Proverbs 31:11

Proverbs 31:11
"The heart of her husband trusteth in her,
And he shall have no lack of gain."

What does it mean for the heart of a husband to trust in his wife? I think the idea here is that the virtuous woman's husband has complete confidence in her. Her whole way of life is so open, dependable and honorable that he is never given any reason to doubt her! What peace this gives to not only her husband, but her entire family! I believe that no matter our station or position in life, each of us as Christians should strive to be transparent. Not transparent as in we let out every emotion we feel or anything like that, but we should be a guileless people. Those around us should be able to tell that we are what we say we are; that we are trustworthy.

So many other thoughts can be gleaned from this one passage, and I had a lot of tangents going in my mind! I love this quote from Matthew Henry's Commentary. He expresses so beautifully some of the thoughts I had.

(1.) She conducts herself so that he may repose an entire confidence in her. He trusts in her chastity, which she never gave him the least occasion to suspect or to entertain any jealousy of; she is not morose and reserved, but modest and grave, and has all the marks of virtue in her countenance and behaviour; her husband knows it, and therefore his heart doth safely trust in her; he is easy, and makes her so. He trusts in her conduct, that she will speak in all companies, and act in all affairs, with prudence and discretion, so as not to occasion him either damage or reproach. He trusts in her fidelity to his interests, and that she will never betray his counsels nor have any interest separate from that of his family. When he goes abroad, to attend the concerns of the public, he can confide in her to order all his affairs at home, as well as if he himself were there. She is a good wife that is fit to be trusted, and he is a good husband that will leave it to such a wife to manage for him.

(2.) She contributes so much to his content and satisfaction that he shall have no need of spoil; he needs not be griping and scraping abroad, as those must be whose wives are proud and wasteful at home. She manages his affairs so that he is always before-hand, has such plenty of his own that he is in no temptation to prey upon his neighbours. He thinks himself so happy in her that he envies not those who have most of the wealth of this world; he needs it not, he has enough, having such a wife. Happy the couple that have such a satisfaction as this in each other!

I love those last two sentences. Isn't that a wonderful goal? What a beautiful and encouraging picture portrayed for us of the excellent wife, and what a challenge to us all for improvement!