Proverbs 31:1-9--The Words of King Lemuel

Proverbs 31:1-9
​English Standard Version

The Words of King Lemuel
31 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:

2 What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb?
    What are you doing, son of my vows?
3 Do not give your strength to women,
    your ways to those who destroy kings.
4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
    it is not for kings to drink wine,
    or for rulers to take strong drink,
5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
    and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to the one who is perishing,
    and wine to those in bitter distress;
7 let them drink and forget their poverty
    and remember their misery no more.
8 Open your mouth for the mute,
    for the rights of all who are destitute.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
    defend the rights of the poor and needy.

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We've made it to the final chapter in the book of Proverbs.  Today's passage is a short collection of wise saying by King Lenuel.   Other than what was recorded about him in the first verse, we know that his name means "for God" or "devoted to God," which tells us quite a bit about this mother that devoted her child to God and passed along godly wisdom to him.  If he is the author of the rest of Proverbs 31, we might assume that he is thinking of his mother when writing about "The Woman Who Fears the LORD" in the next and final passage we will study in Proverbs.

This passage however starts off with the mother asking her son, "What are you doing?"  We may think of this as a question we only get asked when we are doing something wrong, but the mother seems to want to know everything that's going on in her son's life, even as he grows older and more mature, and she wants to make sure that he has stayed devoted to God--she continues to mention the vows that she made over him.

She tells him not to give his strength to women (don't give into sexual temptation and sin).  Sexual sin destroys even that strongest of men--even kings.  We have seen several examples of that in the Bible with the sexual sin of people like Sampson, David, Solomon and the wicked kings of Israel and Judah.

She warns him to keep his wits about him and to not be the king of king that we see governing the other nations that gets drunk and continually drinks strong drink.  No, the king needs to be of sound body and mind at all times, ready to make clear, sound, wise, and just decisions.  He should not be under the influence of drugs or alcohol that would allow others to convince him to make a law that he would not normally make, and that he would forget making (and regret making) once he was sober.  This would be a grave injustice to all those that he was supposed to watch over as their shepherd and protect.  He would have become the wolf that they needed protection from.

Strong drink should be reserved for medicinal purposes for people that are in much pain and near death.  Much wine is consumed by those who are depressed and think they will find happiness in the bottom of a bottle.  Such people drink to forget their misery (though many times it only makes them more miserable).  For a moment they forget that they are poor and needy and, suffering greatly.

His mother told him to speak up for those who could not speak for themselves.  While the passage says, "the mute," I think the idea is much broader here and would include all those who had "no voice" in society.  It was the job of the king to know the needs of these people as well and to stand up for them and make sure they also got justice.  It includes all those who are destitute and of little or no means who may not be able to approach the king for help like the rich and powerful could do.  The king should make sure that he is judging rightly when he opens his mouth to proclaim judgment, and he should not withhold judgment when it is due.  To keep silent when judgment is needed is also an injustice.  The king is to defend the poor and needy--those who cannot offer anything in exchange or return.