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. – Proverbs 30:8-9
Prosperity and adversity are equal opportunity destroyers. The extremes of life can be hazardous because a person with too much may encounter as much difficulty as one with too little.
Agur, the writer or Proverbs 30, much have sensed this danger when he prayed: “Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches – feed me with the food alloted 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 God”.
A similar request occurs in a beautiful choral anthem composed by Benjamin Harlan:
Write Your blessed name,
O Lord, upon my heart,
There to remain so indelibly engraved
hat no prosperity, nor adversity
Shall remove me from Your love.
In Proverbs 30 the focus is on circumstances, while the song centers on the state of our heart. Perhaps we should pray that God would guard us in both areas of our lives.
Most of us, often need to have our “wanter” fixed. Instead we should seek the balance expressed in Proverbs 30.
When we invite the Lord to place His mark of ownership on our lives, we acknowledge His wise and loving provision for all our needs.
Contentment is realizing that God has already given me all I need.
