Wise Sayings
“Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches—Feed me with the food allotted to me;Lest I be full and deny You, And say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal,and profane the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:7-9
This proverb reminds us of the Lord’s Prayer and its petitions. The first request recalls all petitions but the fourth; we’ll save that one for the other half of the proverb. No lies or falsehood, please, Lord. We ask that Your name be kept holy among us, in teaching and life. No lies to lead us from the kingdom, please, Lord. No lies and falsehood, Lord, nor their father the devil. Curb their evil will that Yours may be done. No more lies or falsehood about our sins either. Help us to confess them and give us the free and full forgiveness offered in Christ. Reveal the temptation in our lives to be lies and falsehood and show the danger that they bring. Don’t let lies and falsehood even come near us!
The second request of the proverb connects to the fourth petition of the Lord’s prayer, “give us this day our daily bread”. The proverb puts it this way, “give me the food allotted to me.” We give thanks and remember that the Lord provides us with temporal blessings. We ask the Lord to give us just what we need. Don’t give too much, lest we be tempted to think we don’t need God. Don’t give too little, lest we be tempted to sin by stealing and dishonor the name of God (for theft does not befit an ambassador of Christ). However, the Lord knows exactly what we need, and He will give it; He may give much so that we may give much back to support His kingdom work. He may give little so that, through the witness of our Spirit-given faith, we may give glory to His name in our weakness.
Seek first God’s Kingdom and His grace,
His holy Name in all you do;
Christ first and last in ev’ry place;
All else will then be given you.
Worship Supplement 789:5