Truth Bombs from a King’s Mom

Introduction

Good evening. I love that song. In fact, that’s the first time I’ve been able to sing it where I wasn’t alone in my car all by myself. Like somebody who’s just blasting it out without anybody around. It’s nice to sing it with somebody else. So thank y’all very much. I hope you had a good day. I hope can you see me? If the bretting in your eyes burned out from trying to look up all day. Anyone else go? I’ll see nothing. Well, it’s interesting how those things work out. But it was still a wonderful day, and I hope you had a good day. And thank you so much for making this a part of your day. If you would please grab the Heavenly Library. I’d like for you to take down the book of Proverbs, and we’re gonna go to Proverbs chapter 31.

Proverbs chapter 31. I know immediately when I said that, every woman in the audience went, Oh, really? Oh, and every guy’s going, Yes, it’s not about us. Well, you may want to look again. Before I actually get in the story, I want to share something with you that I bet you can identify with. Anybody have a mom? Who you had a mom. That part I know, that’s why you’re here. But you had a mom who on Sunday morning could just dress up and be so radiant, and she would walk into the church building and just be so friendly to everybody, hugging on everybody, and then you would leave and go home from lunch, and maybe you went with another family, and she’s just so beautiful and radiant, and then you got home.

And she sees all the dishes that you left out. She sees your toys all over the floor that you were told multiple times to pick up, and on and on in the list goes. And immediately before your eyes, she morphs. And those beautiful eyes now have eyebrows that are pointed, and that beautiful mouth that was just kissing you and telling you how much she loved you. Now looks like it almost has fangs coming out of it and she’s ready to attack. You ever had one of those moments? And you were running from her.

Right? When you read Proverbs 31, it is actually the story of a mom speaking to her son. But her son is not a juvenile. He is not a young middle schooler. He is not even a young adult. He is actually the king. And when King Limul’s mom, and I have this picture of my mind, that he is sitting on the throne, yakking it up with his friends, founding on all the great plans that he had for the kingdom, that all of a sudden the doors of the palace burst open, and in walks his mom.

Anybody ever heard that one? You do not answer that question. That is a rhetorical question, right? She is not looking for answers. Alright. She is looking to beat you.

What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, the son of my womb? What are you doing, the son of my vows? I want you to grasp at the very beginning of this, and what makes this so powerful is that we’re actually at the end of the book of wisdom. And what’s interesting, if you’ve ever studied Proverbs opens up with a father expounding to his son to listen to Lady Wisdom. And isn’t it interesting that wisdom is personified as a woman? You ever wondered why that is? Because women don’t end their life with these final words. Watch this. Men do all the time. Right? Girls are usually a little more sensible than guys. So it shouldn’t surprise us that it’s Lady Wisdom, and it’s as if Lady Wisdom has the last words.

And this time it’s mom. And we don’t exactly know who King Limuel is. I mean, if you’ve ever been looking at things like who is King Limul? I don’t remember him as one of the kings. You ever had the kings all around the room of your classroom? You remember that when you were a little kid? All you have the kings, the kings with the smiley faces and all the frowny faces, you know. You remember those? Where’s Lemuel in that list? He’s not there necessarily. Some assume, well, maybe it’s Solomon. And maybe he’s just writing as a ghostwriter that this is what his mom would say to him. Some would suppose, well, maybe it’s Hezekiah. There’s a lot, there’s a lot that goes into what some scholars believe this may have been, or who this may have been.

But here’s the point. It really doesn’t matter.

Because every single one of us could be King Lemuel. And trust me, if you have a mother who loves you so much that she would say to you, What are you doing? You have a blessing. In fact, Proverbs 1, verse 8 says, My son, hear your father’s instruction and forsake not your mother’s teaching. It would be a repeated line all through the Proverbs. And so when we get to Proverbs 31, we find the lessons from mom. And when King Limel’s mom walks in, and just know that in my mind I see it as maybe busting in the palace. It may not have been that way. He may have just simply been recanting what happened in his youth. But nonetheless, when his mom came in the room, she started dropping the bombs.

1. Live With Self-Control

And it’s one truth bomb after another. Let’s look at the first in verse 3. My son, do not give your strength to women, or your ways to those who destroy kings. I want you to stop right here and just consider what he is being told by his mom. Now, in the true masculine way, we would say his mom’s telling him to look out for girls. Girls are bad, right? Girls are bad, run from girls. That’s not exactly what she’s saying. What she is actually saying is, son, you need to learn to live with self-control. And one of the things that’s always going to be a challenge for guys is the opposite sex. Here, we all know how this goes. Some of you guys can identify with this.

Girls, you need to know this. When a cute girl goes up to a guy, and it could just be a pass in the hall, it could be at any time, maybe she’ll encounter her, and she goes, Hi, how are you? Most guys simply respond, because at that moment, at that moment, the adrenaline is flooding their brain with such a vengeance that they can’t even remember their name. Hi, my name’s Susie. What’s your name? Because that’s all you got. Your heart is beating so fast, you can’t believe she’s talking to you. And the fact of the matter is, if you go back and you look at the Proverbs, one of the biggest challenges is the opposite sex. But his mom is not saying run from women, because when you get to the end of this lesson, he’s going to be told exactly what kind of woman he should be attracted to.

But the first truth bomb centers around having self control. Do not give your strength away. I tell you, when you really kind of think about it, all of us are having this struggle. Some of us, it may be actually with the opposite sex. Maybe it’s with relationships. Maybe it’s the idea that I feel alone. Or maybe it’s self-control in another area of my life that I haven’t really learned how to handle. Maybe it’s addiction. Maybe it’s wasting my time. Maybe it’s wasting money. The fact of the matter is, whatever is consuming us in whatever state or whatever the challenge is, we need to be people who realize we have given up control of ourselves. And what King Limuel’s mother is pleading with her son to do is to recognize strength comes from the Lord.

I want you to consider some of the great men and women of faith. And I want you to listen when they talk about self-control and strength. Let’s begin with Moses. This is in Exodus 15, verse 3. Moses says, the Lord is my strength in my song. He has become my salvation. Hannah, when she’s crying out in desperate need, she says, My strength is exalted in the Lord. And then David himself, whether it is in the Psalms or even in his own challenges that you see upon the earth, David says, the Lord is my strength and my shield. I want all of us to recognize something right here that all of us desperately need in our life. We need self-control. And we need to become individuals who recognize that the Lord has given us and is seeking to give us a power that helps us handle the challenges of life.

And here’s the deal what you may need control with may not necessarily be what I need control with. I’ll tell you what, I’m never, ever going to have a problem with. That’s eating too many tomatoes. It’s not going to happen. I’m good. I’m good on that. Some of you are going, he doesn’t like tomatoes. What kind of person is that? I don’t know. I just don’t. But I could have a, I can have a pretty good challenge when it comes to sports. Or watching too much sports. Or spending too much on sports. I want you to see and understand what King Lemuel’s mother is telling her son. Son, you need to understand that you’re a king. And you need to be showing not just the world, but more importantly, yourself.

That you have control. In Galatians chapter 5, one of the fruit of the Spirit is self control. And I would encourage you if you’re struggling with any area of self control in your life to turn to the Spirit of God and pray for the dwelling of his spirit within you. And that you seek the counsel of others. And you seek to get a grip on it.

Lemuel listen to me. You need self-control. In Proverbs 25, verse 28, a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. And here’s how self-control. Here’s how self-control is often lost. Because of a desire for instant gratification. Have you figured out how often instant gratification rarely gratifies? Anybody ever notice that? The words that come out automatically. The things that we eat immediately. The actions that we reveal, sometimes unrelentingly, are often the things that we regret. So Limel’s mother begins with his heart.

2. Be Mindful of Wisdom

Don’t give away your strength to others. Live with self-control. The second truth bomb. The second truth balm comes in verse 4 through 7. 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 who are in bitter distress. Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. I want you and I to look at these words, and clearly we can see that his mother begins with alcohol. But she isn’t just speaking to her son with respect to you need to be mindful of the dangers of alcohol.

She’s saying, son, be mindful of wisdom. Of wisdom. Can I just have y’all’s attention for a moment, real quick? I don’t know where you are on this subject, or maybe what’s been going on here. I don’t have a history maybe of this challenges, maybe among this family in Christ. But do we really need to get into why we shouldn’t drink alcohol? Do we really need to get into that? Do we really need to spend a lot of time explaining the dangers and why we do it? But you know what people often say, and this is usually the argument sometimes by Christians, but the Bible didn’t say not to.

She said, son, use some wisdom. Kings who have to make decisions. Those who are trying to live life in their right mind do not drink alcohol. It’s in the same way that you and I shouldn’t have a debate over whether it’s legal and good for a Christian to drive down the highway 250 miles an hour. But my car goes that fast. Look at the speedometer. Clearly they meant it to be driven like this, or they wouldn’t have put the 250 on there. I’m in a rental right now. It is so tempting. Drive it like a rental. But you would say, oh, that’s that’s ridiculous. I want you to grasp and understand what King Limuel’s mother is saying to him.

Son, when it comes to something like this, you need to recognize those who need it and those who don’t. Those who need it. And notice she says, are those who are desperate in life’s challenges. Again, I wouldn’t take this as a license to drink, but what his mother is actually saying is you need to recognize the dangers and recognize that not everything needs to be totally outlawed for you to realize what is good for you and what is not good for you. If only we could accept this lesson. If only we could learn, especially when we’re young, not to try to live life always at the edge and on the boundaries, and always trying to justify our actions with some sort of a technicality we think we can come up with and always be looking for the instance in which we can drop the phrase, well, God didn’t say not to, instead of using the phrase, well, what could this do to me?

And what could it do to my influence? You know what else his mother had on him? Age. Clearly remember a few years ago when I felt like a young man at church was getting the raw end of the deal from his granddad. See, his granddad was hounding him because he was missing services every now and then, and I was like, whoa, Uncle Hobert, take it easy, take it easy on him. I mean, he’s got one of those professions that makes it impossible for him sometimes to make it to some services. And I know he’s got other things going on, and I’m really trying to work with him. You need to take it easy on him. And I remember, I remember, I remember, I remember Ian actually going to his granddad and saying, take it easy on him.

What I didn’t realize is what Uncle Obert had on me, and that was 30 years of experience because he was able to see a path clearer than I could. And I look back on my words and my actions.

With 30 years of experience, I can see. I can see how somebody older can see where things are headed better than I can. You ever notice when you’re really struggling with the decision who you usually go to help you answer the question? And do you ever notice who you sometimes avoid? Because you know what they will probably say. There’s something to be said for time and wisdom. The fact of the matter is there are many dangers in this life, and they go far beyond the dangers that can affect us physically. They go to the dangers that could affect us spiritually. And we need to have the humility to listen to those who’ve seen the paths, who’ve seen where things are going. And sometimes wisdom is just something that comes with seeing paths.

One of the things that my kids used to be amazed that Cheryl and I were able to do because we had worked so often with camp kids and been around so many families and so many things is that we could almost call a shot very early on. We could say, I can see where this is headed. And they’re like, oh, I need to see where it’s headed. And it may be a year or two, and you can see it play out. And it’s not because you have this incredible wisdom that you were just endowed with. You’ve just seen it play out. Lemuel, listen to me, says his mom. I’ve seen how this plays out. And you need to constantly be mindful that you need to have optimum ability to reason and to think.

3. Live With a Servant's Heart

And don’t put yourself in a compromising position that could affect you or others. Live with wisdom. Be willing to listen to the advice of those who are older and those who love you fiercely. The third thing, verse 8. Verse 8. Open your mouth, my son. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth and judge righteously and defend the rights of the poor and the needy. Here’s a third truth bomb that she drops on her son, and this had to drop like a ton of bricks upon his head. She says, You need to live with a servant’s heart. Can you imagine? Can you imagine what it was like if indeed she busted into the palace and she busts into his court and there’s all the dignitaries around there?

Maybe here’s all the economists in the kingdom. Maybe here’s all the engineers on the next city that he’s building, or maybe here’s the others who are over here that are the dignitaries that are helping him fund some big project. And he’s probably got models of the city he’s built over here, or the things that he’s going to expand to grow over here. And here comes his mom. And he and mom bursts in the room and he goes, Mom, look at what I built. Look at what we planned. And mom goes, don’t care. Don’t care. Son, I’ve got a question for you. How many people have you fed today? How many times did you open up your wallet and take care of those who are poor? You’re building a beautiful city.

You have all these plans for yourself. Have you thought about those who have nothing? In Proverbs chapter 19 and in verse 17, the proverb is this Whoever is generous to the poor, lends to the Lord. He will repay him for his deed. I can’t help but be mindful of the words of Jesus when you think of the judgment scene in Matthew 25 when he constantly says over and over again, when you fed those who were hungry, when you gave those drink who were thirsty, when you visited those who were in prison some time, you did it for me. Limul, I don’t care about all the accolades of men. I don’t care about all your degrees. I don’t care about all your awards. I don’t care about all your trophies.

Who have you helped? Who have you reached down to help lift them up? I want you to think about something here. Okay. All the kids here. Your mom did not put me up to this. All right. I’m just telling you, it’s a warning. But is there anybody that you know who does more for you than your mom? Does your dad wash your clothes? Do you go to your dad or your mom for homework most often?

Well, dad gets every now and then. All right. Yeah. I usually got sports. That’s all I got. That’s all I got. We homeschooled, and my wife constantly said, just don’t mess it up. Here’s some cue cards, just take them through the cards. Don’t do anything off script. That’s about it. Okay, you can do Bible every now and then, but I’m going to check up on you. All right. Who cries more? Who lives with a little more anxiety about your well-being? Well, it’s mom. Not that dad’s checked out or dad’s. Mothers have a different level. Right. But then who do you fight with the most?

Who do you really sometimes have the knockdown drag outs with? Isn’t it crazy that often it’s mom? The one who does the most for us. We’ve all fallen into that trap. But what King Lemuel’s mom is trying to impress upon her son is I am the one who has given you more than you could ever imagine. Me and your father. And you are you because of us? And I’m not asking you to give to us. I’m asking you to pay it forward to others. Because I want you to have a heart of compassion. I want you to have a heart that understands this is the greatest desire of your heavenly father. All right, you got your heavenly library with you. I want you to go to the book of James.

I want you to go to James chapter 1. James chapter 1, and I want you to notice verses 26 and 27. One of the questions that was asked our Lord Jesus by those who were his distractors was, Lord, which commandment is the most important? And do you remember what Jesus said? You love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul. And the second commandment is like it, you love your neighbor as yourself. It shouldn’t surprise us that when James, who was probably the brother of Jesus, who had heard his brother’s sermons over and over again, when he expounds on what truly is true religion, pure and undefiled religion. He says this. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

What’s he actually speaking of? Self-control. If you just live without self-control, and whatever comes to your mind comes right out of your mouth, and you can’t restrain the tongue even slightly, and that would apply to other areas of our life, and we just have no control, you have a worthless religion. But he doesn’t stop there. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

He who does not go to church, he does not take the Lord’s Supper, he does not da, and those things would be very good to put on the list. I’m not denying those things. But James puts the emphasis on the character of the heart and a heart being open to others. That pure religion is to take care of the helpless. Pure religion is to have a servant’s heart. There’s a story in the Bible, I know that you know it very well because you probably have heard it ever since you were a kid. It’s called the story of the Good Samaritan. You heard it.

4. Surround Yourself With Godly People

And at the end of that story, and you know it well, he simply said, which one of the three men is the one you want to be? And the reply was the one who showed compassion. Lemuel, I don’t care how many cities you’ve built. In fact, I could see his mom going up to that model of that city that he had prepared, and she just kicks over the table. Who’d you help? Who’d you feed? Who’d you serve? Who did you give? What has been given to you to the Lord doesn’t ask us to give more than has already been given to us. Number four. Now we get to the section that most of us think about when we think of Proverbs chapter 31. And we see this beautiful description of the worthy woman.

Just out of curiosity, before I even jump into this, and this is only for the ladies. How many of you ladies have led through this and gone, seriously? Who could be all that? Anybody ever done that? You’re going, Who is this woman? Oh, what in the world? Well, here’s here’s what you need to know. Here’s what you need to know. The description comes from a mother-in-law. It’s a mother-in-law. This is a mother-in-law describing this is the perfect wife for my son. That’s why it seems impossible. That’s true. But she’s sharing it to her son. Son. This is the kind of person you need to seek. And so here’s the wisdom, and it’s more than just seeking a godly wife. It’s seeking to surround yourself. And this is the fourth truth on.

You need to live and surround yourself with godly people. And listen to the kind of woman that you need to seek, son. Listen to the kind of woman that you need in your life. Who can find an excellent wife? She’s far more precious than jewels because the heart of her husband, he trusts her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and no harm all the days of her life. And listen to what she’s like. She seeks wool and flask and she works with her willing hands. She’s like a ship that’s a merchant’s, and she goes out and she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is still night, and she provides food for her household. You’ll notice a little bit later, she buys a field.

Why? Because she can work with her hands and plant a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength, and her arms are strong. And notice what she does. She puts her hand to the distaff, verse 19. And with her hand she works on the spindle. Why? Because she opens her hand to the poor. And she reaches out her hands to the needy. Son, listen to me. You need a godly woman in your life. You need godly people. And here’s the thing that all of us need to hear. This is not a fictitious person. I know it’s a high standard. But somebody who gives their strength to the Lord, somebody who lives with wisdom, somebody who has a heart of compassion for the needy and is willing to listen.

Can actually be this kind of person. You know what’s interesting about the worthy woman? Read through all that, read through all that. Can anybody tell me what she looks like? Blonde hair, brandette, red. 5’6, 5’2, you know. What? Isn’t that interesting? Why is that? Because somebody who lives with wisdom looks beyond what is on the outside and looks to the inside because true beauty is seen in a person who lives like this. I want to speak to all the guys for just a moment. And I used to say I’m always just speaking to the young guys, but I think I need to speak to all the old guys as well.

Instagram, social media are killing us. They’re killing us.

She’s not grabbing our attention because she rises early in the morning and she’s going out and serving the poor. It isn’t this woman that’s grabbing our attention. It’s the woman who’s trying to get our attention through things that are ungodly. And it’s distorting in our minds and most importantly in our hearts. What is truly beautiful? I’m going to tell you something about myself. Please don’t think less of me. But when I was about twenty-one years old, an older gentleman came up to me at church. And I’ll never forget, I had just preached that morning, and I was standing in the foyer. And he came up to me in the foyer with a big crowd all around me, and he stuck his finger in my chest and he goes, You’re an idiot.

I went, Brother Moss, if you would say that a little louder, the church down the street could hear you. He goes, You’re an idiot. I’m like, what? He goes, I don’t know what you’re looking for in a girl. But if that isn’t beautiful to you’re an idiot. And who he pointed at was a young lady who had moved to the congregation about the same time I did. She was a little bit older, much more mature. She was a young professional, but every Sunday she was teaching class, and every Tuesday night she was with the ladies visiting, and she was constantly doing the work of the Lord. Extremely modest all the time and extremely faithful. And he said, if that’s not beautiful to you’re an idiot.

So I married her. I’m no idiot. I’m no idiot. But I will have to say, it took the love of Brother Moss to have the guts to speak to me and remind me what is truly beautiful. Because when you look at this woman, it just doesn’t get any prettier than this. And let me just say to all the girls here, please don’t miss this. Don’t give away your heart to any man who is not in love with this. And you don’t settle.

You don’t compromise one bit. And please do not ever think that Instagram girl has anything on you. Because it’s one of Satan’s greatest vices. And it’s killing us. And everywhere I go and everywhere I preach, and I find this, and this is maybe just my own experience, but I would love to hear somebody try to find something different. Everywhere I go, there are godly women everywhere. And there are men who used to be godly who gave up their heart to the wrong woman, who are struggling spiritually or have lost their faith altogether. Lemul, says his mother. Listen to me. You surround yourself with the best of the best. And who’s going to get a woman like this? A godly man who values this and is just like this in and of himself because he’s going to be the one who do understand her value, her strength, her purity, and understand what godliness is all about.

Good friend of mine, Shane Scott, spent many years single. And even when he decided to get married, and he and Christie were going through marriage counseling, and they’re in their 40s, but they did. The wise elder that they sat down with reminded them both this. Marriage is temporary, heaven is forever. Marriage is temporary, heaven is forever. Choose wisely. And so I want to conclude this thought with this. The most important decision you will ever make is who you choose to marry. I know what you’re probably thinking, well, whoa, talk about tomorrow, preacher. The most important decision you’re ever going to make is if I decide to become a Christian, they would be, no. I know that’s a big one. And yes, I would put that at the top of the list.

But here’s what’s going to happen. Who you choose to surround yourself will greatly affect that first decision. Because who you surround yourself with will change you. It’s not a matter of if you will be changed. Oh, you will be changed. It’s either to be more like this or less like this. And I would imagine if I was to ask for a show of hands for everybody here who’s over the age of 40 tonight, do you know of somebody who married poorly and it has cost them greatly? I bet every hand would go up.

5. Live to Be a Blessing to Others

Lemuel, my son, listen to me. Surround yourself with godly people. And be someone that this woman would find attractive. And then the last is this, verses 28 to 31. I love the way this ends. Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceitful. Beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates. The fifth truth bomb is this, and King Lemuel’s mom shares it through this woman. You live to be a blessing to others.

They will rise up and they will call her blessed. The word blessed in the Hebrew suggests those that are straight, those that are happy, those that are right, if you look at it from the strongest point of view. But more importantly, you could look at the word blessed as simply being those who have the good life. And they provide the good life to others.

This is the kind of person that I want you to be, son. I want you to be a blessing to others. And I would hope, and I know his mom was thinking this. That you would just be a blessing to me.

You know what parents, godly parents want from their kids more than anything? That you love the Lord and remain faithful to the Lord. You do that. And we’re going to be good. We’re going to be good. I often thought that once my kids got out of the house, I would go, I don’t have to worry about you anymore. This is great. It didn’t happen. But if they’re faithful to the Lord, and busy in the Lord’s kingdom.

Conclusion

And there’s no greater blessing that you can be to your parents or anyone else than just being faithful to the Lord. What are you doing, my son? That was Mr. Moss before he was Mr. Moss, wasn’t it? Listen to me. I would imagine, and we’ll share this in closing. If King Lemuel’s mom was to share this sermon today, she might just add one more thing to it. Follow Jesus. That’s how you do it. You give your heart, you give your life to Jesus. And it might be tonight that somebody needs to do just that. There’s no greater way to live with wisdom than to live in the footsteps of Jesus Christ our Savior. So I would invite you tonight. If you haven’t already, give your heart to Jesus.

Because no one loves you more than Jesus. And no one has given to you more than Jesus. And if you want to begin to live with wisdom tonight, come follow Jesus. If we can help you in any way, won’t you come while we stand and while we sing?