Posted on 04/30/2014 8:37:53 AM PDT by OneVike
Proverb 30 (NKJV)
The Wisdom of Agur
01 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance.
00 This man declared to Ithiel--to Ithiel and Ucal:
02 Surely I am more stupid than any man,
00 And do not have the understanding of a man.
03 I neither learned wisdom
00 Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.
04 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
00 Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
00 Who has bound the waters in a garment?
00 Who has established all the ends of the earth?
00 What is His name, and what is His Son's name,
00 If you know?
05 Every word of God is pure;
00 He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
06 Do not add to His words,
00 Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.
07 Two things I request of You
00 (Deprive me not before I die):
08 Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
00 Give me neither poverty nor riches--
00 Feed me with the food allotted to me;
09 Lest I be full and deny You,
00 And say, "Who is the LORD?"
00 Or lest I be poor and steal,
00 And profane the name of my God.
10 Do not malign a servant to his master,
00 Lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.
11 There is a generation that curses its father,
00 And does not bless its mother.
12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
00 Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
13 There is a generation-- oh, how lofty are their eyes!
00 And their eyelids are lifted up.
14 There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
00 And whose fangs are like knives,
00 To devour the poor from off the earth,
00 And the needy from among men.
15 The leech has two daughters--
00 Give and Give!
00 There are three things that are never satisfied,
00 Four never say, "Enough!":
16 The grave,
00 The barren womb,
00 The earth that is not satisfied with water--
00 And the fire never says, "Enough!"
17 The eye that mocks his father,
00 And scorns obedience to his mother,
00 The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
00 And the young eagles will eat it.
18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
00 Yes, four which I do not understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the air,
00 The way of a serpent on a rock,
00 The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
00 And the way of a man with a virgin.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
00 She eats and wipes her mouth,
00 And says, "I have done no wickedness."
21 For three things the earth is perturbed,
00 Yes, for four it cannot bear up:
22 For a servant when he reigns,
00 A fool when he is filled with food,
23 A hateful woman when she is married,
00 And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.
24 There are four things which are little on the earth,
00 But they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong,
00 Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
26 The rock badgers are a feeble folk,
00 Yet they make their homes in the crags;
27 The locusts have no king,
00 Yet they all advance in ranks;
28 The spider skillfully grasps with its hands,
00 And it is in kings' palaces.
29 There are three things which are majestic in pace,
00 Yes, four which are stately in walk:
30 A lion, which is mighty among beasts
00 And does not turn away from any;
31 A greyhound,
00 A male goat also,
00 And a king whose troops are with him.
32 If you have been foolish in exalting yourself,
00 Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.
33 For as the churning of milk produces butter,
00 And wringing the nose produces blood,
00 So the forcing of wrath produces strife.
The purpose of Writing the book of Proverbs by Solomon is to reveal the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations. It appears that no topic escaped King Solomon's attention. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and Godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings.
Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing more than an accumulation of raw facts, influenced by emotional feelings. Many highly educated people are in positions of power in the United States, but very few of those educated leaders have the wisdom needed to rule properly.
One can say that they have been educated well beyond their intelligence. A cursory look at the court system will prove my point that knowledge without wisdom will only lead to an immoral society that eventually crumbles from within. Judges are supposed to be above the fray, and immovable to emotions. Instead, the vast majority of judges today are Godless individuals who are vacant of wisdom. So their rulings are totally based upon emotional feelings.
We the people are to blame, because we ignored God';s guidance in appointing our leaders. Instead of putting leaders full wisdom in power, we instead chose those who would scratch our itchy ears to lead us.
Along with my daily routine of reading the Bible, I try to read through the book of Proverbs once a Month. It's an easy task when you consider there are 31 Proverbs. So all you need to know is what day of the Month it is to know which Proverb to read. In the Months that have less than 31 days, I just double so I can begin the next month with Proverb 1 on the first again.
We always hear about the evils of the rich, and while I do not wish to make the rich seem blameless of sin, it is the poor who commit the vast majority of crimes in today's world.
It's just that with more money, your sins effect a lot more people. Compare how vast and destructive the sins committed by wealthy men like George Soros, compared to the destruction and reach of one's sin who is poor.
Sin is sin, and while there are some sins that can do more harm than others, and there are sins that can be harder to overcome than others, God Himself does not distinguish one from the other.
After all, the best definition of sin, is anything that falls short of the perfection of God. That's why even the most innocent pious person who has ever lived, still needs the blood of Christ to cleanse them of their imperfection, or sin.
That is why Proverbs 30:7-9 are a few of the most repeated verses in my personal prayers to God.
07 Two things I request of You
00 (Deprive me not before I die):
08 Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
00 Give me neither poverty nor riches--
00 Feed me with the food allotted to me;
09 Lest I be full and deny You,
00 And say, "Who is the LORD?"
00 Or lest I be poor and steal,
00 And profane the name of my God.
I've pressed my pastors on such issues and I always get the blanket reply of, "who are we to judge".
Good point. Thanks for going to the site. Did you like the article?
I have an article i am working on for the Summer edition on why Christian are supposed to judge.
Yes, I enjoyed the article. When I got to that part, I’m always reminded how my pastors react to any social issue.......... As a Christian, I feel shot down and muted by this. My goal is not to judge but to keep God’s word from being distorted by the outside world that keeps trying to do that. Sometimes I wonder why God allows his word to get distorted.. I pray for people to not be misled or to fall for false doctrine, especially the children who are often victims of this world.
That is why I wrote the article on Politics and Religion. Not sure if you read it, but I attempt top show why Christians should be involved in both and how the Scriptures are not against Christians getting involved and caring about politics.
It’s a lie from hell that Christians should not care about their political leaders and whats going on wirth their government.
I need to share this with my pastors.
Thank you. I pray it helps convince them of your point.
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