Proverbs 30:1-4 - Homiletics

The weary search for God

If we read Proverbs 30:1 thus: "Words of Agur the son of the Princess of Masse. The man's saying, I have wearied myself about God, wearied myself about God—then did I withdraw!" we are led to the contemplation of one who has grown tired and despairing in a hopeless search for God.

I. IT IS NATURAL FOR MAN TO SEEK GOD . Agur appears to have lived far away from the borders of the favoured land of Israel. If he was a Jew, he was one in exile, separated from the home of his people. If he was an Ishmaelite, he was even outside the covenant of Israel, and in that case we have the striking picture of an Arab of antiquity anticipating Mahomet in breaking from the idolatry of his fathers. Like Balsam, like Job, this resident in a heathen land looks up to the true God. St. Paul spoke to the Athenians of those who could "seek God, if haply they might feel after him, and find him" ( Acts 17:27 ); and St. Peter could acknowledge God's acceptance of all who look to him truly, no matter what race they might belong to ( Acts 10:35 ). The natural search of the soul for God springs from certain great fundamental facts, viz.:

1 . God is the Father of all men.

2 . All men need God.

3 . All men are separated from God by sin, and therefore must feel naturally at a distance.

The world needs God. But the world has lost God. Hence the natural search for God.

II. THE NATURAL SEARCH FOR GOD RESULTS IN WEARINESS . This is not the weariness of protracted thinking, the reaction from high mental tension. It is worse than that; it is the weariness of a long and apparently fruitless search. Man cannot by searching find out God. God does not appear to respond to the inquiry of the seeking mind. Even to the wisest of the Greeks he was "an Unknown God" ( Acts 17:23 ). For God is not visible to the natural reason, nor is he ever seen excepting when he reveals himself. Now, there is no weariness like that of a long and hopeless search. The sickness of despair then begins to tire the soul. Such weariness drives men at last to abandon the vain pursuit. Agur said, "Then did I withdraw!" He gave up the inquiry. This is the refuge of agnosticism.

III. THE GREATNESS OF GOD 'S WORKS MAKES THE SEARCH FOR HIM A WEARINESS . How vast is his created universe! No man can reach up to the starry altitudes of heaven, or dive into the deep mysteries of antiquity, to find the scope and range of the Divine activity. The tremendous energy of nature overwhelms us. Science can investigate its laws, and in a measure make use of its forces; but they come out of a terrible darkness, and they transcend the control of so feeble a creature as man. Agur did not simply distress himself with his own fruitless thinking. He knew something of the history of philosophy, and yet he had not been able to find one inquirer who had solved the terrible enigma over which his own heart was breaking.

IV. THE SEARCH FOR GOD Is SATISFIED IN THE REVELATION OF CHRIST . St. Paul said to the Athenians, "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you" ( Acts 17:23 ). This is not an authoritative declaration of a dogma of Divinity.

1 . The revelation of Christ is such that we can see it and understand it for ourselves. We can see that God is in Christ by observing the stamp of the Divine on his countenance—the signs of God in his life and work. Then in knowing Christ we know God ( John 14:9 ).

2 . Moreover, this revelation of God in Christ flashes a light on the huge mystery of the universe, and helps us to find God in nature.

3 . The reconciliation between man and God, effected by the cross of Christ, removes the dark barrier of sin, which is the greatest hindrance to the soul in its search for God, and brings us into the presence of God, where we can behold "the beatific vision."