Proverbs 30:8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: It is a matter of experience that great poverty makes many take unjust and unwarrantable methods of procuring relief. 1. Ignorance is one reason why poverty becomes a temptation to fraud. 2. To this fraud the poor are introduced insensibly, and led on by degrees. 3. In time it destroys the sense of shame. Let me put you in mind — (1) What reason many have to be thankful to the God of life, who has given them their daily provision, in fulness and sufficiency. A humble, thankful disposition is their duty. (2) If poverty is a temptation, it ought to be an argument to all to avoid it, or seek deliverance from it by lawful means. (3) If you are poor, pray God to preserve you from fraud and disingenuity of every kind. You should not only study to preserve yourselves from sin, but from all such circumstances of temptation as are dangerous to human constancy. How necessary it is that you should look for the Divine assistance and direction, to avoid the temptations of every state of life. What an inseparable connection there is between true religion and your employments and state in this present world. Whether you be rich or poor, remember an approaching eternity. (John Witherspoon, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: |
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