Kristafal's Musings

“He who assaults his father and drives his mother away is a shameful and disgraceful son. Cease listening, my son, to discipline, and you will stray from the words of knowledge” (Prov. 19:26-27).

Cold Open (aka., Introduction)…

The type of assault here discussed in not violence in terms of physical altercation, but to waste away that which the good father has left for his son (or children, depending on the case in question). And the driving away is not the physical removing of one’s mother from your presence–although the type of activity described is a metaphorical reality that describes such activity, and in turn will eventually do the same thing–but is meant to portray the shame of being a wayward, hateful, spiteful, selfish child.

Though I suppose some may say that the next proverb is not necessarily tied to the first I am of the opinion that the two go hand-in-hand. For the son (or daughter) who treats their father and mother in the way described in verse 26, is the one who has “ceased to listen to instruction” and as a result has “stray[ed] from sayings of knowledge” (Prov. 19:27).

Pivot and Contrast…

Let us think for a moment of the child who has learned from his mother. The Messianic 22nd Psalm says the following:

"Yet you took me from the belly; you made me trust while on my mother's breasts. On you I was cast from the womb. From my mother's belly you have been my God" (Psa. 22:9-10; LEB).

Let us reflect for a moment as to what this poetic language is seeking to impress upon us. We know that in an ultimate sense the discussion here is pointing to Christ Jesus. This is one particular psalm written by David that directly foreshadows the coming Messiah. But what is true of the Messiah is also meant to be true of all those who are children of God. Now we are what we are because of Him, and without His Spirit we are nothing like Him at all; even if we profess to the contrary. It is not a stretch of the imagination or logical thought to say that Jesus is what every man and woman ought to be in terms of image-bearing/name-bearing. He who is the perfect image of the invisible, eternal, majestic God is a picture of what all those who bear the image of God are to mimic.

I think it is an error to assume that Jesus was one way in terms of God’s Law-Word in this life, in His thought, speech, and practice, and that we, as regular human beings, could somehow be different. My friends we are to be like Jesus. We are to seek our heavenly Father’s will. We are to lean upon Him. We are to seek His counsel. We are to obey His commands… even to the point of death. For if we carry the cross of Christ as His disciples then the life we live in Him is the result of the death we died in. And, this is a daily sacrifice not a one and done thing (here I speak in terms of practice, for I am not denying that Jesus’ sacrifice is once applied to His people–man or woman–but it is the practical application of that substitutionary atonement that requires that we confess our sin, kill it by daily carrying the cross He has given us to bear until we reach that final resting place).

Now, having said these things, let us return to the 22nd Psalm and the teaching given in the 9th and 10th verses.

Verse 9 explains that when it came to life, to experiencing it, to being born into this world… it was the Lord who delivered him from the womb of his mother. God is the author of life. We are told in Deuteronomy 7:13 that God is the one who blesses the womb, and in Deuteronomy 28:4, 11, 18 we are told that He either blesses or curses the womb of His people in response to their faithfulness to His covenant (in choosing Him).

The Psalmist recognizes that life, his life, is the result of God’s will put into action in this world. And to where did God place the young one born by His will? Upon his mother’s breasts.

The verse says,

"you made me trust while on my mother's breast" (Psa. 22:9; NASB).

Trust in what? I have said previously that we are taught from infancy through childhood that we are dependent creatures. We learn this lesson very carefully as we are being weaned and raised and disciplined. And while it may rightly be said that both parents—father and mother—participate in this activity, it is to the mother that we are first turned to. The mother is the symbol of God’s nurturing provision for us. The child from the womb learns to trust, to be loved. They are cared for and provided for, and this special gift is the activity first and foremost of the mother. Later as the child grows this lesson is further emphasized in a different direction from the father.

But the point here, and we should not miss it, is the reference given in verse 8 to the mockers who mock the man who is said to trust in God.

"He trusts in Yahweh. Let him rescue him. Let him deliver him because he delights in Him."

The reason that the son trusts in Yahweh is because it is a lesson he has learned from infancy to childhood. From the earliest most formative years this young one has been instructed that it is in God whom we are to ultimately trust. Not our own intelligence, not our own wisdom, not our own strength, not in our looks, not in our station, not in our wealth, not in our friends or our family, but in the Lord God who formed us in our mother’s womb, delivered us from it, and placed us upon her breast.

Thus we find the explanation given in Psalm 22:10,

"On you I was cast from the womb. From my mother's belly you have been my God"(LEB).

There is no greater privilege, no greater responsibility as a mother than to immediately turn your child over to the Lord who gave him (or her) to you. To the one who brought them into being in the womb, and delivered them into life when they drew their first breath–remember it is God who gives the breath of life, we do not do it, that very act of drawing one’s first breath is an act of divine grace!

One might think of Hannah the mother of Samuel, the prophet-judge of the Lord in reference to this particular truth. She was barren. She could not have children. And it is to the Lord God of Israel, the God of the covenant, that she turned in her hour of need. Evidently she was a godly woman who understood the blessings and curses of God. She knew that if she had any hope of having a child it was from the Lord whom she must turn. Not her husband. Not the High Priest. No, it was to the Lord that she poured her heart upon. Oh, that we might learn the wisdom in her action in all our other endeavors in this life. How foolish we truly are, when we seek to find some other means to bring about a good end!

"She, greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. She made a vow and said, 'O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head" (1 Sam. 1:10-11; NASB).

Hannah swore and oath to God to give to Him her son as a living sacrifice; a Nazarite. One who would be fully devoted to the Lord all his life. This was not a plea bargain. She did not treat God as a genie, but she asked that if it was His will to look on her sorrowful estate, and if it pleased Him to give her a son. And if that in fact came about that the Lord looked on her affliction in kindness, she would in turn give to Him that son for the rest of His life as a dedicated sacrifice in service to Him. And the Lord answered that prayer.

My friends that is the role of a mother. That is what a godly mother seeks to do. They understand that this life that they hold, that they raise is a gift from God and so they turn that child over, from the moment he or she enters this life and while she cares for him or her she does so in a way that turns that child to God. “Look to Him,” says the mother. “Believe in Him,” says the one who raises you. “Listen to His Law-Word and do not depart from it, for in it, in Him, is life everlasting. He will give you success. He will guide all your steps. He will, one day, lay you to rest in His presence” says the faithful one, full of wisdom because of her love for God she so loves her children.

As I contemplate these things I think of Mary. Did she not tell our Lord those very things when he was weaned on her breasts? Did she not instruct Him in the Law-Word of God? Did she not teach Him to trust in the Heavenly Father who had planned, and the Holy Spirit who had acted? This is no doubt the reason for her taking to heart what Jesus would later tell her at 12 years old. He had stayed behind and Mary and Joseph thought He was lost.

"When they say Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, 'Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.' And He said to them, 'Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?' But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart"(Luke 2:48-51; emphasis added).

Mary had taught Jesus to look to God in all things. And when asked why He had stayed behind His answer was given in response to the fact that He had kept her teaching. She ought to have known. But we are slow in remembering the things of God, and this includes even mother’s whose intentions are as pure as a sinner’s intentions can be. The key is that she held onto this event and kept it hidden within her heart as something precious to hold and contemplate.

From His mother’s womb He had been taught to look to Yahweh, and while being mocked upon the cross it is to this truth that He remembers. That Jesus turns to His beloved disciple John and points to His mother, Mary, and says that John needs to take care of her as his own mother brings us back to the Proverb we first looked at. Jesus does not push away His mother, He loves her, He cares for her, and provides for her means even in death.

The good son or daughter remembers their father and does not squander the good things that they have been given. And the good son or daughter does not push the needs of their mother aside. Nor do they reject the wisdom given to them by a godly mother, for they fear of turning from sound wisdom.

Closing Remarks…

Today take the time to either remember your mother who has passed, or give praise to your mother who is alive. More importantly, thank the Lord who has given you such women in your life to care for you and teach you. I can think of many times that my own mother has taught me to look to God above and beyond all other things. I can think of times that she has tried to teach me wisdom and protect me from harm. Looking back had I paid more attention to her instruction when I was younger and many of the things that I have botched up in my life would not have ended in the way that they did. But the Lord who is wiser than all puts us through all sorts of circumstances to teach us that in an ultimate sense that He alone can deliver us from ourselves.

If you are a mother, treasure the time that you have with your children. You do not know the day or the hour when the Lord will take them. Nor, do you know the trials that they will face. Turn them over to Him who can deliver. Plead your case in the sense of seeking His will above all else, and trust that He who is righteous above all will do what is right. Never cease praying for the little ones that He has given you, for even in death, they may be brought up in His grace. In Jesus’ name let us pray.