Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 30:7-9

“Two things I ask of you; don’t deny them to me before I die: Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Last fall I saw the news that one of the largest PowerBall jackpots ever had been won by a single person. The total prize was just north of $2 billion. The lump sum prize payout was a shade less than $1 billion which seems like it would be a major letdown minus the fact that it is still more money than the vast majority of the world will ever see in their entire lifetime. No one wants to be poor. That’s part of why so many people play the lottery. Nearly all of them lose, of course, because the lottery is a game for people who can’t do math. (Unless your name is Jerry Selbee – this is worth a read – in which case just the opposite is true.) What we want instead, though, as amply demonstrated by the tens of millions of people who nonetheless bought tickets in hopes of winning this particular prize, is to be rich. But what if neither of these paths were the wisest to take through life? Let’s talk this morning about the wisdom of a third way.

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Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 30:7-9

“Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 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.”  (ESV)

If you could ask anything of God, what would it be?  Agur here asks for two things.  He firsts asks for God to make him honest, to take all falsehood and lying away from him.  We can understand that.  Now, that may not be the first thing we would think of if we had a blank check from God, but it’s a pretty good thing if you think about it.  He’s basically asking for God to help him live a life that is consistent with reality all the time.  Most of us could probably use a little more reality in our lives.  Living with fantasy may feel nice for a while, but eventually it runs out and usually leaves you lower than you were before you sought the fantasy high in the first place.  This is a good thing.  We get this one.  The other thing…after the beginning…not so much. Read the rest…