Humble Enough to Depend upon God?

Agur, who penned Proverbs 30, was humble enough to depend upon God — are you?

“Two things I ask of You;
deny them not to me before I die.
Remove far from me falsehood & 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.”
Proverbs 30:7-9 (ESV)

Don’t give me riches?
Just feed me what I need?
That sounds like crazy talk!

Actually, it sounds like humility.

We’re picking up right where we left off in our last Moms in Hiding post,

Don’t Let Weariness Turn to Selfishness,

with our proverbial buddy Agur.

What is humility?

We are not going in depth on this, but…

In the dictionary

humility: freedom from pride or arrogance; the quality or state of being humble (merriam-webster.com)

humble: 1. not proud or haughty; not arrogant or assertive; 2. reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission (merriam-webster.com)

In the Bible

Proverbs 15:33 pairs humility with the fear of the Lord, and rightly so — you can’t properly revere God without it: “The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.” Humility is part of fearing the Lord, and you will be honored for it.

Proverbs 18:12 says, “Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.” A haughty heart yields destruction; an humble heart leads to honor.

One more example, from Proverbs 22:4, says “The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.” Again, humility is paired with the fear of the Lord, and honor results. Notice the other benefits: riches and life. Riches…

Agur humbly prays, “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” I believe one reason for this is that he knows, possibly in his personal life, the temptations that come with earthly riches. Jesus clearly acknowledges that riches can be a spiritual hindrance: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25, ESV).

Riches are not evil in themselves. The apostle Paul’s words about love and money are often taken out of context, but it is the love of money, not money itself, that is a root of all kinds of evil (I Timothy 6:10). As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money,” (Matthew 6:24, ESV).

Everything to Enjoy

Here are Paul’s instructions for wealthy believers, seven verses down from the “love of money” warning:

“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
I Timothy 6:17-19 (ESV)

No matter how secure riches (or the dreams of riches) make us feel, they are not certain. What is certain is that God is the One who “richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”

Seek His Righteousness

I know I’ve gone from Agur to skipping back and forth from Jesus to Paul to Jesus, but hang with me and look at Matthew 6 again, the verses immediately after “You cannot serve God and money”:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
²⁶Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
²⁸And why are you anxious about your clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need them all.
³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
³⁴Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV)

Righteous Living vs. Blessings?

In his humble Proverbs 30 prayer, Agur is seeking first His righteousness. He is more concerned with righteous living — not lying, not denying God, not stealing and profaning His name — than he is with the blessing of earthly comforts.

“Two things I ask of You;
deny them not to me before I die.
Remove far from me falsehood & 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.”
Proverbs 30:7-9 (ESV)

Before we get too uncomfortable and think that God doesn’t want to bless us with any of those things (for me, coffee & dark chocolate come to mind! 😀 ), don’t forget I Timothy 6:17: We serve a God who “richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” Our Heavenly Father wants us to enjoy life! There will be suffering, and denying self, and circumstances that squeeze us so hard it hurts, yet there will also be enjoyment.

What about my rights?

What about my rights? This is a question we often hear in 21st-century American society.

Do I have a right to riches? to comfort? to blessings?

Do I have the right to ask for my needs to be met?

Here’s the right (and the light) which should concern us.

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. ¹¹He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. ¹²But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:9-13 (ESV)

Those who receive Jesus Christ, who believe in His name, have the right to become children of God.

Children of the living God.
Sons & daughters of the Most High.
Co-heirs with Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords, King of kings, Prince of peace.

Good & Perfect Gifts from the Father

The heavenly Father wants to provide for His children. He wants them to ask Him to meet their needs. He wants to bless them with good gifts, too.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? ¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!“
Matthew 7:7-11 (ESV)

Our heavenly Father gives good things to those who ask Him.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
James 1:17 (ESV)

Every good & perfect gift is from the Father.

Seek First, not Seek Only

What did Jesus say in Matthew 6:33?

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

Jesus didn’t say seek only; He said “seek first.” Our Father God knows our needs — and our wants — better than we do. He made us in such a way that we seek the things that are necessary for life and enjoyable to us here on earth; however, we often seek, seek, seek the things before we seek Him. How ridiculous we can be! God has all the things we need and want. Seek His righteousness; a righteous life is the best kind of life for you. Seek His kingdom: It is not of this world (John 18:36), is incorruptible and eternal, and is ruled by our perfect, all-powerful, good & loving, holy & just heavenly Father who cares for you (I Peter 5:7). Put God first! He will work out the rest.

Seek God.
His kingdom.
His righteousness.
“…and all these things will be added to you.”

Pray with Agur.

Father God,

“Two things I ask of You;
deny them not to me before I die.
Remove far from me falsehood & 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,”
(Proverbs 30:7-9, ESV).

May I seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, for only You, Lord, can meet all my needs and provide for the life I really want — eternal life with You.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.