Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man. Sermons
I. THE BEING OF GOD AN UNUTTERABLE MYSTERY. (Ver. 1.) In vain had he sought to explore the unfathomable secret of his essence, by searching to find out the Almighty unto perfection. It was higher than heaven - what could he do? deeper than Hades - what could he know? This was substantially the confession, expressed in different forms, of all the great prophets. Compare the accounts of Isaiah's consecration, Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's. True religion is rooted in this sense of the Divine mystery. All piety is shallow without it. In every conscious feeling, thought, aspiration, we are but travelling on the edge of a great abyss, moving towards an horizon which still recedes. In our deeper moments we are all mystics, and there are times when all talk about God seems babble, and we would fain take refuge in the "sacred silence of the mind." II. THE INTELLIGENCE OF MAN DULL AND INADEQUATE IN RELATION TO DIVINE THINGS. (Vers. 2, 3.) No words are too self-contemptuous to express the sense of the immense gulf which separates our thought from God. Applied to definable objects, our intelligence scents bright and piercing; applied to the Infinite Might and Wisdom and Purity, no better than the vacant gaze of the ox in the pasture. Look into those beautiful brown eyes; there is a depth of pathos in them, but no "speculation," no power to grasp the unity and law of things that print themselves in pictures on the retina. And what are we, though raised above the "creatures that lead a blind life within the brain," but helpless gazers into infinity? Well did Sir Isaac Newton and all the great seers of science realize this feeling. Their consummate knowledge was, viewed on another side, consummate ignorance. They had not thereby attained absolute wisdom, nor "won the knowledge of the Holy." There have been, indeed, modern philosophers who have proposed an "absolute philosophy;" but time has discovered the idleness of their "o'er-vaulting ambition," and made a fable of their folly. III. THE INACCESSIBLE IN NATURE RECOGNIZED. (Ver. 4.) One of the first principles laid down by the great Goethe was - Learn to distinguish between the accessible and the inaccessible in nature to your thought. For want of this, theologians on the one hand, scientists on the other, have rushed into presumption in seeking to wrest the inscrutable secrets of nature from the hand of God. The unknowableness of the first beginnings of things was recognized by the ancient thinker. The height of heaven, the movements of winds and waves, the changes of the earth's surface, - all may be brought under law; but the word "law" conceals the greater mystery - the nature of the Lawgiver himself. God is not identical with law, any more than we are identical with speech. Law is but the partially understood speech of God to our intelligence. Examine all the sublime names which have been given to God in the course of revelation, in the process of religious thought; behind them all ties the unutterable and unthinkable Somewhat. IV. THE SELF-REVELATION OF GOD RECOGNIZED. (Ver. 5.) 1. To say that God is utterly unknowable is as great an error as to say that he is perfectly knowable by the human understanding: Such an admission must cut at the root of religion. On the contrary, religion implies revelation. Because God has spoken to us, we may speak to him; because he has stooped to us, we may rise towards him. In manifold ways - through nature, through inspired men, through the Son, through the conscience - God "has spoken to the world." If this be denied, religion is an entire illusion. 2. The quality of his oral revelation. The writer is thinking of the oral and written Law. Because definite, articulate, it may be spoken of as the Word of God par excellence; but by no means are the indefinable and inarticulate revelations through nature to our spirit excluded. From every sight of beauty and every sound of music in the world we may derive unspoken messages of him "whose nature and whose name is Love." And God's Word is pure. The refined silver of the furnace is a favourite image of this, its quality. From the alloy of duplicity, flattery, hypocrisy, it is free. God deals sincerely with us. And, therefore, it is purifying. We behold the true life of the soul in its mirror. 3. The practical blessing of trust in him. He who speaks to us is to be trusted. And in this trust in One who is eternal and infallible, pure arid true, we have security. The Law or Word which declares his will is like a broad hand stretched above us to command, and, in commanding, to protect, reward, and bless. 4. The duty of strict reverence and loyalty towards his words. (Ver. 6.) Much they leave unsaid, which it is not for us to supply. The general lesson seems to be respect for that element of reserve and mystery which lies behind all that is or may be known. We may "lie" against God by saying more than he has actually said to us by any channel of knowledge. To exceed or exaggerate seems ever a readier temptation than to keep within the modest bounds of positive declaration. And certain penalties await all distortions of the truth of every kind; they work themselves out in the conscience and the course of history. - J.
Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. Agur was probably a man of years and honour, and possibly his two young friends, Ithiel and Ucal, looked up to him more than was meet, and therefore his principal endeavour was to wean them from undue confidence in himself. He passed the gravest censure upon himself, that his hearers might not suffer their faith to stand in the wisdom of men. Did Agur really mean all he said? One mark of a man's true wisdom is his knowledge of his ignorance. The truth of our text relates to one particular line of things. This man was a naturalist. He was an instructed scientist, but he felt that he could not by searching find out God, nor fashion an idea of Him from his own thoughts.I. A SENSE OF INFERIORITY MUST NOT KEEP US BACK FROM FAITH IN GOD. If we have to say what Agur said, let us also trust as Agur trusted. Some say, "We cannot hope to be saved, because we cannot reach the heights of other men." They are discouraged by the piety that some believers have attained. But they see these good people at their best, and they see in them the results of their faith. Some are hindered because they cannot feel such convictions of sins, etc., as other men. But our wisdom is to leave our experience with the Lord, who will appoint us sun or shade, as best will suit our growth. Seek not to copy another man's ups or downs; but wait on God, and put thy trust in Him, even though thou shouldst seem to thyself to be more foolish than any other living man. II. A SENSE OF INFERIORITY MUST NOT KEEP US FROM LEARNING. If you have not the understanding of a man, there is so much more cause that you should go to school to the Holy Spirit, till the eyes of your understanding shall be enlightened, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Vital truth is simple. These things of heavenly learning are revealed to babes. The Holy Ghost is a great teacher. The sense of ignorance is a very good beginning for a learner. The doorstep of the palace of Wisdom is a humble sense of ignorance. III. A SENSE OF INFERIORITY MUST NOT KEEP US BACK FROM SERVING GOD. The Lord loves to use tools that are not rusted with self-conceit. God can use inferior persons for grand purposes. He has often done so. His greatest victories were won by a hammer and a tent-pin, by an ox-goad, by the jawbone of an ass, by a sling and stone, and such like. His greatest prophets at the first tried to excuse themselves on the ground of unfitness. The Lord does not expect of you more than you can do: it is accepted if it be according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not. If you can do but little, make the best of yourself by intensity and by perseverance. Make up by spiritual force what you lack in natural ability. You that cannot do very much, take care never to lose an opportunity. IV. A SENSE OF INFERIORITY MUST NOT HINDER OUR JOY IN THE LORD. If you feel that you are more brutish than anybody else, yet believe in God up to the hilt; believe in Him, and trust Him with all your heart, and then feel all the more gratitude that He should have loved such a worthless one as you. Glorify God by your very weakness. Glory in your infirmity. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) People Agur, Ithiel, Jakeh, Massa, UcalPlaces JerusalemTopics Beast, Brutish, Ignorant, Intelligence, Man's, Power, Reasoning, Stupid, Surely, Truly, Understanding, UnlikeOutline 1. Agur's confession of his faith7. The two points of his prayer 10. The meanest are not to be wronged 11. Four wicked generations 15. Four things insatiable 24. four things exceeding wise 29. Four things stately 32. Wrath is to be prevented Dictionary of Bible Themes Proverbs 29:27 5350 injustice, hated by God Library A Homily for Humble FolksA Sermon (No. 2140) delivered on Lord's Day, April 27th, 1890 by C.H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. "Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man."--Proverbs 30:2. Sometimes it is necessary for a speaker to refer to himself, and he may feel it needful to do so in a way peculiar to the occasion. When Elihu addressed himself to Job and the three wise men, he commended himself to them saying, "I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth … C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs Temporal Advantages. Parable of the Pharisee and Publican. The Tenth Commandment Light for them that Sit in Darkness; Vehicles of Revelation; Scripture, the Church, Tradition. Of the Name of God "Wash You, Make You Clean, Put Away the Evil of Your Doings from Before Mine Eyes; Cease to do Evil," Thoughts Upon Worldly-Riches. Sect. Ii. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners Or, a Brief Relation of the Exceeding Mercy of God in Christ, to his Poor Servant, John Bunyan Further Incidents of the Journey to Jerusalem - the Mission and Return of the Seventy - the Home at Bethany - Martha and Mary A Book for Boys and Girls Or, Temporal Things Spritualized. Thoughts Upon Worldly Riches. Sect. I. Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia. A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification, by Faith in Jesus Christ; Concerning the Scriptures. Proverbs Links Proverbs 30:2 NIVProverbs 30:2 NLT Proverbs 30:2 ESV Proverbs 30:2 NASB Proverbs 30:2 KJV Proverbs 30:2 Bible Apps Proverbs 30:2 Parallel Proverbs 30:2 Biblia Paralela Proverbs 30:2 Chinese Bible Proverbs 30:2 French Bible Proverbs 30:2 German Bible Proverbs 30:2 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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