Full and Denying God - Proverbs 30:9

In the book of Proverbs Agur said, “Two things have I required of you; deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me”, and in chapter thirty and verse nine of Proverbs Agur said, “lest I be full, and deny you” where we read,

Lest I be full, and deny you, and say, Who is the LORD?

Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

The verse begins, “Lest I be full, and deny you, and say, Who is the LORD?” Agur began with the words, “lest I be full” or “beware, unless and peradventure I, Agur, exist as sated, satisfied, fulfilled and surfeited”, “and deny you” which means “and disappoint, fail, dissemble and deal falsely with you, the One True God”, “and say” or “and utter, declare and proclaim”, “who is the LORD” which means “what and how exists Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”. Agur said if he was allowed to become wealthy he might deal falsely with Jehovah God and question who God is. 

The verse continues, “Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” Agur added the words, “or lest I be poor” or “or perhaps, unless and peradventure that I, Agur, exist as in want, in need and impoverished”, “and steal” which means “and take from others by stealth, deception and robbery”, “and take the name of my God” or “and lay hold of, seize, catch and grasp the fame, reputation and glory belonging to my, Agur's, One True God” “in vain” which means “in futility, uselessness and to no purpose”. Agur considered the idea of God allowing him to become impoverished whereby he would take what did not belong to him and hold the fame, reputation and glory of Jehovah God in futility. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Agur the reason he desired “two things” from Jehovah God. He knew if he was wealthy, he might question whether the One True God even existed or helped him at all, and if he became impoverished, he might take take property that was not his and thereby lay hold of God's fame, reputation and glory with no purpose. God wants us to trust Him with our provision, and when we yield our lives to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and teach us to value our relationship with him and the amount of possessions He allows us to have.

Next time Agur says, “accuse not a servant unto his master”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".