God Our Strength

"Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings."

Proverbs 31:3

In the book of Proverbs, Solomon and others hold forth timeless wisdom from God people do well to heed.  Kings are glorified for their wealth and power, yet as Solomon could attest excess leads even the mighty to destruction.  Promiscuity and drunkenness are ways that destroy kings--as the writer of Proverbs 31 went on to describe.  Drinking to excess leads to forgetfulness of God's Law and perversion of justice, and God will hold those who are given leadership roles in government, society, family and the church to account.

As I considered the mother's command to her son to refrain from giving his strength to women, I am reminded of the principle Jesus held forth during the Sermon on the Mount in the first part of Matthew 7:6:  "Give not which is holy to the dogs."  To the Jews in Jesus' day, dogs were considered an unclean animal.  For this reason they were often scavengers that were indiscriminate opportunists to steal and eat whatever they could.  I have known many pet dogs who were very food driven, and they would eat themselves sick if allowed.  I have witnessed dogs that greedily wolf down food without satisfaction and remain eager for more.

When I was a youth, "purity" conferences were not uncommon in Christian circles that emphasised the importance of remaining celibate until marriage and explained the pitfalls of promiscuity.  While valuing your virginity is virtuous, what is even more important is to exercise our hearts to be chaste in the fear of God.  Realising chastity and sex in marriage is holy before the LORD is much more constructive and useful than trying to avoid engaging in sexual activity.  The promiscuous do not value or treasure God's gift of sex to be enjoyed within marriage God has ordained and will greedily move on to the next offer without satisfaction.

I love how God's word does not lay down any prohibitions without also telling us what we ought to be doing.  God said in Deuteronomy 6:4-5:  "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one! ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."  It is the love of God that guides us to obey the LORD and do what pleases Him more than warnings of future problems prevent us from disobeying Him.  Fear of contracting an STI or having an unplanned pregnancy has failed to discourage countless people from promiscuity, and physical celibacy does not ensure a heart is upright in God's sight.  Having been made holy by faith in Christ, we ought to see a monogamous sex life in marriage as holiness we ought to maintain.

Rather than wasting our strength on promiscuous or adulterous pursuits, we can know God is our strength as it is written in Psalm 46:1:  "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."  Psalm 118:14 also says, "The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation."  Praise the LORD He saves us from ourselves, that we need not be enslaved to our fleshly appetites because God is our strength.  God is a very present help who guides and strengthens us to do His will, and by finding satisfaction in Him we lack no good thing.