Courtesy of lesser-known OT writers Agur & Asaph
Have you ever prayed or thought something like this?
“I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.”
Proverbs 30:1 (ESV)
If you don’t recognize this from Proverbs 30, it could be because not all translations render it this way. Here’s the Expanded Bible version which includes both renderings:
“These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh [an otherwise unknown wise man].
This is his message to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal [or The utterance of the man, “I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and I am exhausted; unclear whether these are proper names or verbs]“
(Proverbs 30:1, EXB).
Whether Agur is using verbs or nouns, he is apparently addressing weariness! We are all familiar with it, yet most of us struggle with how to handle it.
What Kind of Weary Are You?
weary: 1. Feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep; 1.1 Reluctant to see or experience any more of; tired of; 1.2 Calling for a great amount of energy or endurance; tiring and tedious.
In the midst of a busy week myself, I am anticipating weariness before week’s end. There are different types of weary for different seasons of life, but it seems none of us humans can avoid it.
There’s…
- sleep-deprived-parents-of-toddlers-and-infants weary,
- parents-of-children-who-fight-with-siblings-and-need-help-with-schoolwork weary,
- parents-of-tweens-who-have-extracurriculars-and-moodiness weary,
- parents-of-teens-dating-and-driving-and-preparing-to-leave-home weary,
- parents-of-young-adult-children-out-on-their-own (or still at home!) weary,
- fulltime-career-and-kids weary,
- part-time-career-and-kids weary,
- home-with-kids-all-day weary,
- not-enough-money weary,
- fulltime-ministry weary,
- retired-and-getting-older weary,
- chronic-health-issues weary…
and the list goes on.
This list is not exhaustive, but you get the point. [Pun intended 😉 ]
Bottom line: All humans know weariness.
Good news: The Bible addresses it!
And as we read above, one place weariness is addressed is Proverbs 30.
Dig in to some truths from Agur’s proverbial oracle with me and see if we can find practical, biblical ways of dealing with weariness that are better than the supposed self-care solutions of the world.
[Click here to read The Self-care Nightmare.]
Words for the Weary from Agur
“The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.
The man declares, ‘I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out.
2Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
I have not the understanding of a man.
3I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
4Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name?
Surely you know!5Every word of God proves true;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
6Do not add to His words,
lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar.7Two things I ask of You;
Proverbs 30:1-9 (ESV)
deny them not to me before I die:
8Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9lest 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.'”
Now break it down verse by verse with me.
Do You Feel Stupid?
“Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
Prov. 30:2 (ESV)
I have not the understanding of a man.”
“I am ·the most stupid person there is [a dullard/brute more than a human; Ps. 73:22],
Prov. 30:2 (EXB)
and I have no understanding.”
When you get weary, do you notice how, the longer you are in that weary state, the dumber you start to feel, and the more simple mistakes you make? What used to be an easy problem to solve now seems difficult and complex.
I clearly remember standing in the shower one day when my youngest child was a baby and thinking, “What is 7 x 6?” My brain drew a blank. My next thought horrified me even more: “What is 7 + 6?!?”
Why I was attempting to do math in the shower, I don’t remember, but I do remember feeling really dumb… especially when I counted 7 + 6 on my fingers to make sure “13” was the correct answer! 😀
I wondered then if my cousin Melissa, mother of six, had been right when she felt she must have given part of her brain to each of her kids when they were born, leaving her with less smarts than when she started!
When I am weary, I can relate to Agur saying he is “too stupid” and has “no understanding.” The EXB cross-references Psalm 73 (by Asaph, not Agur), one of my favorites.
An embittered soul
“When my soul was embittered,
Psalm 73:21-22 (ESV)
when I was pricked in heart,
22I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward You.”
Weariness can cause soul bitterness for sure. Bitter souls tend to lash out in beastly ways, acting ignorant of all the intelligence and knowledge and wisdom they possess. This can happen on a scale grand or small, but it certainly happens.
What Do You Know?
“I have not learned wisdom,
Prov. 30:3 (ESV)
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.”
In a state of weariness, I feel unwise, and often act accordingly. You might even say I act like I don’t know God very well, or at all. Here is the first balm of application for our weary selves: The better you know God, the better you are able to persevere through weariness.
Return to Psalm 73.
Draw near when you’re weary.
“But when I thought how to understand this,
Psalm 73:16-17 (ESV)
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.”
The psalmist Asaph says he didn’t know how to gain understanding until he drew near to God. As Jesus’ brother James wrote, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you,” (James 4:8, ESV).
We must not stop drawing near to Him in our weariness! I know, when we feel dumb, and we know we’ve acted beastly, we can hesitate to approach God in His holiness. Praise Jesus for the truth of Hebrews 4:16!
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV)
If you are in Christ, draw near to the Throne of Grace with confidence! You can receive mercy and find grace to help you in your needy weariness.
Weary to Wary
“But when I thought how to understand this,
Psalm 73:16 (ESV)
it seemed to me a wearisome task…”
I appreciate that Asaph said, in thinking of how to gain understanding, that the process itself seemed to him “a wearisome task.” Oh, how often I measure my “to do” list by the amount of sheer energy it will take! In so doing, I shift from being weary to being wary, and then I start dreading things instead of looking forward to them. Through the prophet Isaiah the Lord makes it clear that this is wrong.
“For the Lord spoke thus to me (Isaiah) with His strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12‘Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall honor as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.'”
Isaiah 8:11-13 (ESV)
Let Him be your dread.
“Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Prov. 30:4 (ESV)
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name?
Surely you know!“
If you know Who this is, and you know His Son, and you have believed in His Son, you have absolutely nothing to dread, and nothing to fear, in your weariness.
Since I have nothing to dread from the God of the universe, the Almighty, All-knowing, Ever-present Creator of everything, why would I dread a task on my “to do” list, an appointment I’ve been putting off, a difficult conversation, another busy night away from home???
Do you know His name? His Son’s name?
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
I John 5:20 (ESV)
Through knowing the Son, we can know the true God.
Jesus the Son gives us the understanding we need to know Him! Everything we need is provided for us in Christ.
“Jesus said to him (Thomas), ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.'”
John 14:6-7 (ESV)
If we…
- know the Son, we know the Father.
- know the Father through belief in His Son, we have eternal life.
- have eternal life with Him, we have everything.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?“
Romans 8:32 (NIV)
The God who loved us so much He sent His Son to provide for our eternal salvation, for reconciliation with Him, is the same God who will provide for your needs when you are weary.
Join me in praying with our proverbial buddy Agur.
PRAYER
I recently confessed to God in prayer that I don’t know what I need. Oh, when I think of needs, a long list readily appears at the front of my mind; however, my perception of what I need is clouded by my desires that are, frankly, a mixed bag. I could write them out and still be unsure which items are true needs and which are not. Think of my “needs” list as being more like an 8-year-old’s Amazon Wish List than that of a 40-year-old! I need help even knowing what to ask God.
Thankfully, there’s the truth of Romans 8:27:
“…the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
We can also pray with Agur.
Father God,
“Two things I ask of You; deny them not to me before I die:
(Proverbs 30:7-9).
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 & deny You & say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
or lest I be poor & steal & profane the name of my God,”
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
You may or may not have noticed that we skipped over Proverbs 30:5-6 in our verse-by-verse look at the oracle of Agur. Look for these verses, along with a closer examination of the prayer above, in the next post.
