Two Requests

For Thursday, April 3, 2008
Proverbs 30:7-9

Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for 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.

If you were given two wishes to be granted, would these be the two you would choose - to be kept from committing falsehood and to given only what is needed so that you would not be tempted to sin?

Truly this is a request coming out of wisdom; for it is the wise person who recognizes his moral frailty and dependence upon God to sanctify him and to "deliver me from evil." The best of us are prone to falsehood, and the one we are most likely to deceive is ourselves. The best of us have our prejudices and fears that keep us from hearing and accepting the whole truth, whether it be about God, ourselves, or others. As the movie line goes, "[We] can't handle the truth."

Then there is the recognition of our susceptibility to temptation. If we have an abundance, we tend to take what we have for granted and to credit ourselves for what we have. Our religious fervor declines or we become like the Pharisee who turns religious faith into an opportunity for self-exaltation. If we are poor, we are likely to lose confidence in God and trust to our own means - even unethical means - to provide for ourselves. There real crime, then, becomes the disgrace we lend to God's name, because of being known as believing in him.

Recognition of such dangers as expressed here is not meant to lead us to be fearful, but, rather to turn to the Lord who alone can save us, preserve us, and lead us along his righteous path. It is meant to keep us from pride and false confidence in ourselves. It is meant to lead us to glorify God and give him the due honor that is his alone.