A Remarkable Request to God

Life of Faith

30

1The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the pronouncement.

The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

– Proverbs 30:1

7¶Two things I have asked of You;

Do not refuse me before I die:

8Keep deception and lies far from me,

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is my portion,

9So that I will not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”

And that I will not become impoverished and steal,

And profane the name of my God.

– Proverbs 30:7-9
(NASB® © 2020)

Agur, the son of Jakeh, was a humble and godly man. Two prayer requests were very important to him, as he himself reported.

One detail in his request to God stands out. It becomes clear that we in the 21st century can learn a lot from this ancient prayer of Agur: “The words of Agur, son of Jakeh … Two things I request of You … : Give me neither poverty nor riches — Feed me with the food allotted to 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.” (Prov. 30:1, 7-9)

Agur’s request was to be protected from problems with money. Regarding his finances, he prayed as millions of people probably do: he did not want to become poor.

Why did he fear poverty? Was he afraid of the unpleasant consequences for himself, was he thinking of the pitying and contemptuous looks of his fellow human beings? No, Agur had a different focus. He wanted to avoid financial hardship so that he would not be tempted to steal and thereby bring dishonor to God’s name.

And why did he want to avoid wealth? Was he thinking of being envied, robbed, or kidnapped? No, he saw wealth as a serious danger because it could lead him to pride and arrogance toward his Creator. He might then say with the wicked: “Who is the Almighty …? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?” (Job 21:15).

Although we can learn to deal with abundance and scarcity (cf. Phil 4:12), it is safest for our spiritual life if we do not gnaw away at hunger, nor sit like a maggot in the fat. Agur understood this well, although in his own words, he had little knowledge (Prov 30:2, 3). But in truth, he was ahead of most people because he was content with his “daily bread” and did not constantly seek more.

Are we as wise as Agur? Do we live our lives without the love of money and are we content with what we have (Heb 13:5)? Are we satisfied with food and shelter; do we know how dangerous it is to want to be rich; do we recognize the love of money as a dangerous root of all evil and do we put our hope in God and not in riches (1 Timothy 6:8-10, 17)?

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