Far above Rubies

“Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.” (Proverbs 31:10)

I give thanks to God this day (as all days) for my wife. I was not altogether a fool when I found her, but I was enough of one then for me now to say that I owe it all to the grace of God that I ended up with such an excellent woman, such a virtuous wife. One of the marks of her being such a woman is that she has such a hard time believing that she is. But she aspires to be, longs to be, and that desire, itself a precious gift from God, is what has made her so to excel. She was a rare find when I found her, and now after more than a quarter of century later, she is rarer still.

What kind of woman is this woman Solomon describes? For one thing, she is a woman worth finding, that is, worth looking for, worth waiting for. She is a rare woman, the cream of the crop, so to speak, a noblewoman, a leader among women. She is the kind of woman God wants every son of His to have—as well as the kind of woman God wants every daughter of His to be.

She is a virtuous woman, a mighty woman, a woman of valor, the excellent woman. She is all of these precisely because she is a woman “who fears the Lord.” (Proverbs 31:30) She loves God best above all else, and therefore all else finds its perfect place in her life. She serves God first, and therefore she serves others—and herself—well. She prays to God, asking for His help in all areas of her life, and therefore the other areas of her life receive the help of God. The foundation for all of the excellencies in her life is her faith in God who blesses her so as to excel.

Her worth is far above rubies. In another spot Solomon puts it this way: “Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,/But a prudent wife is from the Lord.” One can have all the wealth and property, power and position the world has to offer, but none are as valuable as a good and godly woman. A man should devote himself far more (in prayer, in contemplation, in preparation, etc.) to his “search” for a good wife than he does to seeking after wealth. And while he should give thanks for “houses and riches,” he should be far more thankful for the good wife God has given him.

Let a man himself be worthy of such a wife: if she is worth far more than diamonds, how much more should he be worth all the gold and silver in the world. To have a good spouse, one should be the kind of spouse who will both attract and complement the best of mates. God make me such a man. God make both of us all He wants us to be, that we might glorify Him who is worth all honor and excellence and virtue from the crown of His creation.

“Lord God, we give You thanks this day for virtuous women, and we pray for our own wives and daughters and mothers that they would be such women as love You and worship You and delight in You more than anything else. Grant to our sons such women for wives, and make of them such men as deserve them. Grant that we all may excel in virtue, pursue Your perfections, and model our lives after our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose glorious name we pray. Amen.”