Unlike the first 29 chapters of Proverbs, the 30th chapter was written by someone name Agur, the son of Jakeh. Bible scholars are not sure who he was, but speculate he was a friend of Solomon.
Proverbs 30:7-9 NIV
“Two things I ask of you, O LORD;First, lets unpack these three verses:
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much
and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD '
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.”
Verse 7:
Agur says “do not refuse me before I die … ” That tells me this is an earnest prayer, that what Agur is about to ask for, he’s not going to stop until the Lord answers. That tells me that when we make requests of the Lord, it is, as Jesus said, to keep seeking, keep asking, keep knocking.
Verse 8:
“Keep falsehood and lies from me … ” Pretty straightforward, I think. It’s a request to keep Agur from having ever to lie, and to stay away from anything that would cause him to lie.
So far, so good … sounds like a prayer we all ought offer up to the Lord daily.
Here’s the part of verse 8 where I bet we run into the “are you serious?” reaction:
“ … give me neither poverty nor riches,Don’t make me poor: I think we can pretty much agree with that, yes? No one wants to be in constant want of food and shelter. No one wants to live in anything considered “squalid conditions.”
but give me only my daily bread.”
Here’s the part where I run into problems …
“ … nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.”Underline “only” and “daily bread” … I don’t know … I hear a lot of prayers, not just here among you all at CICF, but just in general … even on KWVE. I don’t hear that request a whole lot. Even in my own time of talking to the Lord, I don’t think I ask that very often – if at all.
Seriously, how many of us have prayed to win the Lotto? I have. I don’t play it anymore, but up until I stopped buying lotto tickets, I even prayed for the Lord to at least let me win five of the six numbers, because that can be a pretty sizable amount by itself. But I’ve never prayed for three out of the six, or whatever the smaller prizes are … and I think I hit those a few times.
I finally quit because I figured God answered my prayer with a pretty good “NO!”
And I think, for a lot of us, that’s how He’s answered that prayer. Because I think asking for more than what we really need on a daily basis is NOT his way, but the world’s way.
Paul urges is us in Romans 12:1-2 not to be conformed to the world’s ways, but as we follow God’s ways that we be transformed so that we would be able to know what His’s will – and note this – His GOOD, His PLEASING and PERFECT will for us.
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.Some of you some years ago may have gotten the book “The Prayer of Jabez.” Now, please understand, this is not a criticism of the book. But when it took off as one of those “runaway bestsellers” a lot of non-Christians, according to the articles and reviews I read at the time, bought it because they thought this book would help them prosper materially. Though being a young Christian at the time, well, I got turned off by that. Based on what I was reading and understanding in the Bible back then … and also stumbling upon a lot of prosperity gospel messages … the two didn’t seem to line up … and I remember that God had something much bigger in mind than me being rich.
And the more I’ve come to study God’s word, the more I’ve prayed and talked to Him about it, the more convinced I am that Jabez was the exception, rather than the rule.
Really quick, let’s take a look at Jabez. He’s only mentioned ONCE in the entire Bible, in a genealogy of the line of Judah):
1 Chronicles 4
The sons of Helah:Not a whole lot there as to making Jabez’s prayer part of our own prayer life. If you do pray that way, I’m not judging you. I’m just saying there’s not a whole lot there to support praying like Jabez to get something from the Lord.
Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, and Koz, who was the father of Anub and Hazzobebah and of the clans of Aharhel son of Harum.
Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.
Kelub, Shuhah's brother, was the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. Eshton was the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah and Tehinnah the father of Ir Nahash. These were the men of Recah.
In Bible college, one of my instructors reminded us to make sure we knew the difference between what the Bible RECORDS versus what the Bible TEACHES. When you read it closely, it tells us of some pretty bad things people did to each other. And it’s pretty reasonable to conclude, for example, that while the Bible RECORDS Judas committed suicide for his betrayal of the Lord, it certainly DOES NOT TEACH US to do likewise when we sin.
So maybe, in the same way, that passage in 1 Chronicles records a prayer a man prayed, and a reminder to us that God answers prayers … and nothing more.
More important, I believe is what Jesus – God in the flesh – taught us when He instructed the disciples how to pray. Remember on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6?
Matthew 6:11
Give us today our daily bread.Nothing else in this model of a prayer to God says, “and ask Me for more.” I don’t know about you, but from the lips of God Himself, I have to think that’s how He wants us to look at life.
So, just enough for today, just enough to meet our needs. Would you honestly pray that and really mean it?
But Agur doesn’t just stop there … in the wisdom given to him by the Holy Spirit (remember, all Scripture is God-breathed) he gives reason for not wanting poverty to riches.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown youLet’s start why Agur says poverty is not a prayer request. In the last part of verse 9, he says “Or I may become poor and steal and dishonor the name of my God.”
and say, 'Who is the LORD '
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.
Again, pretty straightforward. One of the Ten Commandments is ___________________. (If you don't know it, look it up in Exodus 20.)
I think God is reminding us, if we haven’t been paying attention, as to what sins poverty might cause. I mean, we all know intellectually that if people don’t have something they want, if they want it bad enough, and if they want it in a greedy way, they’re going to take it by any means necessary.
The most blatant example right now is what’s going on Haiti. People are desperate for food and other basic necessities. Aid, is getting there, but not fast enough. Some people, in their desperation, have fallen to stealing. Others, in their life of poverty and seeing a lot of material stuff the more well-to-do had, have fallen into lawless looting – in the damaged businesses, stuff is just there for them to take.
Quick thing on stealing food, like those in desperation in Haiti or similar circumstances:
Proverbs 6:30-31
Men do not despise a thief if he stealsSo, don't despise, or throw the book at someone who had to steal because he was starving. But, if he is caught, he will have to make restitution. Whatever the motive to steal, it’s still something God does not want people doing. I think that’s pretty clear.
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
This is where we might get stuck: don’t make me rich, “Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord.’”
When I played the lottery, I would say, “Lord, really, if you let me win, it won’t corrupt me.” But God, in His infinite wisdom and love, knows that it would have. He knows that if I did hit the huge jackpot, I would forget about Him … at least I wouldn’t be spending a whole lot of time with Him. I’d likely be to busy spending the money, and trying to figure out how to make more of it.
And besides spending more money on lotto tickets than I won, that, I think THAT is the main reason I don’t play anymore.
After a lot of trial and error, Solomon, the richest man of his day, figured it out, too. In Ecclesiastes, his writings toward the end of his life, as blessed as he was materially, Solomon figured out where he had made mistakes.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-11
Whoever loves money never has money enough;Paul wrote this to Timothy to remind him to remind his congregation:
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.
As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them?
1 Timothy 6:6-10
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.Again, that’s pretty clear. Too much money, gets you too much stuff, and you lose your focus on God. And in losing your focus on God, you make some pretty bad decisions on how to use your wealth.
I came across a news time the other day. A woman spend $16,000 to look like Jessica Rabbit. Who has $16,000 to spend on a makeover? Who has $16,000 to spend on a makeover to look like a cartoon character? I initially laughed at it, then I saw the interview with the woman, and I just got sad. Despite all that money, she didn’t come very close to looking like Jessica Rabbit. Her before photo, she didn’t look unattractive. I don’t know, maybe I would have used the money for someone who was on the brink of starvation and considering stealing to survive. (I'll let you do a Google search for that one if you're so inclined.)
Not only that, she opened herself up to public ridicule before the world … and the world as a whole knows very little about compassion and sympathy.
In a more subtle way, but in a way that finally came to light, was all the scandal with the collapsed banks and financial institutions that helped lead to the current economic crisis. We’ve all read reports of people manipulating things for their own personal wealth, right? It finally came to light, and when the dust settled, I’m sure a lot of us were grinding our teeth because of the blatant greed … and these from people who already had plenty … likely more than most of us would ever see in our lifetime.
OK, so it’s pretty clear, when people have too much, the natural thing, the worldly thing, is to want more.
Still God shows us, both in His Word and in our time, those people who learned to handle their wealth correctly.
Let’s go to Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.Zacchaeus figured it out. Greed was not the way to live. And though he had much materially, when he came into the presence of Jesus, God in the flesh, Zacchaeus realized that his lifestyle was not the way. Jesus, he came to realize, was all that he needed – so much so that he repented from stealing, paying back four times what he cheated from people, and giving away HALF of his stuff.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
In modern times, one of the wealthiest men of Chicago when he died in 1943 was Henry Parsons Crowell, the founder of Quaker Oats.
He gave away nearly 70 percent of his earnings for more than 40 years. Born into a wealthy family in 1855 and endowed with a large inheritance after the death of his father, Crowell had the opportunity to live well and do little. He chose to work hard, never compromising, even when doing so would bring him more prosperity. His shrewd business sense and marketing genius brought him to the highest levels in business as the founder of the Quaker Oats Company and other major enterprises.You maybe saying, but I don’t have much to right now. How can I give away my riches? The fact is, compared to the rest of the world, many of us here who earn a living, we’re a lot richer than the rest of the world. Even in these tough times, we have so much more than they do.
Crowell viewed all things as a stewardship from God. Businessmen over the years came to know Jesus Christ personally because of the influence of Henry Parsons Crowell.
In whatever he did, Crowell sought to honor God whether it was through business or his 40 years as chairman of the Board of Moody Bible Institute. The Henry Parsons Crowell and Susan Coleman Crowell Trust carefully states that the purpose of the Trust is to fund the teaching and active extension of the doctrines of evangelical Christianity.
Today, more than 75 years later, that directive still guides the trustees as they disperse funds from the trust to organizations whose missions are in line with Mr. Crowell's vision. His vision and mission have blessed hundreds of ministries every year all around the world.
Remember what we as a church did for the typhoon victims in the Philippines? Remember what Pastor Alain reported back to us? That as a result of the resources we as a church provided to help in the relief effort, people came to know the Lord – 10 of them were baptized.
Finally, can you use Proverbs 30:7-9 to show someone that following Jesus is a far better life than whatever path they may be on right now?
Many of you studied this not too long ago:
Philippians 4:10-20
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.Does your life reflect a contentment with what God has given you, or are you striving for more stuff, whether it be a newer model car, or a bigger house, or the latest stylish clothes, or the best gaming system? We are called to be holy, that is, set apart from the rest of the world by how we think, how we act, the very way our lives should reflect Christ in us.
If we are living the way He desires us to live, if we a living like Jesus, I have to say that’s an attractive way to live … after all, people were drawn to Jesus not because of he gave things away … they were drawn to Him because of how He lived life while he was with us.
I have to say that I struggle with this. If you don’t come see me after, and you can pray for me. For those of us who do struggle, let’s take some time, right now, to reflect on that, just one-on-one, with God.
I would encourage you to ask God to search your heart, to bring out whatever it is that keeps you from being content with what He has blessed you with, to bring out whatever it is that makes you want more – if that more does not involve Him – and to remove that desire from you.
Closing prayer
“Two things I ask of you, O LORD;(URL for the Facebook note: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8dlg5yBywo )
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD '
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.”
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