire to do what is right, a longing to navigate all of life’s adventures with a clear understanding of what is at stake and the best path forward toward victory. Arriving at Proverbs 31, we have spent the last month reading the handbook God provided for us to do just that. Now, a final instruction comes to us, and with it, a long list of attributes that we should search for in a partner with whom to follow it: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the poor and needy.” Christian, this is your charge. Obey it earnestly. Let the wisdom of the past 30 Proverbs guide you as you seek to honor it with all of your heart. As you do, look around you for one who is doing the same. The final twenty-three verses of Proverbs 31 extoll the virtues of a woman who will already follow that same wisdom in her own long arc of obedience. If God has called you to marriage, He will lead you to such a woman. If He has not, continue to live a life in full pursuit of the wisdom He has freely poured into your life through the Proverbs. The end goal for each of us is this: we would be men after God’s own heart, and all else would be found in the following. — God, thank You for Your wisdom. I praise You that You are the Source of truth and will always be. You are the source of all knowledge and understanding. I humbly ask for the blessing of Your wisdom; that I would have a heart that feels like Yours, that I would have eyes that see like Yours, that I would have a mind that thinks like Yours. I desire to be a man after Your own heart, and I commit to working towards being more like You for all of my days. Thank You for who You are. Amen.