Today
I wanna talk about Agur, the son of Jakeh, who gave us psalm 30. It's
one of my favorite psalms in the Bible – well, pretty much
everything in that book is close to my heart, aside from clerical
lists and other such. I just want to share with you, how I read psalm
30, being a Christian poet, and what that means to me. So Psalm 30 is
a really excellent place to start with… according
to got questions website1
the name “Agur” means “collector” which has led many scholars
to believe, that he is the alter ego of King Solomon, on who's reign
this Agur operated, but that would make the verses 8 and 9 there Agur
asks God to take deceit out of him and spare him from riches and
poverty. If Agur would have been the alter ego of King Solomon, it
would have imposed many cynical and ironical questions, why not write
under your own name? I mean nobody questioned the wisdom of King
Solomon. It is far more plausible to me, which is my own assumption,
that we are talking about a scholar in the temple or court of King
Solomon, who either was addressing his sons or pupils – and since
that letter or song was so great, that it was memorized among all the
other psalms in the Torah, first and now in the bible. Being
comprised of 33 verses, it's not a very long psalm nor a very short
one… verses 1 – 3 are:
“The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal: Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And do not have the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom
Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.”
As
you would expect from a holy poem, at first the writer humbles
himself, because he is about to talk of Holy things and being a
profane man, he has to do so, lest to appear too boastful and
angering either the clerics or common people. Even the King would not
be pleased to hear about casual talk in here. So Agur, not being of
proper origin, as you would expect, if you wanted to be a priest or
anything in the temple or even in the court of the King – that
means, his rank must have been pretty low. How else could he claim,
that he hasn't learned wisdom nor knowledge, what are essential to
scholarship in these. Scholars didn't always carry their own bags so
to speak, so we could be talking about a black-worker, who had his
attendance in the court or in the Temple, could even read and write,
but still wasn't included in the official names lists of the proper
families, who could service God as such. So thus his tremble to dare
to write a poem, while The King is still alive – King Solomon the
Wise!! I myself would have shit my pants in the glimpse of such
thought and audacity. So that I can totally relate to it, why you
would have to spit your face full in the first three verses. He was
about to speak of God and some things he has understood – and he is
neither a priest nor the King nor anybody who should be dealing with
such things! Doesn't that make him our contemporary, because that's
precisely
what many people on youtube or fb or on they blog are doing – even
I now… We are talking about Holy things, while being profane
people… and that's why I like Agur from the very beginning of my
Bible school times. Let us proceed with verses 4-6:
“Who
has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know? Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know? Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.”
It's
a very remarkable passage, because in here Agur asks dangerous
questions and question number one is “Who has ascended and
descended into Heaven?” As Christians we know, that the right
answer is Lord Jesus Christ and in some other context it would be
offensive – but we are talking about the contemporary of King
Solomon, and he didn't own the King James version of the Bible,
because it was not written yet, as we know it!! And still – if this
Agur is not a crypto-prophet then doesn't that sound like John 3:13 –
“No
one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that
is,
the Son of Man who is in heaven!”
How
could the contemporary of King Solomon ask such a question? It must
have been filling him up like wine fills a drunkard – because why
would anybody else, but the King dare to inquire about THAT! If he is
no prophet, then how dare he askew like a little child things, what
would make scholars blush, for their pride and stature. But if we
want to know God, that's the kind of questions, we should ask
ourselves and our Pastors. The
next question is not so dangerous, because its poetic – “Who has
gathered the wind in His fists?” – it's more like a rhetoric
answer to question one, just as question three and four - “Who has
bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of
the earth?” it's as beautiful as Luke 14:15 then a young man stands
up at the feast there Lord Jesus Christ was also invited and recants:
“Blessed is
he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” While people didn't
understood the motives of Agur starting his song like that – it was
assumed that it must talk about God and it is so nice indeed - “but”
just as in Luke 14:15 what harrows in the killer punch-line, happens
in here too, for question five reads: “What is His name and what is
His Sons name?” How on earth knew Agur to askew that, then this
kind of theology didn't even exist – worse, it was regarded as
heresy to talk about children of God, for there was only one God, and
any person who dared to speak more, was stoned to death. And yet,
even if you'd assume it was again rhetoric, it would still be an
impossible thing to regard about God in such anthropomorphism! Israel
thought the hardest against Baal and Ashera the Star-Gods who played
little big family. So it was no mere joke to hint that kind of thing
– especially in such a song. No wonder he didn't write any more,
than one psalm, because already that is too much!! What follows is
like a whiplash – that we should not add to the words of God, so we
wouldn't be in contempt – but what kind of a man can say that!! Who
is this Agur, son of Jakeh to dare that?? At least he got some huge
and hairy balls of the size of a Mammoth or something …
“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.”
And say, “Who is the LORD?”
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God.”
verses
7-9 sound more like poetry – because being written to Ithiel and
Ucal, you'd expect that Agur wants something from them – not sure I
would write a song to my kids or pupils to make them realize
something, especially if it starts like that. It would bring tears to
their eyes, like an adult forgetting the auto-spellchecker on, and
writing something sexual, then he was merely referring to the grocery
list. The Deprive me not, before I die, may impose that Agur had some
kind of right to respect from Ithiel and Ucal, so he couldn't be a
pushover dad or somebody – like that is not obvious from the choice
of words… Still that addressing sounds off – while being written
to two persons, it sounds like, this Agur is rather talking to God,
and the reader is in an awkward situation. What should Ithiel and
Ucal, or even we, who read it in our time do about it? How do you
remove Falsehood and Lies
from somebody? Just as in the time of King Solomon, it is the same
today, that people lie – like constantly! People have lies about
everything – some are called “political correctness” or are
just political statements, various doctrines and agendas; statistics;
news etc. One mans truth is another mans lie! And here Agur asks God
to remove all of it from him, before he dies!! Dost he want to live
on Jupiter or on Mars?! How
do you stop people being Fake?? And if that is not enough – “Give
me neither riches nor poverty!” Who writes that?? How do you even
say that in a conversation? Hi! How are you! What you do for living?
I want neither riches nor poverty! – How do you live then? The
world consist of two types of people – those, who want to be
noticed as being “rich” and those, who can't follow it; and some
of them are proud of being “poor”. Some of that “poor”
segment becomes criminals or moves to politics and steals through
that. The most atrocious crimes have been done under the umbrella of
“Christianity” and “Communism” for the teachings of Lord
Jesus Christ or any holy-man, who speaks of these things, are easy to
manipulate, if you have no intention of following them. You only have
to be fake-a-lot, and let somebody else do it, while having a pious
face on! And
Agur dost not want any share of that world, nor wish it to Ithiel and
Ucal. How do you wish that to anybody? One
way how you come in contact with fakeness,
is lying about your identity2
The
same link had various insultive names for fake people, like
“Hypocrite;
coconut; fraud; poser; pretender; phony; wannabe; lip server; banana;
pharisee; chardonnay socialist” And
still, there are so many people, who are that way – so how do you
move against it? How do you live in a world there Robin Hood is a
hero? Or better yet – Samson! For
in regards to pious religion, Samson would have not been the hallmark
of Christianity today – Sunday and Bible-schools like to talk about
him, but not, that people would live like him! Because he did a lot
of things what we regard as being not very Christian… By very
definition Samson was very rich in power and faith – Agur only
wants his portion of everything not more or less. And that makes him
so troublesome. What to do with a guy, who keeps himself on the
straight and narrow – dost not want to be the leader and not to be
the follower? Let's move on – verses 10-12:
“Do not malign3 a servant to his master,
Lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.
By
itself it's a neat thing to ask you pupils or sons – not to slander
a servant to his master, “but” how about, if you are really
wanting to get a job application or somebodies attention? The Yandere
anime's spin on this truth, that there is mostly a girl who is
secretly in love with her senpai
and she wont shy away from anything to gain that attention. Would you
remain truthful if it cost you dearly? I mean the reasoning - “Lest
he curse you and you be found guilty!” is
so superfluous that we don't know what to do with it. How many people
even believe in curses as a matter of fact and not just a mere sign
of frustration? It is no longer the pinnacle of reasoning in finding
a job – unless you're living in the middle-east or orient etc.
Normally, if you hear that somebody cursed someone else, it wont make
you raise an eyebrow ore become alarmed, compared to the statement,
that there was a mugging or raping incident not far away your
street-corner. Somehow has the supernatural world, what includes God
and curses; spiritual beings and other such things been kicked out of
everyday life, and corresponds like Santa-Clause or the leprechauns.
They have a certain time and event, to pop out, to then fade away
again, then that time expires… And the notion about an entire
generation who dost not respect their parents is nothing new today
also, nor that such people normally think of themselves betters… So
in that regard, it doesn't say much to be even worthy of attention,
and still it's in the Bible… Why? Let's move on to verses 13 –
15a to see if they have mercy on us:
“There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up.
There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
And whose fangs are like knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth,
And the needy from among men.
The leech has two daughters—
Give and Give!”
Just
like verse 12 said, in here also the current world is scolded. The
every day life of contemporary King Solomon was not a single way
different from today. They didn't have internet and such, but inside
they there the same people… The main problem, as depicted by Agur –
is Pride!! The Victories of King Solomon have made the people haughty
and proud and they don't respect the old ways anymore. They don't
want to be Israel anymore, for they came out of Egypt and now they
want to Live as the neighbors do! Why deny all of that, if they have
King Solomon, who got even the attention of the Queen of Sheba, who
brought him gold, just to listen to his wisdom? How can there be poor
and needy people amongst ourselves, if we are proud and arrogant and
want to exalt ourselves to the rest of the world that our way is
right. It's not a mistake, that I speak of both – that people
didn't want to follow the old ways, and that they wanted to follow
the old ways. The bible teachings consist of two columns. What God
wants us to do to Him and what God wants us to do to our neighbor –
who mostly is poor and needy, and from the outside. Someone, who
cannot become a faithful follower of God, according to Jewish
tradition or according to Christendom. While it is very easy to
follow, what God demands to do unto Him, especially, if you're rich –
but if you're not. If you don't have a nice appearance (toothless and
sick cannot enter the temple); if you aren't wise; if you aren't
wealthy; if you aren't crafty – what is there to offer from you
towards God – or to the temple at first hand? So just as today,
some people regard the poor and needy as guilty of their own demise,
because they either did too little or nothing or the wrong things.
Because they did it right and are successful! How do you argue with
that. Success is said to be an attitude… how do you love thy
neighbor as yourself in it? Won't it be a little bit expensive?
Loving
God is already costly enough – why can't someone else do it!! And
the beginning of verse 15 only underlines it. But it's also a sword
of Damocles – while the rich like to think that the poor always
want more, the rich also want more and aspire farther in this world.
The Wild Wild West got tamed because of that drive. People always
want more. But, while that drive is glorified on the rich, for being
the engine what makes capitalism work or the world as we know it
today – it was the same in contemporary King Solomon time. It is
not as well regarded, if the beggars are poor and needy; without jobs
and perspective. Nobody wants to waste their time on them, because
there is no expectation of honor and profit from it… Even the
welfare system has its limits, and the signs show, that it's rather
decreasing than increasing. Even France has to change it's course, if
he doesn't want to loose all his rich people to other lands if he
keeps his 4 work-days politics and other oddities what are in
contrast with the bible and the whole world not to mention reason.
You cannot earn anything, if you allowed to officially work only 4
days per week. It makes you too expensive as a work-force, and the
cheaper the work-force the better your chances in marketing. It's not
by accident, that most big-shot companies go east and not west. The
workers of the east are used to follow orders; they are humble and
they need little to live, while the survival of the entire human
populus might be at risk in the near future. Also Mat
5:5“Blessed are the meek, for their will inherit the earth” You
cannot live, if you got no job – or even if you are begging, a lot
of people around you must have a job and a positive attitude towards
you, or you wont survive. How do you get that positive attitude if
your work-force is too expensive? Mostly that kind of people are
highly scoffed about, then they loose their jobs, because previously
they looked mostly down on the rest of the people. So it's a dead
circle – the rich don't like the poor, and the poor don't like the
rich; even if that changes, your title precedes you and only very few
times people acknowledge your transcend from poverty to richness
and vise versa. Even this psalm highlights that tension in following
verses. 15b-17:
The
grave,
The barren womb,
The earth that is not satisfied with water—
And the fire never says, “Enough!”
The barren womb,
The earth that is not satisfied with water—
And the fire never says, “Enough!”
The eye that mocks his father,
And scorns obedience to his mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young eagles will eat it.”
To
have a barren womb, was a shameful thing for a woman – the man gave
you his seed, and you didn't produce offspring with it! Such women
there the bankrupt of society. And to put it next to “The grave”;
“earth plagued with drought” and “wildfire, gives no room for
misunderstanding. The punishment, that Agur wishes upon those, who
mock their parents, is a curse in itself. So is Agur now
contradicting with verse 10 for we all are servants of God – and
for the same reason have many prophets put down they lives for the
Word of God!! And at the same time he is speaking the truth… You
cannot leave somebody without a curse
if that person is against your way of life in an open and hostile
way. You have to make a statement out of it, to protect your way of
life – and then comes the turning the other cheek. The contrast!!
How do you protect your way, if you cannot actively fight for it.
Surely there was no Jesus at the time of King Solomon – and still
it says something about Christianity also… I mean officially there
was no Jesus, for the prophesies there not all said and done. Lord
Jesus Christ is officially only in a short period of time, while
being omnipotent and transcendent spiritually without the
interference of history and such like. If you understand that the
current generation dost not respect the older generation, the raven
verse becomes understandable as a scary story what elders say to
youths so they would follow the thin red line. But why would they
listen, then they are haughty and proud. Wouldn't it become an
oxymoron to advise people, who cannot follow such lead, to move
against their common instincts? And yet it does say that… Verses 18
– 20:
“There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin.
This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wickedness.”.”
This
set of fours is much more milder than the last, because it becomes so
romantic… to be contrasted with the wickedness of an adulterous
woman. This contrast is very important, because the sin of adultery
is very vaguely distributed, due to the fact, that men cannot become
pregnant and thus you cannot verify their adultery so easily as the
woman's adultery. We don't know how a man gets to like a woman, but
we know how to punish the woman caught on adultery! And yet it is
common to both man and woman to deny knowledge about their sin to
make the punishment lighter. How was it, then Adam and Eve sinned?
“It's not my fault – the wife, YOU gave ME – SHE gave Me –
then I ate it!!” and “It's not my fault – the snake (YOU
created) tricked ME – and then I gave MY husband!” It somehow
becomes less of a mistake, if we can point the finger to someone or
something else. These days there are plenty of people, who are
“criminally insane” and can't be trialed for anything… They
just elude any kind of responsibility. You ought to have some kind of
respect towards the law in order to be able to live according to it.
And
still – some are able to elude more, if they don't get pregnant. In
that regard, verse 20 strikes more the men, for they don't get
pregnant and somehow assume, that they have no problem with the
unwanted infant or soon-to-be child. It could have been from someone
else also… For to God, we all should be as submissive as a woman to
a Husband – are the religious that? And the Psalmist contrasts with
his contemporaries and today again… Verses 21 – 23:
“For three things the earth is perturbed,
Yes, for four it cannot bear up:
For a servant when he reigns,
A fool when he is filled with food,
The
fours of scorn. A servant or slave cannot rule; a foolish man cannot
be filled with food – with that many people want to agree with
today, because success is an attitude, you are your own luck-smith
(Estonian proverb) A woman with bad reputation cannot marry; or the
maid of someone become more dominant in household than your previous
Madonna, who was the previous wife of a wealthy Lord. I mean, we
could all agree on that, if there wasn't verse 10 and the teachings
of Lord Jesus Christ what advise to love even our adversaries.
Doesn't it say quite clearly how you should be, to gain the favor of
Agur, so you would not deprive him? How do you follow all this,
without becoming haughty and proud against those, who are against
such way of life? All is wonderful, as long you live in a community,
there all follow that, but let only one person be not
so perfect – and what if that not so perfect person is YOU who runs
from God like Jacob from his brother? Doesn't that cause you
anxiety4?
You are fulfilling a role, but you're not fulfilling that role.
You're righteous and yet you're sinful!! How to be happy in the midst
of all that? What kind of drive is behind Agur to write such things
to his pupils or sons? How would you feel to have gotten such a
letter or song from your dad or senpai? How to take that seriously
and not too seriously next to hysterical? Let us move on to verses 24
– 28:
The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
The rock badgers are a feeble folk,
Yet they make their homes in the crags;
The locusts have no king,
Yet they all advance in ranks;
The
spider skillfully grasps with its hands,
And it is in kings’ palaces.”
And it is in kings’ palaces.”
This
set of fours speaks of ants; rock badgers; locusts and spiders. Of
creatures, we normally don't want to be related with. Who wants to be
as insignificant as an antling even if he can lift so much heavier
obstacles than his own size and weight? Agur even calls them “not
strong” because in his mind their so insignificant. Still what they
cannot do as one, they do in groups and that is the common line with
all these, except for the spider, who tends to go solo mostly. And
the locusts have a King – it's the hive mind, but not in the terms
of humanity. All these examples by default show obedience of the
kind, what has been deprived of reason and wits, or more clearly of
ambition – because it follows instinct! In a way religious people
should also have this instinct of faith, that leads them into the
straight and narrow. And how do you live by that in a world, there
egotism and self-esteem are so important? You
win a high-score in your favorite computer game, and feel a little
bit guilty, because now you're “a first” and not “a last” or
“average”! How do you suffer the richness of your own
personality, if you have to always regard the significance in others
who might be more needy and poorer than you, at the cost of yourself?
Luke 14:26 speaks of hating your mother; father; sons and wife –
even himself – to be the servant of Jesus Christ! How does that add
up to verses 10-17 of this Psalm? How do you love and hate at the
same time? That is here the question. Somehow must the religious
person be a wielder of stereoscopic vision. Able to multitask
between two realities: sacred and profane and in two ways: loving
your people like yourself, while hating those very people and
yourself for the sake of following God!! How do you even attempt
that?
Verses
29 – 33:
If
you have been foolish in exalting yourself,
Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.
Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.
For
as
the churning of milk produces butter,
And wringing the nose produces blood,
So the forcing of wrath produces strife.”
And wringing the nose produces blood,
So the forcing of wrath produces strife.”
This
four should be called the majestic or the boastful four – all
animals as contrast to the previous four, are Kingly animals. The
reasons why as pointed out in note 5 the scholars argue whether
grayhound or rooster is quite simple – they are both having a posh
and proud appearance – one being a race-dog mainly and the other,
well what's your manhood called for and why! So
the more you strife the more opposition you'll get. Very reassuring –
thank you senpai or dad – would have been the say of Ithiel and
Ucal. What you do with all that?? How does that encourage you, then
you have been foolish in exalting yourself? If your plans came up not
only with nothing but with evil – what will you do then? Isn't that
a VERY depressive Psalm to behold? What to do with it now? Who
doesn't want to be the King with his loyal troops? And yet you shall
not be haughty and proud!! How to fight our inner demons, if we
cannot even touch them, because the scripture seems to be a fiendish
plot against us6?
Somehow we should make our weaknesses into our strengths. To find our
drive while not complimenting us for it, even if we accept credit
from others – it should be treated, like it didn't happen to me.
You respect and you don't respect; you hate and you don't hate; you
love and you don't love!! Because if you go in linear motion, you get
stuck – the world will always change in a way as said in a parable
of police work: “We build a bigger wall, they build a bigger
ladder!” People always want to get past the law or rulebook, to
bend reality, as in the Matrix – to free their will and mind! And
some of it is positive, the other part of it is not…
So
why is this Psalm my favorite in the Bible? Because I derived my
nickname “Whiteraven” from it! Because it brings together two
parts or religion as mentioned before – Love your neighbor and love
God! Although
with obstructionist language… You
cannot do that, then you're biased towards yourself and want to turn
a blind eye to others and self, so they would follow suit. Because
then the divine teachings would get into contempt, and soon you would
find no time for the “outsiders”, in order to remain pious
according to the law. Irony of any obedience, there the revolution
starts to eat his own children. And
so many times has it happened in Jewish or Christian history, true
faith has been trampled under feet for outside legalism and purity of
thought; gesture and culture, then all of it started from a time, we
didn't have any civilisation nor culture – faith created all that
and faith can also destroy all that… It came from nothing and will
also turn back to nothing! What remains, is that we should love our
neighbor as ourselves and God with everything we got – that's what
this Psalm is all about!! How to remain humble, even if King Solomon
is over you and wonderful things are happening to and through! Amen!
1https://www.gotquestions.org/Agur-Proverbs.html
2https://youtu.be/vSjlCJaEwZE
3Malign
– to slander
5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhound
In
other translations grayhound is replaced by rooster or cock
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