Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl Proverbs 30:7-10 Agur’s Prayers & Advice, Part 3
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Proverbs 30:7–10
[7] Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
[8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
[9] lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.
[10] Do not slander a servant to his master,
lest he curse you, and you be held guilty. (ESV)
Agur’s Prayers and Advice, Part 3
v.7-8: Verse seven begins Agur's second prayer, requesting two things. He first asks that he not fall into the temptation of sinning by his speech. Because God's Word is pure (Proverbs 30:5), Agur asks God to keep his speech pure. Agur's second request is that he neither fall into poverty nor attain great wealth. He instead asks for only what he needs for this body and life each day. Recall that God gave Israel only what they needed daily in the wilderness (Exodus 16). Jesus taught us to pray: "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3).
v.9: Agur’s petitions are related. If we receive more than we need from God, we face the temptation to rely on our own reason and efforts and believe our success was by our own means alone. Those who deny the Son will be denied before the Father on the last day (Matthew 10:33; Acts 3:13-14). Conversely, if we have too little to provide for our needs and our family’s, we face the temptation to abandon our trust in God to provide. This can lead to thievery and scheming. Because God’s people bear his name, their sinful acts profane the name of God (Ezekiel 36:17-23; Romans 2:17-24), breaking the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11).
v.10: Agur builds upon his prayer to protect him from worthless speech by addressing his hearers, telling them not to slander others. This concerns the Eighth Commandment (Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20). Agur cautions not to slander someone over whom you have authority. One normally thinks the underling would be powerless in this situation; therefore, the leader faces no consequences. However, the servant prays to a just God to punish the leader. God will find him guilty, even if the world does not. This refers to Numbers 5:6 and the objective guilt God assigns to those who sin, whether or not they feel guilty or are judged by other people as guilty. The worst kind of slander would be to revile faithful believers and call upon God to punish them, but Jesus assures us that such faithful believers in him are the opposite of cursed, namely, blessed (Matthew 5:10–12; John 16:2; 2 Peter 2:10; Jude 8; 10).