This was Agur’s judgment of himself. He might have had a very different opinion of his state in former years, but now he says, “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.” He does not say, I am become more brutish, but I am so. It was what he was in himself—his state. It is clear from what follows that he is one who is having to do with God, who is thinking of himself as in the searching light of His presence; and there he learns, not that he is good, and better than others, but that he is bad, and worse than others. And what else can be the estimate we form of ourselves when consciously before Him who is of purer eyes than to behold evil? An honored prophet, who was used to communicate much from God to man of the sufferings and glory of Messiah, was known to say when he saw His glory, “Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips.” (Isa. 6:5.) Another, of whom God had said, “there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil”—when he was brought face to face, as it were, with God, was brought, not merely to know he was “vile,” but to abhor himself. He said, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself] and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5, 6.) Again, we have an inspired psalmist saying, when in the sanctuary of God, “So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee.” (Psalm 73:22.) And when another prophet was seriously recounting the ways of Jehovah, we hear him saying, u Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble,” &c. (Hab. 3:15, 16.) But in Agur we find a man loathing himself indeed, estimating no one so unclean, unwise, and ignorant as himself. It is not so much what he has done that so bows him down, but what he is, what his true character is as a man; having powers and affections, but so ruined in the current of mere nature, that he sees no one so morally resembling the brute creation as himself. If he eats, and drinks, and sleeps, to satisfy the necessities of nature, so do brutes; only he might, perhaps, make personal application of the prophet’s words: “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.” (Isa. 1:3.) So low and groveling, so unclean and earthly-minded did he feel himself to be, so little did he find his thoughts and ways according to God, that he was loathsome in his own eyes, and could only say, “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have I the understanding of the holy.”
The words which immediately follow these utterances of self-judgment are, “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the winds in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell? Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” (Vers. 4, 5.) Thus the speaker is evidently having to do with God. For “who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?’’ Is it not He whom God sent into the world to save sinners, who was delivered for our offenses, and whom God raised again for our justification? Is it not He who was “the Word made flesh, and dwelt among us,” who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, according to the will of God? Is it not He whom God hath highly exalted, and crowned with glory and honor, because He finished the work of atonement, and had been obedient unto death, even the death of the cross? Is it not He of whom God says that “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin”? Of whom but God could it be said, He “hath gathered the wind in his fists, and bound the waters in a garment”? And did not Jesus command the raging winds and tumultuous sea to cease, and immediately there was a great calm? Well, then, may he challenge his hearers, and say, “What is his name, and what is his Son’s name, if thou canst tell?” All this is the secret which the gospel makes known, for “this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”
A further proof that this self-judged, self-abased man is in the presence of God, is, that he received His word into his heart as divine truth, the word which effectually worketh in them that believe. God has spoken, and Agur has heard, and received the word from His mouth; so that he now not only boasts of the purity of the word, and the faithfulness and goodness of God to them that trust Him, but he becomes the guardian of the divine revelation, and is zealous for its preservation without human corruption. This was faith indeed, and faithfulness too, which is always the fruit of faith. He says, “Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Vers. 5, 6.) Precious testimony to a divinely-wrought faith!
And does not self-abasement always accompany great faith? Let us hearken to our Lord’s own words concerning it. A Gentile centurion applies to Him for His healing power to be put forth in a valued servant, who was at home, sick of the palsy, and grievously tormented. Jesus said, “I will come and heal him;” but the centurion’s reply elicited from the Savior one of the most remarkable commendations of the greatness of faith recorded in scripture. Nor can we fail to notice that his unfeigned humility, his self-abasement, was one of its marked features. “The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed. Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Thus we see great humility of mind and self-unworthiness connected with “great faith.” (Matt. 8:5-10.)
Look at another instance. A Syrophoenician woman applies to Jesus about her daughter, who was grievously vexed with a devil. At first she was wrong, because she applied to the Lord to do this for her as “Son of David,” but afterward she learned that, being a Gentile, she was outside the covenanted blessings of Israel, and had no connection with “ the sure mercies of David.” She at length took her place before Him as a dog, an unclean creature, having no claim whatever to His goodness, and, as a cur dog, she waited for a crumb of bread to fall from the Master’s table; thus she, as unworthy as a Gentile dog, would wait for a crumb, that might be cast unto a hungry, needy one, in the lowest place of self-abasement and need. She said, “Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, Ο woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.” (Matt. 15:21-28.) Thus we have another example of great faith being associated with self-abasement. And is it not always the case?
Observe, then, that this God-fearing Agur, this man of faith, learned in the presence of God,, where we believe it can only be really taught—first, to loathe himself, and to own himself to be worse than any man; secondly, to know something of God, not only as Almighty, but of His Son, the One who both descended and ascended; thirdly, he found a divinely-laid foundation for his soul’s confidence in the “word of God,” and unquestionable assurance of safety too, for “He is a shield to them that put their trust in him;” fourthly, he contends for the revelation which God has given in His own word, and for that alone, as the true ground of faith. “Add thou not to his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” What rest this gives the soul!
He now is exercised as to his walk and conduct, both spiritually and temporally. The consciousness of entire dependence on God makes him a man of prayer. He earnestly entreats God to remove far from him vanity and lies, and to give him neither poverty nor riches. As to the first, nothing so hinders spiritual perception and growth as the empty pride and vanity of the natural heart being allowed, and false doctrine—lying statements about the truth, which look something like it, but when tested by holy scripture are found to be not the truth. We are told “no lie is of the truth.” We can well understand this, and see how repugnant to the taste of a meek and lowly Christian must be the puffed up vanity of the fleshly mind, which Satan and flatterers are often seeking to do. Nothing so cripples faith, so hinders our testimony, so retards growth and spiritual edification, as proud, vain, self-confident, self-righteous thoughts! Ο Lord, remove them far from us! And if man’s traditions, the philosophy of rationalists, the infidelity of ritualists, the popery of protestantism, the unreasonable and unscriptural dogmas of others, occupy our minds, instead of the pure simple word of the living God, how can we be happy Christians, or really fruitful branches of the true vine? Well, then, may we cry earnestly to God in these last days and perilous times, “Remove far—yes far—from me vanity and lies.”
But we are not yet in heaven. We have mortal bodies, needing food and raiment, and this our God is far from being unmindful of; and, concerning this, we may profitably ponder the prayer of this God-fearing man—“Give me neither poverty nor riches.” And why? Why pray against being rich? Why not pray rather to be rich? Because he knew something of himself. He has been before God, and in His holy presence has learned to say, “I am more brutish than any man.” Why, then, did he dread riches, and pray against being wealthy? Is it not a good thing for this life? Does not wealth give a man power, influence, usefulness? Ah, but this man is before God. He thinks how it might affect God’s honor. He is afraid that if he were rich he might forget that he was a weak, unworthy man, more brutish than any man. He gives us the reason, and, oh, how clear and pointed it is! “Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord?” He feared, if he had riches, that he might dishonor God, and be lifted up with pride, instead of pursuing that path of unfeigned dependence and lowliness which brings glory to God.
Then, is it well to be poor? Certainly not; he prays, therefore, that poverty might not be his portion; for few things, perhaps, are more distressing to a God-fearing man than to be pinched with poverty. He knows something of his own proclivities; he is taught to have no confidence in the flesh, and he fears, that if he were poor, he might fall into temptation, and defraud, over-reach, or steal, and bring dishonor on the name of his God. We can easily understand this. We may, then, profitably ponder his prayer, “Feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”
Before closing these remarks, another interesting point remains to be noticed. It is this. Having seen what he is himself in God’s presence, having also tasted the sweetness of the word of His grace; and diligently gone forward in the path of doing all to the glory of God, he is now able to see clearly the true condition of the people among whom he dwells. It was so with the prophet Isaiah; for when he found out that he was undone, and a man of unclean lips, he then saw that he dwelt among a people of unclean lips. We see in the case of Job also, that it was after he had so thoroughly judged and abhorred himself, that he saw the true state of his friends, and prayed for them; and we may be sure that no one has a correct estimate of those around who is not right before God as to himself and his ways.
The God-fearing Agur describes four classes of people.
1. “There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.” (Ver. 11.) These are the bad people of the world, those who are disorderly, self-willed, and unnatural in their ways. It is a generation that may be seen in almost every place. They are rude and insolent, and walk on the muddy side of the broad road which leadeth to destruction. Having grown up insubject to their parents, and to despise rule, they have made such progress in this sad course as to defy authority and despise dominion. How different from the obedient Son of God, whose delight it was to do the Father’s will!
2. “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.” (Ver. 12.) These are the good men of the world—the reformed, the moral, the virtuous, and benevolent. They boast of their good intentions, good heart, the extent of their benevolent undertakings, and the prosperity of all their doings; but with all this self-gratulation they know not forgiveness of sins. These walk on the clean side of the broad way which leadeth to destruction. It is a well-known generation. It is the way of Cain, who so ignored the fall of man that he dared to approach God without blood. Such self-made purity is the total denial of Christianity, which recognizes no purity of conscience, no cleansing of sin but by the precious blood of Christ.
3. “There is a generation, Ο how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.” (Ver. 13.) Such clearly are Pharisees, so lofty are their eyes that they esteem themselves righteous, and despise others; so lifted up are their eyelids that they presume to thank God that they are not as other men are, or even as these wicked publicans, who can only cry, God be merciful to me, a sinner. It is a frightful delusion, and yet, alas! a common snare of Satan’s. “Ο how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up.” This is a generation not easily to be mistaken.
4. “There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw-teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.” (Ver. 14.) These are the mockers, scoffers, skeptics, and infidels, who hate God’s people, because they know not God, and despise His truth. They are an increasing generation, and especially to be noted in these last days. “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming, for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation?” (2 Pet. 3:3, 4.) Rationalists and philosophers they may be, but they see no beauty in Christ, they deny the need of redemption, proudly use their tongues to undermine the authority of scripture as a divine revelation; they gnash with their teeth on those who stand up for the Godhead glory of the Son, and His accomplished work of redemption, and hate and persecute the children of God.
It is perfectly clear that when the Holy Spirit works in souls. He shows them that they are sinners—guilty and lost sinners—in the sight of God, and, instead of mending and reforming such, or helping men to do it, He brings them to know that by the blood of Christ alone they can have a purged conscience, and be made fit for God’s presence.
“He never leads a man to say, Thank God I’m made so good; But turns his eye another way, To Jesus and His blood.”