Thoughts for the Day

The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle.

Thus says the man: I am weary, O God,
I am weary, O God. How can I prevail?
Surely I am too stupid to be human;
I do not have human understanding.
I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.
Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is the person’s name?
And what is the name of the person’s child?
Surely you know!

Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words,
or else he will rebuke you, and you will be found a liar.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

As we saw in 'Proverbs: 18' King Hezekiah gathered together some proverbs of Solomon some 270 years after Solomon's death, at a time of great spiritual revival and added them to Solomon's proverbs. The words of Agur son of Jakeh were also apparently added at this point. We know nothing else about him, though the name 'Agur' comes from a Hebrew word meaning 'collector'.

One of the signs of wisdom is humility, and Agur acknowledges his own limitations (in a rather overdone style) when it comes to understanding. He has not been taught in one of the schools of wisdom as the sons of prophets were. Like the prophet Amos he is uneducated (Amos 7.14-15), but he still has something to teach us. He calls us first to realise our own limitations. He asks us "Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?" and "Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?" Of course our answer is "Not us!" Real wisdom starts with knowing that only God who planned and ordered our world can do these things.

This section of Proverbs starts with the words 'An Oracle', that is someone who provide insights or a prophecy about the future. So the second thing Agur wants to teach us involves the name of God, who has gathered the wind and water and established the ends of the earth. Agur says we can only know God's name and his Son's name, when God reveals them to us. We don’t know to what extent he foresaw the coming of the Messiah (God's Son, Jesus Christ), but Agur knew that God had a Son who would in turn reveal Himself to us, and be our shield.

Heavenly Father,
may we be as wise as Agur
in realising that all our knowledge
of You and Your world
comes because of Your revelation to us
as we search for You.
Enable us to grow in grace
as we seek to get closer to You
in the power of Your Holy Spirit,
and enable us to humbly
learn how to reach out to others.
Amen.