Verses 1-33
The Prayer of Agur
With the twenty-ninth chapter the Proverbs of Solomon come to a conclusion. The remaining portion of the book may be regarded as an appendix divisible into three parts: (1) The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; (2) The words of King Lemuel, giving the prophecy which his mother taught him; and, lastly, the praise of a good wife. The words of Agur are, according to the best authorities, to be traced to some unknown sage whose utterances were of a kindred quality with those of Solomon himself. The wisdom of foreign nations was held in high estimation by the Jews, in proof of which refer to 1 Kings 4:30-31 : "And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men;... and his fame was in all nations round about" Although he was wiser, yet his wisdom may have been of the same quality. One mountain is higher than another, but both are mountains. The Book of Job is considered to be of an undoubted foreign origin, being probably the work of some Arabian author. It is a mistake to suppose that the Bible ignores wisdom that is not within its own limits. The Bible looks upon all men as divine creations, and upon every man as probably possessing some portion of the secret of the Almighty. The excellence of the Bible is found in the fact that whilst it contains, either in germ or in explicit statement, all the wisdom of the ages, it adds to that wisdom some revelation of its own, or a peculiar accent of delivery, or a special charm, or a unique expression; for a long time it may be on the same level with other sacred writings, but suddenly it separates itself from them and assumes a lofty and unapproachable dignity of thought and expression. It has been charged upon the Bible that it contains many things which are to be found in other sacred books. As well charge it with being printed in the same type as the Koran, or the works of Confucius. The alphabets may be the same, the type may be identical, many of the words may be mere repetitions, and yet there may be a speciality which gives unique distinctiveness to Bible words and Bible thoughts. The right reader of human history will find that the nations are made of one blood, and that the voice of humanity, when undisturbed by unreasoning passion, or perverted by unholy prejudice, is in reality one and the same. The unity of human nature is everywhere attested when life comes to critical points and is called upon to express its most urgent and poignant necessities. The word "prophecy," in the first verse, is a term which is constantly employed to express the action of "utterance": the prophecy is the message which a prophet bore or carried to his hearers, and is often one of gloom rather than of joyous import. By prophecy we are not always to understand prediction, but teaching, exposition, the highest and deepest philosophy. Probably Agur belonged to North Arabia, and it is supposed that Lemuel might be king of the same Arab tribe. Ithiel and Ucal were probably disciples of Agur: the one name means "God with me"; the other name means "I am strong." There have been not a few mystical and fanciful interpretations of these terms. We should beware of all such interpretations, for they minister to vanity rather than to instruction. When Agur says in the second verse, "Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man," he feels so contemptible in his own estimation as to realise that he can scarcely be the handiwork of God. He feels as if he were unworthy of a Creator so lofty and wise. Self-contempt may be the beginning of true wisdom. Here is a rebuke to that pride which brings destruction, and to that haughtiness which precedes a fall. Every man should know exactly how little he is, how frail, in some aspects and senses how worthless, and out of this self-abasement will come a correct conception of the possibilities of life and destiny of the soul. We must not begin too high. Children of the dust should begin where God himself began them: they did not begin as divine, and then proceed to incarnation; they began as dust, and then received the divine breath. The contrary was the process with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: he was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God; yet he took upon him the form of a servant. The first Adam is of the earth earthy; the second Adam is of the Lord from heaven. Notice the contrastive point of origin: men began as dust and grew up into divinity: Jesus Christ began as Lord of life and took upon him the seed of Abraham. Yet there was a meeting-point, and that meeting point is at once a mystery and a revelation: great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh; yet we behold his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We understand him though he came from above and we ourselves came from beneath. We have all one Father.
From this low and proper self-estimation Agur sends forth certain great questions which have troubled and divided the intellect of men in all ages.
"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?" ( Pro 30:4 ).
Agur cannot grasp the grand idea of the divine existence: he sees partial glories; sections and phases of truth gleam upon him with sudden and startling brightness; but the totality of things is beyond him: he cries out mightily after that which is lacking, if haply he may discover it and rejoice in its personal possession. The questions bring out the littleness of the creature as compared with the majesty of the Creator. Agur wants to hear of some one who has been through all the sanctuary of God, who has taken the dimensions of the Lord's temple, and comprehended all the reason and poetry of the divine administration. Is he not here unconsciously crying out for the living Christ? It would be fanciful on our part to say that he was doing so, yet who can tell exactly all the meaning of his own prayer? Is not God behind every prayer as well as above it? Is he not the author of prayer as well as of the answers to prayer? Hitherto we have been too much inclined to think of God only as the answerer of prayer, and not as its inspirer: we should place God at both ends of the prayer; at the end which expresses necessity, and at the end which expresses fulness and gratitude. Agur still feels that the universe is to be comprehended; at present it is to his mind an infinite and unknown quantity, yet he is persuaded that there must be someone who holds the key of the infinite dominion. We have said that in all ages religious questions have troubled men. We read in another book, "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." Then the inquiry comes down from above as well as rises from beneath. God himself turns this very ignorance on the part of man into a reason why man should worship, inquire, and prostrate himself in the abasement of adoration "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?" What is true of the physical universe is true of that larger creation which Christians recognise as the spiritual origin of life and progress; specially is it true of the wondrous fulness of the grace and goodness of God. The mightiest mind that ever consecrated its powers to the Christian cause exclaimed in wonder, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" Jesus Christ himself assures the Church that only One has ever seen the length and breadth, the depth and height of the universe of God. "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." What has man seen of the universe? Yet how pompously and loudly he talks about his acquisitions of knowledge, about his scientific attainments, and about his right to formulate conclusions, and establish dogmas of orthodoxy and heterodoxy! We are but of yesterday, and know nothing. Tomorrow, as we have often said, is the secret of time, which the wisest man can only guess at and cannot fully reveal and determine. Thus are we beaten back in our highest ambition, and are taught that we are only wise when we are religious; only most philosophical when we are most trustful and obedient.
Agur lays down an estimate of the divine word which the ages in all their multifold experience have only confirmed and if possible enlarged.
"Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar" ( Pro 30:5-6 ).
The glories of the divine word are here compared with the glories of nature, and a supreme excellency is assigned to the revelation of God. "Every word of God is pure," that is, it has been tried, tested, proved, and ascertained to be good, not by speculation, but in the fire of experience. By "pure" we are to understand gold that has been purged of dross. Not only is every word pure in the sense of holiness, but every word is pure in the sense of having been tried and severely tested. Nothing is left to conjecture or to speculation: the word of God stands upon the rock of human experience. The Psalmist says, "The words of the Lord are pure words," and then he proceeds to explain what is meant by the word pure, saying, "as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." Then again, when the Psalmist extols the divine word, he gives after every tribute to its excellence a reference to human experience; he says, for example "The statutes of the Lord are right," and his proof is, "rejoicing the heart": he continues, "The commandment of the Lord is pure," and his reason for saying so is, "enlightening the eyes": he continues, "The fear of the Lord is clean," and the reason he assigns is, "enduring for ever." So we have not only high philosophy but simple experience; we can begin with the philosophy, or we can begin with the experience; but at whatever point we begin we reach the conclusion that "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." Agur gives as a reference to human experience this statement in the fifth verse, "He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." That is a statement which can be tested; we can refer to our religious life, to the providence of God as seen in our own history. We must not confine our attention to this day or to that day, but take in a sufficient breadth of time, and doing so we shall be able to draw a just conclusion as to the government of God seen within the circle of our own going. "O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield." God is very jealous lest any should add to his words, not by way of explaining their meaning, which is legitimate, but in the way of supplying supposed omissions, or adding something that is of another grade and quality. The flower is not added to the root; it comes out of the root as its natural and final expression. So the word of the Lord in its terse expressions may be expanded into volumes and libraries, and yet nothing may be added in the sense which is forbidden. When men add their own fancies or their own inventions to the divine testimony they are guilty of felony; the addition is but so much subtraction, for it perverts the meaning, it lessens the force, it modifies or destroys the original authority. "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." Speaking of his own book, John says that he received this message: "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
Having surveyed himself, and the universe, and the spiritual revelation of God, Agur seems to concentrate his thoughts upon two practical points. After all, this is what we ourselves must do. We can look at our own nature until we are filled with contempt; we can look upon the universe until we are overwhelmed and filled with dismay, giving up in despair the thought of ever knowing the boundless creation of omnipotence: and we can look upon the divine word until we see that the word of God is infinitely greater than his works: after all this survey and study we have to come back to one or two practical things, and rest upon these, assured that from these alone can we move on with any security and hope of larger studies and wider investigations.
"Two things have I required of thee; 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: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain" ( Pro 30:7-9 ).
This is practical piety. May it be with us as it was with Agur. When we return from our vast contemplations may it be to take up a policy of actual conduct, of simple piety, looking well to the issue of our own actions, and putting ourselves trustingly and lovingly under the inspiration of God. Let the Lord be our purse-keeper; let us put the key of our door into God's hands; yea, let us give ourselves over to him wholly, that he may control our uprising and our downsitting, our going out and our coming in. Agur would have "food convenient for" him; that is, literally, "bread of my portion": just the simple daily appointment: the little quantity needed from sunrise to sundown: Agur would thus be as a child at home, not asking for anything great or grand, but simply that life might be sustained, that life itself might be turned to the highest and holiest purposes. "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." The apostle himself learned this lesson, saying, "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." The word "learned" is the keyword of the whole expression. It did not come naturally, it was not an instinct or an intuition; it was a matter of simple, real experience. Many things may have been tried, many promises may have been tested, many courses may have been experimented upon, but the upshot of the whole is the divine learning, the sacred lore, that contentment is the true ambition, and that contentment is the beginning of real riches. If we are eager or impetuous, or determined to be wealthy, we shall fall into many an abyss. "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition." Agur was thus a Christian before the time. He represented in his own spirit and conduct the teaching of the Apostle Paul and the teaching of the Apostle John. "The love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Agur seems to have anticipated all this, and to have desired that he might be preserved from such disaster. "All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." Such is the testimony of the Apostle John. When Jeshurun waxed fat he kicked; when he was covered with fatness he forsook God, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. When the people of God were led into a rich pasture they were filled, and their heart was exalted; and in the day of their exaltation God said, "Therefore have they forgotten me." We cannot amend Agur's prayer. It is not easily offered with the whole consent of the mind and heart. The words themselves are often repeated, but how few there are who realise how far-stretching is their meaning, how complete is the trust in divine providence which they express. Judge me, O my Father; thou knowest my capacity, my power of resisting temptation, my weakness, and my strength; thou knowest how soon I should be overthrown and victimised and destroyed; thou knowest whether I was intended to be a trustee of great power and wealth, or but a humble doorkeeper in thy great creation: only teach me what thy will is, and help me to express it in love, obedience, and joyous hopefulness. Then shall I grow in grace, and be prepared for larger duties and heavier responsibilities.
"There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men" ( Pro 30:11-14 ).
These four generations are but one. This is Agur's view of the age in which he lived, or it may be his summary of human nature as it had come under his own observation. It is noticeable that the same characteristics are pointed out by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:0 . Have there ever been any other generations within all the boundaries of time? Has the world ever been lacking in unfilial souls? How many men are there whose own self-estimate is admirable, and whose filthiness is obvious to all observers! Who has not seen the generation whose eyes are lofty, and whose eyelids are lifted up? and who has not seen all the three generations represented in the fourth, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men? Self-conceit is at the centre of all the evil character which is here depicted. The men who curse their father and their mother do so in the loftiness of their self-complacency. Whenever eyes are lofty, and eyelids are lifted up, we may be perfectly sure that the teeth are as swords, and the jaw teeth as knives. Impious piety is the very vilest kind of religion. Hypocrisy is as cruel as it is deceitful. Evil men put on the garments of religion, but carry the swords or daggers of vengeance underneath the Christian velvet The Bible will always have reality, as we have seen again and again. Pretence, profession, ostentation cannot receive the smallest degree of allowance from Bible teaching. Simplicity, true-heartedness, frankness, reality of purpose, these are everywhere commended in the sacred volume. The spiritual claims of the Bible are largely sustained by its direct and healthy criticism of the manners of society. The Bible does not look upwards only, as if lost in religious rapture; it looks abroad, on the right hand and on the left, and with penetrating criticism delineates every speciality of human character. The generations of men are familiar to it; human nature is not an unknown quantity that is talked about in mystical language; it is rather the positive reality that is fully comprehended and wisely estimated, and is dealt with from high religious altitudes. We can belong to any of these four generations if we please. We can be unfilial; we can be pure in our own eyes; we can lift up our eyelids in impious mockery to heaven; we can sharpen our teeth as swords, and our jaw teeth as knives; all this evil distinction is open to us; but inasmuch as its history is bad, in and out, without one single redeeming feature, let us rather abhor that which evil and cleave to that which is good. The opposite characteristics of these verses may be repeated in our lives with complete and happy success: we can be filial, we can cleanse ourselves from all iniquity, we can look down upon the earth in pity and in love, we can fill our mouths with gracious words, sweet promises inspired by the divinely purified heart. Evil is never portrayed that it may be copied; it is always delineated that it may alarm and shock and repel men; showing them how awful a thing it is to depart from the spirit of purity, and import discord into the music of divine purpose and administration.
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