Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
Two prayers, followed by single sentences, (Proverbs 30:10, etc.) One prayer concerns the soul, the other the body.
Deny me them not before I die - when I shall exchange prayer for praise. Fervent desire is implied.
Verse 8. Remove far from me vanity and lies - a boon for the soul. "Vanity" - all self-deceit. "Lies" - all deceiving of others, including all sin. Vanity is all that is not what it appears; the world's vain show, gain, pleasure, idols, heresies (Psalms 119:37, note).
Give me neither poverty nor riches - a boon for the body.
Feed me with food convenient for me - Hebrew, with food of my ration, or, allowance: with food sufficient for my maintenance. The same as "our daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer х ho (G3588) artos (G740) heemoon (G2257) ho (G3588) epiousios (G1967); Matthew 6:11]. Like the manna gathered, 'a certain rate every day'-Hebrew, 'the portion of a day in his day' (Exodus 16:4; cf. 2 Kings 25:30; Nehemiah 12:47; Luke 12:42; 1 Timothy 6:8).
Verse 9. Lest I be full, and (i:e., lest when I be full, I) deny (thee), and say, Who is the Lord? - what need have I to pray? I have ample sufficiency in my wealth. What have I to say to the Lord? (Job 21:15; Job 22:17-18; cf. Israel's case, Deuteronomy 32:15; cf. Isaiah 59:13.) When filled with the Lord's gifts, we are most apt to ignore the Giver: the result of which is, He at last takes back His gifts from them who withhold from Him the glory of them (Hosea 2:5-9). We learn hence:
(1) How depraved is man's nature, seeing that he so abuses God's gifts;
(2) The cause why God often denies riches to the godly;
(3) The folly of men in so keenly pursuing what is so dangerous to them (Mede).
Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God (in vain) - literally, seize on the name of my God, either by perjury or irreverent speaking, in complaint of God and His providence (Exodus 20:7). Poverty tempts to unlawful means of supplying one's needs. Then theft is concealed by perjury, to which there was the greater temptation among the Jews, as the thief was put on his oath as to whether he was guilty or not (Exodus 22:8-11; Leviticus 6:2). Hence, theft and perjury are often conjoined (Zechariah 5:3-4). Regard to our spiritual and eternal interests ought to be the regulator of our desires as to temporal things. The prayer "Lead us not into temptation" teaches us to avoid not only sins, but incentives to sin.