Weary

Our pastor preached on Proverbs 30:1-9. As I read the passage and listened to the sermon, I was struck by the connections to the Psalms I have been studying. Like Romans 12:12 that I wrote on a few weeks ago, Proverbs 30:1-9 echoes the themes in many of the Psalms.

1The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.

The man declares, I am weary, O God;

I am weary, O God, and worn out.

2Surely I am too stupid to be a man.

I have not the understanding of a man.

3I have not learned wisdom,

Nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

4Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered the wind in His fists?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is His name, and what is His son’s name?

Surely you know!

5Every word of God proves true;

He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

6Do not add to His words,

lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar.

7Two things I ask of You;

deny them not to me before I die:

8Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that is needful for me,

9lest 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.

The three themes that stood out to me in relation to the Psalms are:

· Expressing honest, raw emotions before God (vs 1-3).

· Focusing on God’s character and truth (vs 4-5).

· Trusting or depending on God based on who He is and what we know is true instead of acting on feelings and circumstances (vs 6-9).

First, we see the expression of honest, raw emotion to God. Agur writes that “The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.” He repeats three times just how weary he is. I know I have felt like this. Whether it is physical weariness, or one difficult circumstance after another, the weariness begins to weigh on me.

In verse 2, Agur further confesses that he is too stupid to be a man, he lacks understanding and has not learned wisdom or knowledge of God. Agur is humbled. He has taken a hard look in the mirror and seen how far he has fallen short. I too have days like this. I am wearied by struggling with the same sin over and over. I feel like I should have conquered it by now. I read Scripture and wonder how did I miss that truth before? Or I know what Scripture says, but I fail to live it, so do I really know it? I think of David who wrote, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him” (Psalm 8:4)?” Or “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14). Some days I wonder why God is mindful of me when it seems like all I do is fail. Thankfully, this is not the end of the story.

Second, as the Psalmists looked beyond their circumstances to God, Agur does the same. He begins a series of questions in verse 4 (similar to how God answers Job in Job 38:1-7) that remind him of who God is and what God has done and is still capable of doing. God is Creator, He is sovereign, and He is omnipotent.

Towards the end of verse 4, Agur asks, “What is His name, and what is His son’s name?” Agur may have been thinking of himself as the son, but ultimately, the “son” points to Jesus. He is God’s Son, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17). We can take comfort that the Father and the Son have everything under their loving control. We may fail, but God never does. He is faithful to keep us and finish His work in us (Philippians 1:6).

Agur ends verse 4 with, “Surely you know!” He is telling his listeners and himself that they know the answers to these questions. They know the name of the One who has done all these things in verse 4. Likewise, we need to remind ourselves of who God is. Surely we know, but we don’t always live like we know. Preach the truth of God’s character and the gospel to yourself and to others. When we are weary, this is exactly what we need to hear.

Agur is not done meditating on God’s character. “Every word of God proves true” (vs 5a). God

is faithful. We can trust Him. We can trust His Word. “He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him” (vs 5). Refuge and shield are familiar descriptions of God from Psalms. When we are weary, God is our refuge, our safe place to find rest. When we are worn out, He is our shield, our defender, our protector. Even when we fail, when we see that we are but dust apart from God, God is our refuge and shield where we are covered by Jesus’ righteousness.

Third, remembering God’s character leads to our complete dependence on and trust in Him. Agur just declared that every word of God is true. In verse 6, he warns us not to add to God’s words lest God rebuke us, and we are found to be liars. When we are weary, we can be tempted to add our own spin on God’s words. One way we do this is in the expectation that God’s love and goodness mean He will remove anything contributing to our weariness especially if we are praying, reading our Bible, going to church, doing the “right” things. Although God may relieve us from whatever causes our weariness, it is never promised this side of heaven. God does promise that His grace is sufficient for us, His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When we add to God’s words, we are ultimately saying that His words are not true. He is not faithful. He is not good. He is not sovereign. He is not loving. He can’t be trusted. He can’t be depended on. Of course, God’s words are true. His character will never change, so we are the ones who lie when we add anything to God’s words. Agur recognizes this when in his prayer (vs 7-9) he asks God to remove falsehood and lying far from him. He desires only God’s truth, but he knows the temptations he is susceptible to. Agur demonstrates his dependence on God in asking God to remove falsehood and lying far from him. Remember in verses 2 and 3 where Agur admitted he was ignorant, that he lacked wisdom? He knows the source of true wisdom, and He petitions God to remove falsehood and lying, so he can know truth and wisdom.

Lastly, Agur shows his dependence on and trust in God by requesting God to give him neither poverty nor riches but only what is needful. If he has excess, he will be tempted to deny God. We can be tempted to trust in what we have instead of our God who provided it. If Agur is lacking basic needs (food is the example in verse 8), he may be tempted to steal or rely on himself instead of God.

I have been a doer most of my life. I like to stay busy. I like multi-tasking to be more productive. I liked being self-reliant. God has used chronic pain and fatigue to keep me dependent on Him. I know many out there also experience chronic illnesses, and I don’t know what God is working in your situation, but for me, I needed to learn dependence on God. I needed to learn that my to-do list for the day was not necessarily His, and He would supply exactly what I needed to accomplish what He had for me to do. It has caused me to pray more and seek refuge in Him. There are days when I am still like some of the Israelites that didn’t trust God to provide manna for the next day and gathered extra. Instead of trusting God for what I need each day, I try to jump ahead and figure out how I can muster it on my own.

God made us to be dependent on Him. We often fight against dependence thinking that independence is the better thing, but when we remember Who are dependence rests on, our weariness will not be so wearisome. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Our weariness is not too much for our compassionate Father. He wants us to come to Him and find rest.

Reflection

1. Are you feeling weary? Why? Have you expressed to God what you are feeling? Your Heavenly Father cares. He wants you to be honest with how you are feeling. He doesn’t want you to try to put up a strong spiritual front when that isn’t how you feel.

2. In your weariness, what about God’s character encourages you to keep trusting Him? What truth about God have you forgotten?

3. What God + _________ or just _________ have you been depending on or think you need instead of trusting God to daily supply exactly what you need when you need it in the way you need it?