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 NKJV
Agur asked the Lord for two specific things: integrity and contentment. We have looked at his desire for integrity; now let us look at the second part of this prayer, his desire to be satisfied with what God provided for him. This is called contentment. The apostle Paul wrote, “Godliness with contentment is great gain … For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:6, 10). These verses remind us of where our priorities are to be placed.
There is nothing wrong with praying for our needs: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11). But we are not to “worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek … But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Mt. 6:31–33). We see this contentment in the apostle Paul when he wrote, “I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Phil. 4:12). As we follow Jesus Christ, He wants us to trust Him for our every need, no matter how big or how small!
We live in a world which is discontented, and all the advertisements tell us we should not be content either. But we need the attitude of Agur who wanted to be content with what the Lord provided. May the Lord be our object, and may He help us to be content with His daily blessings; and, if there is a need, may we depend on His goodness to provide!