With this proverb, we revisit the sayings of Agur. Very
little explanation needed here. The self-awareness of Agur, and I would venture
to say, his awareness of general human frailty, is explained here. When we are
exceptionally prosperous we may be inclined to forget that it is the Lord who
has enabled our success, and we may brag about our successful ways. When we are
poor we may be inclined to turn our backs on the Lord and resort to corrupt
actions in an attempt to change our plight. Agur is pointing out that either
extreme may inspire feeble humans to “go off the deep end” in response. His
remedy is to ask the Lord to give him neither poverty nor riches. Agur desires
to be positioned somewhere in the middle – in a place of recognition of God’s
sovereignty and appropriate reliance upon Him. Agur believes the wise man
values the “middle state” of life – neither poverty, nor riches. And this is
the positioning which he asks from the Lord. A place of grace where he will
neither disown nor dishonor the Lord.
Paul, however, states “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 all this through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians
4:12&13)
Paul, like Agur is aware of his and our humanity – our penchant
for discontent, our natural striving for more…bigger…better, our drive to “keep
up with the Joneses”. His remedy is, like Agur, to rely on the Lord for his
contentment. And through Him who gives Paul strength, he has learned to be
content even if he finds himself somewhere other than the “middle state”.
We can
learn from Agur to pray and ask for the Lord’s mercy; that we not be lead into
temptation. (Matt. 6:13) We can learn from Paul to rely on the Lord to hold us
in a place of contentment in Him, regardless of the state we find ourselves in.
These are two great words of wisdom.
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