Today's Reading - Proverbs 31

The Truly Beautiful Woman

Proverbs 31 is a wonderful tribute to women. Specifically, to the woman who fears God. To the truly beautiful woman. The one that God honors because she honors God. The virtuous woman. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband praises her. What a blessing they are to us. What a value. What a joy. What an asset. You couldn't buy her with rubies. Her value is far above them. What an asset they are to their husband, to their family, and to God.

Here in verse 30, the author (king Lemuel) contrasts how the world values and praises women with how women are valued and praised in God’s kingdom. He summarizes the entire chapter by saying charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the fear of God.

Charm is deceitful. While the world may value “charm,” the reality is that it is deceitful and can be very misleading. The Hebrew word for “charm” here means to be pleasant and graceful in appearance. But watch out, that appearance can be disingenuous. This means that someone may appear to have your best interest in mind, but they are actually tricking you to get what they want. This, sadly, is the way of the world. This is deceitful. They say one thing, and mean another. This type of charm is not to be praised.

Beauty is vain. The word used here for “vain” is the same word Solomon used in Ecclesiastes – “hevel,” – which literally means “vapor” or “smoke.” Beauty is like “smoke” – it may appear as though it has substance, but when you try to grasp it and hold onto it, it soon vanishes. A woman’s physical appearance is temporary and fleeting – like a vapor which appears for but a moment then disappears.

The woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Don’t praise the woman whose outward appearance is misleading or fleeting. Instead, praise a woman for her heartfelt devotion to God. Her reverence for God is genuine (not deceitful like charm). Her inner beauty is permanent (not like physical beauty which fades). The Hebrew word for “fear” in this verse is “yir’â”. When used of God, this word means to have a deep and somber respect and reverence for Him. When a woman is filled with this kind of reverence for God, she is truly beautiful. It is her relationship with God that is a beautiful thing and that makes her the most beautiful of all of God’s creations.