A Woman Who Fears the Lord

Proverbs 1:7-8 (ESV)
⁷  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
⁸  Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
1. A father and mother – in a healthy marriage in a God-honoring home – are the  teachers of “the fear of the Lord.”

Proverbs 2:16-19 (ESV)
¹⁶  So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words,
¹⁷  who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
¹⁸  for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;
¹⁹  none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life. (ESV)
2. Warning: some women and their promises to God and to their husbands – they do not “fear the Lord.”

Proverbs 9:10, 13-18 (ESV)
¹⁰  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
¹³  The woman Folly is loud;
she is seductive and knows nothing.
¹⁴  She sits at the door of her house;
she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,
¹⁵  calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way,
¹⁶  “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks sense she says,
¹⁷  “Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
¹⁸  But he does not know that the dead are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
3. Warning: some women are – they do not “fear the Lord.”

Proverbs 31:10-31 (ESV)
¹⁰  An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
¹¹  The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
¹²  She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
1. “A woman who fears the Lord” is of great to her husband.

¹³  She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
¹⁴  She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
¹⁵  She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
¹⁶  She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷  She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
¹⁸  She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹  She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
2. “A woman who fears the Lord” is not ; she is .

²⁰  She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
3. “A woman who fears the Lord” is to those in need.

²¹  She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
²²  She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
²³  Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
²⁴  She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
²⁵  Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
4. “A woman who fears the Lord”  well and is not of what is to come.

²⁶  She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
5. “A woman who fears the Lord” is a and  teacher.

²⁷  She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
6. “A woman who fears the Lord” is in looking after her household.

²⁸  Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹  “Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
³⁰  Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹  Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
7. “A woman who fears the Lord” should be and by her husband and children.

“Honor your father and your mother,
that your days may be long in the land
that the Lord your God is giving you.”
(Exodus 20:12, ESV; cf. Ephesians 6:2-3)