“Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands” (Proverbs 14:1).

Proverbs has many instructions concerning what to do and what not to do with our hands. A “little folding of the hands” brings poverty and want (6:10). “A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend” (17:18). Hands that “refuse to labor” are slothful hands (21:25). “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich” (10:4). “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute” (12:24). “If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth” (30:32). “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it” (3:27).

Note especially the hands of the mother in Proverbs 31: “She . . . worketh willingly with her hands” (v.13); “with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard” (v.16); “she layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff” (v.19); “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy” (v.20).

The Hebrew word translated “plucketh” in our text means to pull down, or to destroy. It is used in a warlike sense to pull down the wall of a city and destroy it utterly.

Particularly significant is the fact that the Lord hates “hands that shed innocent blood” (6:17). A mother may do many things with her hands that either further or hinder her family’s service for the Lord Jesus Christ. But the plucking down of her house, or its utter destruction, comes when she refuses the children that God has given to build an ongoing testimony. “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is His reward” (Psalm 127:3). CJH