Give Her the Fruit of Her Hands - Proverbs 31:31

In the book of Proverbs Lemuel asked, “Who can find a virtuous woman? … Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that fears the LORD, she shall be praised”, and in chapter thirty one and verse thirty-one of Proverbs King Lemuel said, “give her of the fruit of her hands” where we read,

Give her the fruit of her hands;

and let her own works praise her in the gates.

The verse begins, “Give her the fruit of her hands;” Lemuel began with the words, “give her the fruit” or “grant, bestow and ascribe to her, the woman who fears the LORD, the produce, reward and first-fruits” “of her hands” which means “belonging to her, the woman's, physical hands”. Lemuel said the woman who “fears the LORD” is to be rewarded for all she has done.

The verse continues, “and let her own works praise her in the gates.” Lemuel added the words, “and let her own works” or “and allow and permit her, the woman who fears the LORD's, own personal deeds, acts, labors, pursuits and undertakings” “praise her” which means “boast, commend and glorify her, the woman who fears the LORD” “in the gates” or “within the entrance, opening and door of the city where there was a marketplace and a location for public meeting”. Lemuel said to allow the acts and deeds of the woman who fears the LORD to glorify and commend her in the entrance of the city where there was a public meeting place. 

When we consider Lemuel's words in this verse, we discover how he wanted his readers and listeners to grant to the woman who fears the LORD the first-fruit rewards which her “physical hands” produced, and they were to allow the deeds she performed to give her glory and commendation to her as well. God knows when we seek Him first and His righteousness, everything we need will be supplied. (See Matthew 6:33) He desires a personal relationship with us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind. When we yield our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and allow us to be rewarded and commended for our works and production in this world. 

Next time we begin a new book, Hosea, and see Hosea say, “the word of the LORD that came unto Hosea”, 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".