The Chapter 30 Diner (17)

 

 

“Two things I asked of You, do not refuse me before I die; keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:7 – 9, NASB).

 

What do you see when you read these words of Agur? What do you see about Agur the man? What does this reveal about him? What does this tell us about his heart? His thinking? His desire?

 

Here is Agur, speaking to his friends Ithiel and Ucal, and in the midst of speaking to his friends Agur begins to speak to his great Friend, to God who has revealed Himself as Yahweh. When Agur has finished speaking to Yahweh he will turn his attention once again to his friends.

 

Of course, Yahweh is part of Agur’s conversation with his friends; or we might say that Agur’s conversation with Ithiel and Ucal takes place within Agur’s life in Yahweh. This is much the same as when our Lord Jesus Christ was on earth – everything He did, everything He said, He said and did in His Life in the Father (see John 5:19 and similar verses). This is our calling, this is our Life in the Vine (John 15:1ff). This is what is to be our normal Christian life – this is what we should expect when we arise every morning – for we live in Christ and Christ lives in us and this is a critical element of the Gospel – that Christ gives His Life for us and that we live in that Life as sons and daughters of the Living God – this is our birthright, this is our inheritance.

 

Just as our forefathers knew the blessedness of forgiveness prior to Jesus dying on the Cross (see Romans 4); they knew koinonia with Yahweh – yes, there was a fuller inheritance promised in Messiah yet to come, but they knew and tasted the Divine Life…and we may say that Abraham was God’s friend, that Moses spoke to Him face-to-face, and that Enoch walked with God.  

 

If you were going to write verses 7 – 9, what would you say? What do you want God to keep far from you? What do you see as a particular threat to your soul and your relationship with the Trinity?

 

Agur wanted deception and lies kept far from him. This may be deception and lies coming from others – outside himself, and it may be deception and lies within his own heart and mind – or it could be both. In my life I pray it both ways, for they are both possibilities and they can be connected; I have known deception both outside and inside myself…what about you?

 

Agur asks Yahweh to give him neither poverty nor riches because he sees them both as a threat to his relationship with God. Some of us are better at living in diverse circumstances than others, consider what Paul wrote from a Roman prison:

 

“I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” (Philippians 4:12).

 

Paul writes to Timothy, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly gives supplies us with all things to enjoy.” (1 Timothy 6:17).

 

“But godliness is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.” (1 Tim. 5:6 – 7).

 

While Agur is concerned that he not be rich nor in poverty, we may have other situations that would pose danger to our relationship with God. As we know Christ, and as in Christ we better understand ourselves, there may be things we know we should stay away from to protect our relationship with God – and if these things come into our lives then to be “forewarned is to be forearmed.” That is, we ought to anticipate that temptations will come to try us and to draw us further into Christ.

 

This is not about sin in the sense there is nothing sinful about either poverty or riches, but our response to both can be sinful and can damage our intimacy with Christ and with one another.

 

Power, position, recognition, beauty, a car, a house, obsession with food and drink, personal appearance, success…what else can you add to this list? There are myriad situations and things that are not sinful in and of themselves, but which may be particular threats to us as individuals and as congregations.

 

For Agur, his relationship with God and his testimony for God was central to his thinking. He knew himself well enough to pray and write verses 7 – 9.

 

Many years ago I read, “He who conquers, conquers twice when he conquers himself also.” This was not, as far as I know, written by a disciple of Christ, and yet any man or woman in Christ should recognize the truth of this maxim. It is in line with, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1Cor. 10:12).

 

I have long known the danger of success and recognition; I know how it leads to pride and self-glory. You, yourself, may have enjoyed wonderful success without this ever being a problem for you; it has been a problem for me – and I have learned that I need to be quick about giving Jesus Christ the glory and fleeing to God for a refuge from my own pride and vanity.

 

I can write, “When I do have success by Your grace, make me to fall on my face and give you glory with my next breath; deliver me from pride and vanity. Let success, the accomplishment of desires and goals, always be for Your glory and the blessing of others, let it always portray Jesus Christ. O Father, deliver me from myself.”

 

This is an example of what I would write should I play the roll of Agur.

 

What would you write?