Proverbs chapter 31. Proverbs chapter 31. I'll read the first three verses. Proverbs 31, one through three. The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him. What, my son? And what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows? Do not give your strength to women, nor your way to that which destroys kings. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. You may be seated. Let's pray together. Our Father, we do pray that you would help us to understand your truth and to apply it to our heart. We pray that you would help us to understand this Spirit-inspired counsel, particularly for men, even though there's application, of course, for ladies as well. We pray that you would help us, and we pray that you would help us to understand this text and apply it. Help me in preaching and help everyone here in listening. Give us the energy and strength we need. In Jesus' name, amen. So we're now in Proverbs 31. We've been in Proverbs for a long time. And now we are on the last chapter. My plan is actually just to preach through the entirety of this chapter. This chapter is a little bit easier to exposit than a lot of the others because a lot of standalone verses. A lot of these, there's sections that are easier. So my plan is to preach verse by verse through this entire chapter, Lord willing. But we start, right, we see this afternoon verses one through three in chapter 31, which is, and this chapter is all the words of King Lemuel's mother, the utterance which he gave, which she gave to him. It's her utterance to him. It's the godly counsel of a godly mother. And so sometimes when you think about the Proverbs 31 woman, this is actually the counsel of a mother to her son. counsel of a mother to her son, because all of this chapter is the words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him. So all this is counsel from a godly mother. And so the main point of this text, one through three, is the utterance of King Lemuel's mother to not give his strength to women, nor ways that destroy kings. So my first point, the utterance of King Lemuel's mother And my second point, do not give your strength to women nor ways that destroy kings. So again, the first point, the utterance of King Lemuel's mother. We see here the value of a godly mother. So this mother wanted her son to be taught in wisdom. And these are the recordings of the counsel, the advice of a mother. A mother who loves her children, especially her sons as we see in this case, a mother giving counsel to her son who's a king. She wants her son to walk in God's ways and therefore she gives her son counsel. It is important that mothers and fathers, but mothers in this case, give their sons godly counsel. This is the utterance which this king's mother taught him. These were the things that were on a mother's heart of what she wanted her son to know. Well, see, first she warns him against women, she then warns him against wine, and then she tells him in verses 8 and 9 to judge righteously, to be a just king, and then she tells him of what a virtuous wife looks like. from 10 to 31. So these are the things that his mother wants him to know and as you think about these are things that most mothers would think are important for a man to marry a good woman 10 through 31. A man to be to stare clear from giving his strength to women which I'll explain more but it's it's warning against women, and then warning her son against the dangers of wine, and how drunkenness can be greatly damaging, and then the need for him as a king to be just, to be a just leader, as she says, open your mouth, judge righteously. And so these are the counsels of a mother to her son. And so these are things that mothers want to take in and say, these are things that I want to encourage my sons in because they are spirit inspired wisdom and also for sons and for men to take in as good and godly counsel. But things that we receive from our mothers are invaluable because our mothers know us really well. They literally gave birth to us. And so they've seen us for all that time from the time when we were born all the way up to when we became men. young men and etc. And therefore their counsel, if they're loving mother, is going to be very important because they know us better than maybe anyone else in the world because they've spent so much time with us. And this mother is no different. She loves her son and she knows the dangers that her son might face as a man and especially here as a king. but as a man in general. And so she's warning and encouraging her son with this utterance of things that he must take to heart if he is going to be a good and godly king. A good and godly king. And so this is the utterance which King Lemuel's mother taught him. And it's interesting how she begins before she gets into the exhortation proper. She says, what my son? And what son of my womb? And what son of my vows? And so we see her great concern even in saying it like that. Maybe she's concerned that her son might, there's traps and she's afraid he's gonna fall in them. What my son? What are you thinking? What are you doing? Son of my womb, son of my vows. And so she seems to, the way it's worded have a, a great pleading for her son that he would not go the way of iniquity. And so she cares for her son deeply, which every godly mother would. She wants the best for her son. She doesn't want her son to go astray. She doesn't want him to be led astray or go in destruction or ruin or waste his life. And so she cares for her son deeply, and therefore she opened up her mouth and taught her son. Sometimes we can think that, and there is a truth to this no doubt, that boys need men in their life. No doubt. There's something that a woman cannot give to her sons that needs a man's influence. male's direction, particularly in a godly father. But that shouldn't make mothers think that even when their sons get older that they shouldn't give them counsel and give them wisdom and give them direction. Because their counsel as a godly mother can be invaluable because of their care for their son. And we see even this man as a king is giving us the counsel that his mom gave him. And again, she said, or it said, what my son and what son of my womb? Obviously, this son of hers would have been in her womb and cared for in her womb and then birthed by her. So she describes her son as the son of her womb and then the son of her vows. It's possible at some time in her pregnancy or before her pregnancy, a vow is a direct promise to God, a promise to God about something. And it seems to me she made some type of promise to God about her son. and therefore describes her son as the son of her womb and the son of her vows. And so this son means a lot to her. She not only bore that child in her womb, but she made vows to God connected with her son. And therefore this son is very valuable to her. And so this is important. I've been thinking a lot about oaths and vows as I'm getting ready to get married, and my position has actually slightly changed on it. Some of you might not know this, but I still believe a vow is to God and an oath is to man, so I haven't changed on that. That's what makes them different. A vow is directly to God and an oath is to a person. Where I have changed slightly is I do think it's proper to say vow at marriage because I do think the promise is to God in the presence of the person. As I've thought about it more and I've wrestled with myself, what word should we use? I think when I get married, I'm promising to God to be faithful. I'm promising to God that I'm going to be with her sickness, health, richer or poorer, etc. in her presence. So I do believe a vow is a proper word because I'm not promising to her, I'm promising to God. And therefore, when I break my covenant, I'm not ultimately breaking it with her, I'm breaking it with God. Because my promise is to God himself. That's what makes the covenant so serious. That when a person gets married, they are not promising to a mere human. They're promising to the living God that they will be faithful to death do they parts. And so, When you come to our, those who will be at our wedding will hear us say vow. And the reason is because I think we're promising to God in the person's presence. And so a vow is a serious thing. A vow is a serious thing. It's a covenant with that person, with that person to God about something that's very serious. And so we see that reality though, the son of my vows, the son of my vows, And so we see her love and her care for her son. For her son. And then she begins, my second point, to begin the exhortation, to begin this shot of her that she loves, to begin to exhort him. My second point, do not give your strength to women, nor ways that destroy kings. Verse three again says, do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroy kings. Very interesting language, isn't it? If you read that text and maybe stumbled upon it much or read it much, you'd think, do not give your strength to women. It does have an interest. There's different ways to word what she's getting at, but that's the way she words it. Don't give your strength to women. That's her first exhortation, is something to do with women. Because she says, do not give your strength to women. And so then the question is, what does it mean to give your strength to women? What would it look like for a son or for a man to give his strength to women in a way that she's saying, don't do that? I think Matthew Henry summarizes it well. Matthew Henry says, quote, Against uncleanness, verse three, give not thy strength unto women, unto strange women. He must not be soft and effeminate, nor spend that time in a vain conversation with the ladies which should be spent in getting knowledge and dispatching business, nor employ that wit which is the strength of the soul in courting and complimenting them which he should employ about the affairs of his government. especially shun adultery, fornication, and lasciviousness, which waste the strength of the body and bring it into dangerous diseases. Give not thy ways, thy affections, thy conversation to that which destroyed kings, which has destroyed many, which gave such a stock to the kingdom even of David himself in the matter of Uriah. Let the sufferings of others be thy warnings. It lessens the honors of kings and makes them mean, mean meaning like lower, are those fit to govern others that are themselves slaves to their own lusts, makes them unfit for business, and fills their court with the basest and worst animals. Kings lie exposed to temptations of this kind, having wherewith both to please the humors and to bear the charges of the sin, and therefore they ought to be to double their guard, and if they would preserve their people from the unclean spirit, they must themselves be patterns of purity. Meaner people or lesser people who are not kings may also apply to themselves. Let none give their strength to that which destroys souls." So that was a lot there. I'm going to break down. Matthew Henry says there's two things that are related to a man giving his strength to women. One, it's a man who's soft and effeminate. So a man who gives his strength to women, we could say, is a man who acts like a woman. Soft and effeminate. A man who is unwilling to lead, who's unwilling to take charge, and these type of things. So it's a man who is not acting in a God-given spirit of leadership and of desire to be strong and brave and courageous. in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary defines effeminate this way, quote, having the qualities of the female sex, soft or delegate to an unmanly degree, tender, womanish, voluptuous, end quote. So that's what it means to be effeminates. It's a man who is even things that would be proper for a woman, but are improper for a man. And therefore, it is being a soft delegate, a man who's not courageous, and a man who is not walking in the strength that God wants him to walk in. And so that's the first thing it means for a man to give his strength to women. But I think the predominant application of it is this mother is warning her son against the dangers of sexual immorality, the dangers of giving himself to immoral women, the danger of him using his strength and his energy to pursue and go after unchaste women. As we know, in the Bible and in our own day, one of the greatest dangers for men, if not the greatest, is a pursuing of sexual immorality. Let's think about some people in the Bible that it brought great harm to them. Let's think about Samson. Samson, the strongest man given supernatural strength. What was his downfall? But Delilah, a woman, because he gave his strength to women. He was unsatisfied with marrying one of the women of his people, so he wanted the Philistine woman, and she made him, she desired him to tell her why he had the strength. And I don't know about you, but if you read the account, you think something must be up with Samson. What in the world is wrong with this guy? He literally tells her the wrong thing. They come, they do it, he breaks it, and he keeps doing it eventually till he gets to the actual reason. It's like, what is going on with this man? It's crazy when you read it, like, what is, I don't even know, what is going on with this guy? It's one thing for it to happen once, but over and over and over and over again. But what was his downfall? To my real point, women. His downfall? was a woman because he gave his strength to women. He married a woman that was not good and that led him astray to not be what God wanted him to be. To not be as faithful as he could have. What about David? David may be one of the premier examples in the Bible as he sees Bathsheba bathing on her roof and he sees her and first it begins with lust that he didn't mortify. And then it led from that to calling for her. They even said to him, is that not Uriah the Hittite's wife? But that didn't stop him all the way to committing adultery with her because his lusts were not crucified. And therefore he gave in to giving his strength to women. Or who can forget Solomon? the man who had so many wives and concubines and broke the commandment that God said to the kings, many of them did, to not multiply wives in Deuteronomy 17. They were not to have multiple wives. That was a command. But Solomon, a lot of times for political alignment, married foreign women and went so far to build altars to their gods. So we see these examples. These are Old Testament examples. Let's take New Testament examples. I wanna make sure I'm getting it right. It was the account where, let me just make sure I'm getting the name right. So Herod, and yeah, Herod, it was his birthday, they're having a celebration, and the woman dances. reading it in between the lines in a sensual way. And so he says, I'll give you whatever you want. And she wants the head of John the Baptist. But because he was pleased by what this woman was doing, it led him not to think straight by saying, I'll give you whatever you want. There's an example of a man giving his strength to women. And so we see these examples where men, instead of being wise, they gave themselves to giving their strength to women. And many people, sadly, even in our day, of course, this has not stopped, that there are people that are living a life, either not living for Christ or living a life where they're not able to be useful for Christ. Why? Because they're living for women. Most men who are no longer in pastoral ministry, you can almost guess why they're not. It's because they committed adultery. Yes, sometimes it's because they stole the money. Yes, that happens sometimes. But almost all the time it has something to do with a woman. Because they give their strength to women. They give themselves to sexual immorality. And so this mother loving her son, knowing that there are bad women out there that will want to do bad things with you, because you can't commit fornication by yourself. She knows there's bad women out there. She knows there's women that will commit adultery. She knows there's women that will commit fornication. And so she warns her son of that danger. And she knows the temptation it can be for her son as a man. And so she warns him, don't give your strength to women. Because she knows it's such a strong temptation for men. And she knows her son, and she's not trying to hide it from him. She's saying, I know this is a temptation. Don't give your strength to women. Don't give your strength to women. I find it very interesting. In the Book of Wisdom, you know how much time in the Book of Wisdom is devoted to sexual immorality? So much. All of Chapter 5. Most of Chapter 6. And all of Chapter 7 are on this one subject. Don't give your strength to women. The entire chapter five, the entire chapter of seven, and most of, a lot of chapter six. And it's sprinkled throughout the book. But whole chapters devoted to God giving wisdom to men saying, don't give your strength to women. Don't give your strength to women. And so we see this mother pleading with her son. Knowing that if he gave himself to fornication or adultery or dwelling on lust, it would be him giving his strength to women. And he would not be the man that God wants him to be if he was doing that. And think about all the counsel given. to this subject and how much more there is dangers in our culture with how much access there is to things that are immoral on the internet, how dangerous how people dress, how people live, how people act, how women are very willing to commit sexual acts with men, how more a man needs to be on guard against the dangers of this sin. And so this mother is pleading with her son to not give his strength to women. Think about men who are giving their strength to women in adultery or fornication, how much money they have to spend, how much resources they have to use, maybe even having to be secretive about it, these type of things, because they are consumed with sexual lust that they would do whatever they have to do. to fulfill the sexual loss and give their strength to women. So this is a reality. This is a reality when that men need to be warned and this loving mother is warning her son, do not give your strength to women. Do not give your strength to women. It's such a crucial topic that we need to always be on guard and warned about the dangers of it. We see, though, that there is a way in which God is prescribed, one way, not the only way, the key way to not give your strength to women is by guarding your heart. But we know that, because some people make this excuse, they'll say, well, if God gave me these desires, why is it wrong for me to fulfill them? And the tough part about that type of question is there's some truth to it, but it's twisted. God did give us sexual desires. God, not Satan, gave us desires to be intimate with the opposite sex. The trouble where it's twisted is those desires are not to be fulfilled in any old way. They're to be fulfilled in the way that God designed. And if you turn with me to 1st Corinthians 7, we see the reality because of the temptation to give your strength to women. One of the answers to it, 1st Corinthians chapter 7. 1st Corinthians chapter 7. verses one and two. So this mother who loves her son is telling him not to give his strength to women, and here we see the God-given answer for those God-given desires. 1 Corinthians 7, one and two. It says, now concerning the things of which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman, which is a euphemism for it's good for a man not to have intimacy with a woman. But then he says, nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let me pause there. He says, okay, you're telling me that about not being good to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because there is such a pool in our fallen culture, in our fallen reality, to give yourself to sexual immorality, this is the answer. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband. You might be saying then, but it doesn't mean that someone who's married couldn't commit adultery. Yes, of course, that's true. It's not an end-all be-all if a man isn't guarding his heart because lust is never satisfied. So he's not saying in the sense that if you get married, you're never going to have problems again. You never have to guard your heart. But what he is saying is this is God's lawful means to fulfill that God-given desire. That is what he's saying. Again, he's not saying that a man who's not guarding his heart just by having a wife is not going to have any problems. He's saying, though, this is God's means to not give your strength to women. And so because of the temptation for sexual immorality, it's good for a man to have a wife and a wife to have a husband. It's good for both of them. And so this is God's answer for those realities, again, with the guarding of the heart, with the seeking to walk in God's truth. We also see this in Proverbs chapter five, if you turn there, Proverbs five. Like I said, this was one of the chapters that the entire chapter is about sexual immorality and fleeing the immoral woman, Proverbs chapter five. Proverbs chapter 5, starting in verse 15. So he's been talking a lot about the dangers of sexual immorality. The dangers of it. And then he gives the answer, the positive. So he talks a lot about the negative, and then he gives the positive. He says, drink water from your own cistern and running water from your own well. Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be only your own and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breast satisfy you at all times and always be enraptured with her love. For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman and be embraced in the arms of a seductress?" So he's warning his son. He's warning his son about the danger of immoral women. And he says, my son, a way to stay away from this is by finding great delight in the wife of your youth. is find great delight in the woman that God has given you as a loving dear and a graceful doe, this imagery that's given. Always be enraptured with her love. And so he's saying, the way my son to flee immorality is by enjoying and being thankful for the good gift that God has given you and your wife, because that is wholesome, lawful intimacy that can be enjoyed. And it's a way, when you're so in joy and you're enraptured with the love of your wife, it keeps you free. And when you're so thankful with that, it keeps you free from the desires of immoral women. Very practical right in the Proverbs. The father giving his son counsel of how to flee these things. But we see again in Proverbs 31, the reality of this son is not to give his strength to women. He is not to give himself to sexual immorality because his mother knows that this will be the downfall of this man. This will be the downfall of this man. And so he needs to be warned and on guard. So now the question, I've been mentioning it some, but I want to just really hit the point directly. So how does a man not give his strength to women? First, by guarding his heart. It's first a personal matter. Guarding his heart, protecting his heart, and seeking to have his heart cultivated more and more with love for God in union with Jesus Christ. And then secondly, by being thankful for the wife of his youth, if God has given him a wife. And so those two things, I think, are key biblical counsels. We could give other things, but guarding the heart, keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. And because of sexual immorality, it's good for a man to have a wife and a woman to have a husband. But she's warning her son, do not give your strength to women. But then she says, connected, which I think is somewhat just interconnected, but she says, nor your ways to that which destroy kings. And I think she could be saying that by giving your strength to women, it will destroy you as a king. It will be your downfall as a king. It will be your harm and shame as a king. If you turn with me to Proverbs 7, like I said, a chapter devoted to sexual immorality. Actually, we'll start in chapter 6. Chapter 6 in verse 32. Chapter 6 in verse 32. It says, whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. For jealousy is a husband's fury, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will accept no recompense, nor will he be appeased, though you give many gifts." Wounds and dishonor he will get. It destroys his own soul. Or if you look at chapter 7, the end, verse 24. 7, starting at verse 24. Now, therefore, listen to me, my children. Pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths, for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death. So we see the warning given, the reality of destroying the soul, wounds and dishonor, and here the reality how she slays men. And now her house, the way of the adulterous woman, her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death. It's very interesting in the way the Proverbs talk about adultery. They talk about it very bluntly. They even have in chapter seven, they even have like a buildup to it. The father basically tells a story about adultery. It's very interesting reading it. He tells the story of this buildup to adultery. But unlike the movies and TV shows that can be out there that glamorize it, and make it seem like this is just normal and natural. The father ends by showing how terrible it is. How terrible it is. How her house is the way to hell. Descending into the chambers of death. Think about that. If someone was watching a worldly movie and at the end, the whole movie was centered around a plot of a man committing adultery and at the end, I mean this sounds almost laughable because it wouldn't happen, but at the end you have on the big screen, everybody remember that living this way sends you to hell. But that's what the Proverbs say. The movies won't say that. They will end after an immoral movie and say, just so everybody knows, if you live this way, you will die in good hell. But the Proverbs do. The Proverbs do. And this mother loves her son so much that she wants his life to be blessed and his life after to be blessed. And she says, my son, don't give your strength to women. I know because of the way God made you, this is a temptation for you. I know it is. But don't do it. And don't do something that would destroy the way of kings. But obviously it's not enough for someone to say, just don't do it. I remember in high school, in high school, you can't talk, I went to a public high school. You can't talk about God there. It's illegal, literally illegal. And so I remember they had a, we brought from a youth group that I was part of, we brought in a group because we were gonna have presentations during the day of morality stuff. And then at night they invited them to something where they would hear the gospel, et cetera. But I remember that they had a talk about abstinence there. And looking back and reflecting on it, that does no one any good whatsoever, because worldly people hearing about abstinence with no reason, no rhyme, think, why would I ever do that? That sounds silly, that sounds stupid as the worldly mindset of people. The only reason someone would obey this verse and not give their strength to women and give themselves to the accepted sexual immorality even in our culture is because they have a greater love and a greater affection, because their heart's been changed, because they realize that pleasing God and obeying him because he saved them and rescued them is better than the shame and the guilt and the sorrow of offending a holy God. Telling young boys you shouldn't do it because just merely you shouldn't do it is, it's just gonna bounce off. But if those young boys come to repentance and faith in Christ and have new desires, they might still feel tempted and they probably will, no doubt. But they'll have a new desire where their love for sin will be quenched more and more and their love for God will grow more and more. The only way that this son would have received this counsel is if he loved God and feared God because of the salvation he had from God. That is what keeps people doing these things. That is what keeps people walking the path that they should go because they have a love for God who first loved them. because they realized that they were headed for hell because of their sin. And Christ stepped in and rescued them by his death and resurrection and freed them from the bondage of sin so that they could love and serve him all the days of their life. It's not even enough. I mean, this can keep people a little bit, but it's not even enough to know all the consequences that could come, the earthly consequences. Because there's a lot of men out there that know it would give them earthly consequences if they commit adultery. And you know what? They still commit adultery. Because that's not enough. There has to be something greater than merely the earthly consequences. And I'm not saying it's wrong for a man to dwell on the earthly consequences of what adultery would lead to. That can be a motivation not to, but it cannot be the primary motivation. It must be love for Christ who first loved them. That will lead a man to say, I don't want to give my strength to women, nor to my ways that destroy kings. I can't think of an issue in our day that old and young men alike need more exhortation on than this subject. I can't. There is no subject that I can think that old and young men alike need more exhortation than on this subject right here. This is the man's sin. This is why when Paul tells Timothy, he says, flee also youthful lusts. Even Timothy's warning him about this. And so this is what men need exhortation in this area. And we need to know the grace of God in Christ to motivate us. And what happens, why men go all the way to committing physical adultery many times is because they did not mortify what we would call lesser things. And they were more, they made slow and slow compromises all the way to committing adultery. Because they were unwilling to deal with their mind and their heart and their affections. Then they made compromises there, they went, they went, they went, until they were in bed with a strange woman. And this is why it's so important that we keep our heart, we guard our heart, so that the littlest of things, so to speak, we mortify and put to death. That we would put off sin and put on righteousness for God's glory. Let me turn you to Ephesians chapter five. As we see there, as we see there, and I'll probably Yeah, well, let's go to Ephesians chapter five. We see here another way, and I brought this up before, but another way in which this can be fought and overcome. It says in verse three, Ephesians five, but fornication, uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting. but rather giving of thanks. So we see here how we put off these things is by being thankful. By being thankful. Thankful for what God has given us. Thankful for what we do have. And so it's interesting. He says you put off these things. You, instead of doing these things, you rather put on the practice of being a thankful person. And so, this mother loved her son and did not want him to give his strength to women, nor his ways to that which destroy kings. Without Christ, without the salvation in Christ, we are unable to overcome our fleshly lusts. And therefore, only by a person repenting and believing in Christ can they be set free and enabled to live a life pleasing to God. Also, how important it is to have counsel from a mother, godly counsel to our sons about godliness and righteousness. So for mothers, how important it is for you to exhort and to encourage your sons in faithfulness. And how dangerous, as this mother knows, how dangerous sexual sin is. It's giving our strength to women and doing things that not only destroy kings, but can destroy anyone who gives himself to it. And so she loves her son, and so we should love our own soul enough to know that by giving my strength to women, it can bring destruction upon my life. And so we flee it, we run from it, we churn from it, and we must, by the grace of God, flee sexual immorality and pursue thankfulness and righteousness instead. I gave you a lot of bad examples, but let me give you a good example also from our Bible. We have a very young man sold into slavery at 17 years old, probably working in this house that he was working in his 20s, maybe low 20s. And this young man was very attractive, was a man that women wanted to be with. And this woman who was an adulterous woman called out for him lie with me lie with me over and over again. But he resisted. And eventually he was unaware, but he went in and no one else was there except him and her. And she grabbed him because she wanted him to lie with her. And he ran out and fled. Even though he had to experience the consequences of going to prison because he knew it was better to have a good conscience than to have a good reputation. His reputation, amongst many, might have been tarnished. At least some, because they think this happened or there was an accusation. But he knew that fleeing was better. And that's obviously Joseph, who was a key example of someone who did not give his strength to women. nor give his way to that which destroy king. So it's possible by the grace of God that we can say no and pursue righteousness. And so may God help us because of Christ and his grace working in us to take the counsel of King Lemuel's mother to heart that we would not give our strength to women, nor that which destroys kings. Amen. Our father, we thank you for this time. Thank you for your word applied to our heart and to our life in Jesus name. Amen.