Lemuel and His Mother

“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son’ and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?” — xxxi. 1.

appendix to the book, in the words of a certain king Lemuel. Like Agur of the preceding chapter, he is personally and historically unknown. The mark of the mother’s faith is left in the name of the son, for it signifies one dedicated to God. There would be nothing contrary to the analogy of ancient practice in supposing that Solomon gave some of his lessons under this significant designation; but the circumstances otherwise do not suit his character and history. It is pleasant to cherish the hypothesis — in itself by no means improbable — that Lemuel was the king of some neighbouring country, and that his mother was a daughter of Israel. We know that idolatrous practices were imported into Jerusalem by daughters of heathen princes admitted by marriage into the royal house of Judah: it is probable, on the other hand, that glimpses of light sometimes fell on those heathen lands through the marriage of their princes to Hebrew women who worshipped the living God. The instructions given to the heirapparent, with special reference to his future reign, have already come under our notice hi preceding chapters; and therefore, passing over the substance, we call attention only to the circumstances of the lesson here.

The monarch, in the very act of publishing the prophecy, proclaims that he received it from his mother. Two memorable things are joined together here in most exquisite harmony. It is not, on the one hand, the bare historical fact that a godly mother wisely trained her son; nor is it, on the other hand, merely another instance of a young man acting his part well in the world. The peculiar value of the lesson consists in the union of these two. We know not only the good counsels which the mother gave, but also the effect which they produced on the character of her son. Again, we know not only the practical wisdom of the son, but also the source of it in the godly counsels of the mother. The fountain is represented visibly supplying the stream, and the stream is distinctly traced to the fountain.

The mother has departed from the stage; but her son arises and blesses her. She did not personally publish her instructions in the assembly of the people, but her instructions reached the people in a more becoming and more impressive form. She knew her own place, and kept it. Whatever questions might divide the court or agitate the multitude, she remained beside her child, dropping wisdom, like dew, into his soul. She had seed in her possession, and knew that God “gives seed to the sower.” By sowing it in the soft soil, and in the time of spring, she made the return larger and surer. Her honour is greater as published by the life of her son than if it had been proclaimed by her own lips.

The prophecy recorded here is an honour to Lemuel as well as to his mother. The king is not ashamed to own his teacher. His frank ascription of the credit to his parent is the highest credit also to himself. He began to set a higher value on the lessons when the lips that taught them were silent in the grave. Knowing that the stream would no longer flow from the living fountain, he constructs a reservoir in which he may hoard his supply. Thus did Lemuel, with filial affection, collect and reproduce the lessons of his mother. He was not on that account less dignified in council or less bold in war. Young men frequently fall into great mistakes in determining, for practical purposes, what is mean and what is manly; very many of them, in making a spring for the sublime, plunge into the ridiculous.

There was a certain three-fold cord of maternal love which this parent was wont to employ, and which remained, in its form as well as its power, in the memory of her son: “My son, the son of my womb, the son of my vows.” “My son” is the outmost and uppermost aspect of the relation. This is a bond set in nature, felt by the parties and obvious to all; on this she leans first when she makes an appeal to his heart. But at the next step she goes deeper in; she recalls the day of his birth. She goes back to that hour when nature’s greatest sorrow is dispelled by nature’s gladdest news, — “A man-child is born into the world.” By the pains and the joys of that hour she knita the heart of her son to her own, and thereby increases her purchase upon the direction of his life. But still one step further back can this mother go; he is the “son of her vows.” Before his birth she held converse, not with him for God, but with God for him; she consecrated him before he saw the light. The name given to the infant was doubtless the result of a previous vow. In this channel, and at this time, a believing mother’s prayers often rise to God; and surely his ear is open to such a cry. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should cast the character of the man in the mould of the mother’s faith before the child is born 1 It is a fact, indisputable though inscrutable, that mental impressions of the mother sometimes imprint themselves on the body of the infant unborn, in lines that all the tear and wear of life cannot efface from the man. When we are among the mysteries either of nature or of grace, it does not become us to say what can and what cannot be. What gift is so great that faith cannot ask — that God cannot bestow it 1

Dedication of an infant before or after birth may be misunderstood and abused. As a general rule, it is not safe to determine the capacity in which the man shall serve the Lord before the character of the child has been manifested. Such a dedication to the ministry of the gospel has in some cases become a snare and a stumbling-block. It is presumptuous in a parent so to give a child for the ministry as to leave no room for taking into account his bent and qualifications. For aught that you know, the Lord may have need of a Christian seaman or emigrant in a distant land, and there may lie in embryo within your infant the faculty which in these capacities might be more wisely laid out, and bring in a more abundant return. The sure and safe method is to offei them to God, and plead that he would save and use them for himself, but leave the special sphere to be determined by events. It is known to some extent already, and when the books are opened it will be better known, that sons of believing mothers’ vows have been the chosen instruments of the greatest works for the kingdom of Christ and the good of the world. Dedicate them to the Lord; but ask the Master to determine the servant’s sphere, and watch for indications of his will.