A Wise Request
A. TRUE CHARACTER REVEALED IN WHAT WE REALLY WANT FROM LIFE
( Matt. 6:21 ).
B. REAL WANTS BECOME MORE INTENSE AS ONE BECOMES MORE
CONSCIOUS OF THE BREVITY OF LIFE ( Prov. 30:7b ).
1. James 4.14.
2. We want each day to count, to be important ( Psalm 90:12 ).
D. SOLOMON MADE A WISE REQUEST, ONE TO WHICH WE GIVE HEED.
A. FALSEHOODS. ( see definition at the BOTTOM ).
1. False doctrines entrap, enslave, and condemn. ( Gal. 4:8-11; 5:1; Col. 2:8 ).
a. Men lie in wait to deceive us. ( Eph. 4:14 ).
b. They go to great extremes to make converts ( Matt. 23:15 ).
c. God's Word is the only true standard ( John 17:17 ).
2. Riches can be very deceitful ( Mark 4:18-19; Luke 12:15-21).
3. False friends can discourage and weaken us ( Prov. 19:4; 14:20; 1 Cor. 15:33 ).
4. Let us set our hearts on the solid rock ( Matt. 6:19-21 ).
B. LIES.
1. Isa. 59:4.
2. Examples of liars in the Bible and the consequences that followed.
a. The old prophet lied to the younger one ( 1 Kings 13:15-19 ). The younger
prophet was destroyed for believing a lie.
b. Gehazi lied because he was greedy ( 2 Kings 5:22-27 ). Leprousy!
c. Anninias and Sapphira( Acts 5:1-11 ).
3. God hates lies and lying liars!( John 8:44; Rev. 21:8 ).
4. Our prayer, like the writer of Proverbs, is that lies will be removed far from us.
( Eph. 4:25; Col. 3:9 ).
shav' --emptiness, vanity, falsehood; a) emptiness, nothingness, vanity; b) emptiness
of speech, lying; c) worthlessness (used of conduct) Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon
kazab ; falsehood; literally (untruth) or figuratively (idol):
KJV-deceitful, false, leasing, + liar, lie, lying. -- Strong's
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Prov 30:7-9. “…is either that which is confused, worthless, untrue, which comes to us from without (e.g., Job 31:5),
or dissoluteness, hollowness, untruthfulness of disposition (e.g., Ps 26:4); it is not to be decided whether
the suppliant is influenced by the conception thus from within or from without, since d¦bar-kaazaab
a word of falsehood may be said by himself as well as to him, a falsehood can intrude itself upon him.
It is almost more probable that by shw' he thought of the misleading power of God-estranged,
idolatrous thought and action; and by dbr-kzb, of lying words, with which he might be brought
into sympathy, and by which he might ruin himself and others. (from Keil & Delitzsch.)
A. “LEST I BE FULL AND DENY YOU AND SAY, ‘WHO IS THE LORD?’"
1. There is a tendency to forget God when we have plenty ( Deut. 6:10-12 ).
Israel did that very thing ( Deut. 32:15; Jer. 2:32 ).
2. The Word of God teaches us to have the right view of riches ( Prov. 13:7 ).
a. The rich don’t sleep well ( Eccl. 5:10-17; Prov. 23:5; 1 Tim 6:17 ).
b. It is hard for the rich man to enter heaven ( Matt. 19:23-27 ).
c. It is hard for him to let go ( Matt. 19:22 ).
d. Generally, the wealthy spurned Jesus ( 1 Cor. 1:26 ).
B. “LEST I BE POOR AND STEAL AND PROFANE THE NAME OF MY GOD.”
1. The desire for wealth leads to destructive ways ( 1 Tim. 6:9-10 ).
2. The poor can be as bad as the rich.
a. Covetousness is a crime( Eph. 5:3-5 ).
b. Taking what is not ours is a shameful act ( Eph. 4:28; 1 Cor. 6:9-10 ).
2. No one wants to be poor, or to be forced to live in poverty. Thus, out text
becomes a very real prayer for all of us.
a. What is God’s solution to poverty?
( Eph. 4:28; Prov 13:11; 14:23; Ecc. 9:10 ).
b. Why are we poor? ( Prov. 26:13-16 ).
C. WE SHOULD APPRECIATE OUR BLESSINGS ( Col. 4:2 ).
D. WE NEED TO LEARN CONTENTMENT ( 1 Tim. 6:8; Heb. 13:5; Phil. 4:11 ).
E. BUT GOD AND HIS PURPOSES MUST COME FIRST( Matt. 6:33 ).
A. THE PRAYER OF AGUR IS SURPRISING IN A COUPLE OF WAYS.
1. He prayed for deliverance from moral impurity.
2. He asked for worldly goods in moderation.
B. THIS MAKES FOR A HAPPY LIFE HERE AND BRINGS ETERNAL LIFE.
David J. Riggs