Scripture
5 Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
7 Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 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.
15 Three things are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough”:
16 Sheol, the barren womb,
the land never satisfied with water,
and the fire that never says, “Enough.”
Observation
The author wants to be completely and fully satisfied in the knowledge and truth of God.
The author says he wants two things of God before he dies.
Interestingly, the two things he wants of God are, in fact, things he wants removed from himself.
Ultimately, the 2 things the author wants are: Truth & Contentment.
And both are from God, not himself.
He wants removed from himself “falsehood” and “riches & poverty”.
Why? Because both would be a distraction from God, Himself.
There are dangers of both extremes of having too much or not enough.
The person with too much will be satisfied in his stuff and feel no need for God.
He will say “who is God”?
The person with not enough, is willing to break the word of God and act against His truth.
He will be so discontent by his lacking that he will be tempted to steal to satisfy his felt need.
The author shows the wisdom of the knowledge of God is beyond anything stuff or materialism can provide.
Application
I can recall a significant portion of life I felt like the priority was a “happiness quest”.
Life was about being “happy”!
Whatever that meant for that day or year or stage of life … do what would make me “happy”!
Ultimately, I came to see life not as a happiness quest, but a truth quest.
Happiness was always changing and never fully satisfying.
What is ultimately true became my goal and objective.
Happiness quest became Truth quest.
And I found ultimate truth in who God is and his word.
And what’s more is … it became more than mere knowledge of the facts of truth …
It was indeed truly satisfying!
The truth quest that ended in the word of god ultimately satisfied my happiness quest as well.
The author gives a very practical thing to do in order to realize this:
Say “ENOUGH”! … “Enough” … “Enough”!
The 2 things the author wanted … Truth & Contentment … were given in God, Himself, rather than me trying to create my own “happiness”.
Prayer
Thanks you, God, for your Truth
Help me see that contentment and truth are in and from you
Help Holy Spirit show this to others, as well
In a world of such discontentment,
Help me be and show peace
In Jesus name,
Amen