He
layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous (Prov 2:7)
The Proverbs Of Agur: The Desires Of Agur:
Proverbs 30:7-10
7) Two [things] have I
required of thee; deny me [them] not
before I die:
8) Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor
riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
9) Lest I be full, and deny [thee],
and say, Who [is] the LORD? or lest I
be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God [in vain].
10) Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou
be found guilty.
In
this chapter we may have a new author, a man by the name of Agur. Very little is known about this man but, from
the context of our text, it seems as if he is a teacher who is instructing his
two students Ithiel and Ucal.
EXPOSITION:
Agur
now explains the desires of his heart in an effort to set an example for each
one of us…
7) Two [things] have I
required of thee; deny me [them] not
before I die:
1. Agur brought before the Lord two requests
that could only be fulfilled by the Lord
2. He then asked the Lord to bestow both of
these requests upon him prior to his death.
a. We can see in this text that Agur understood
his great need of the Lord in his life. Agur
recognized that only the Lord could give him what he was requesting, he was
unable to supply these things for himself.
b. Secondly, we can see that he was a patient
man who understood the Lord blesses in His timing not ours. Agur was willing to wait his entire lifetime
for the Lord to answer his request. His
only desire was to see the Lord’s blessings come upon him before his passing.
“That they should seek the
Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far
from every one of us: For in him we live, and
move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we
are also his offspring.” (Acts 17:27-28)
8) Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor
riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
The
two requests of Agur:
1.
drive away from me worthlessness and deceitfulness
2.
bestow upon me the proper supplies that will be properly measured to fill my
needs (I am not asking to be kept in a condition of want nor am I asking for
overflowing wealth )
Agur
desired of the Lord both spiritual and physical supplies:
1. Spiritually, he was asking the Lord to make
his life count in his service and allow him to live honestly life.
“Vanity”
means worthlessness, waste, or nothingness.
He is saying that he wanted to be kept from wasting his life by chasing
after worthless, spiritually valueless pursuits, or creating a worthless
testimony through deceitful living.
2. Physically, he was asking the Lord to meet
his material needs (to avoid excessive need or excessive wealth). Why didn’t Agur desire great wealth?
He
knew that great wealth opens up great avenues of temptation, which when
submitted to, can lead to a wasted life of carnal living.
“But godliness with
contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing
into [this] world, [and it is] certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and
raiment let us be therewith content.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8)
9) Lest I be full, and deny [thee],
and say, Who [is] the LORD? or lest I
be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God [in vain].
Why
didn’t Agur desire great wealth or desire poverty? He knew that evils would come from either…
1. If he has an abundance of wealth, he will
perfectly satisfied and say deny the role of the Lord in his life. He will think himself to be self-sufficient
with no need of Him.
2. If he lives in a constant state of need and
lack, he will be tempted to take the belongings of others and curse the Lord
for not meeting his needs.
We
can see, in all of this, that Agur’s true desire was to please the Lord with
his life. He knew a big part of his
success would be based on the avoidance of temptations that can lead to sin and
a ruined testimony.
“And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:13)
“Watch and pray, that ye
enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is]
weak.” (Matthew 26:41)
10) Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou
be found guilty.
As
Agur begins to teach, he reminds us of the ill effects of being over-critical
of others…
1. do not slander a bond servant
2. he may wish evil to come upon you and bring
disrespect upon you through his speech and actions
3. this will cause others to find fault with you
as well.
How
can we apply to the previous verses in this text? This is another desire of his heart. As he taught the Word, he desired for his
students to look at their own lives and their need of the truths of God.
Agur
knew how easy it is for us to hear God’s Word and then apply the principles, in
fleshly way, to find fault in lives of others.
This can make us feel better about our own shortcomings. But as Agur taught, he desired for his
students to hear his words and seek to apply them to their own lives. He did not want the teachings of the Lord to
be used to make carnal, critical, false judgments based upon our own fleshly
motivations. This should always be one
of our concerns as we hear the teachings of the Word.
SUMMARY:
May the Lord bless us
with the same set of Godly desires as shown to us in the life of Agur.
May we all desire for:
1. our life to be God honoring
2. our needs be met
3. we avoid temptations that can ruin us
4. His teachings to be used to change our hearts
and lives and bring us closer to Him.
By
God’s grace, let us all study these proverbs diligently, giving them the value
that they deserve.
May the
Lord bless us as we receive this sound wisdom and then “Think On These Things”.
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