Proverbs 30 Devotional

Humbled Before the Holy One

“Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.”Proverbs 30:8 (BSB)

Agur begins not with confidence but with exhaustion. He is weary, he says, and he admits that he lacks understanding and has not learned wisdom or knowledge of the Holy One (30:1-3). Then he asks a string of questions. Who has gone up to heaven and come back down? What is his name, and what is his son's name (30:4)? No ordinary person can answer, and that is the point. Wisdom begins by admitting how far above us God is.

Agur does not stay in uncertainty. He turns to God's word, which always proves true, and to the God who protects all who run to him for shelter (30:5). He prays for neither poverty nor riches, only the bread he needs, so that he will not forget God in plenty or dishonor him in want (30:8-9). Jesus later said that no one has gone up into heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from heaven (John 3:13). Agur's question has an answer, and the humble can rest in it.

To think about: What would it look like to ask God today for just enough, trusting him more than either plenty or want?