INTRODUCTION

Riches and poverty both serve as some of man’s greatest pitfalls. Agur, in his wisdom (see Proverbs chapter 30), sought the Lord for a healthy balance somewhere between the two extremes. He feared riches because riches might cause him to become full and deny the Lord (Proverbs 30:8-9 [8] Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: [9] 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.
See All...). Conversely, he also feared the outcomes of a life lived in poverty. This might lead him to steal and take the name of God in vain (Proverbs 30:8-9 [8] Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: [9] 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.
See All...). In the end, Agur expressed a desire for the Lord to feed him with food convenient for him. Yet, he did not trust himself to know what was convenient (Proverbs 30:8Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
See All...). Perhaps, for some people, a greater amount would be convenient and yet a lesser amount for others. Agur recognized that only the Lord possessed the necessary wisdom to determine what balance would be right for him.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

• (For children): The Lord knew what His people would do when they were full (Deuteronomy 6:10-12 [10] And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, [11] And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; [12] Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
  See All...). He told Moses to write a song about it to serve as a warning (Deuteronomy 31:19-20 [19] Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. [20] For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
  See All...) which he did (Deuteronomy 32:10-15 [10] He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. [11] As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: [12] So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. [13] He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; [14] Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. [15] But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
  See All...).
• (For everyone): Do you trust yourself to determine the convenient balance in your own life? Why is it important to seek the Lord for help in determining what is convenient for you?
• Can you think of anyone who has allowed riches to move him or her away from the Lord? Can you think of anyone who has allowed poverty to cause him or her to sin?

PRAYER NEEDS

• Ask God to feed you with food convenient for you.
• Thank God for His perfect provision.

HYMN

THANKS TO GOD

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