Drink and Forget His Poverty - Proverbs 31:7

In the book of Proverbs Lemuel's mother said, “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be heavy of hearts”, and in chapter thirty one and verse seven of Proverbs King Lemuel's mother said, “let him drink, and forget his poverty” where we read,

Let him drink, and forget his poverty,

and remember his misery no more.

The verse begins, “Let him drink, and forget his poverty, ...” Lemuel began with the words, “let him drink” or “allow and permit him, the person who is ready to perish or has a heavy heart, to take in and imbibe”, “and forget his poverty” which means “and ignore, cease to care and make oblivious his, the person who is ready to perish or has a heavy heart's, want, need and impoverishment”. Lemuel's mother told him to allow the person who is ready to perish or has a heavy heart to imbibe so they could make oblivious their impoverishment. 

The verse continues, “... and remember his misery no more.” Lemuel added the words, “and remember his misery” or “and bring to mind, recall and be reminded of his, the person's, labor, trouble and toil” “no more” which means “not any longer”. Lemuel's mother said the person who is ready to perish and with heavy heart would no longer bring to mind their trouble and toil. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn how the person who is given intoxicated “wine or strong drink” does not remember their difficulties. This is one of the effects to alcoholic beverages, and although this is the exhortation of Lemuel's mother, God wants us to come to Him with our troubles. Psalm chapter forty six and verse one says, “God is our refuge, and strength, a very present help in trouble”, and we can rely upon our relationship with Him through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind. When we surrender our lives to Him as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and teach us to rely upon Him instead of fermented “wine and strong drink” when we are in trouble. 

Next time Lemuel's mother says, “open your mouth for the dumb”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".