Danny Fourie

‘… hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags.’ Proverbs 30:26

It is not at all to say that what is bigger is more meaningful than that which is small and that what is small would have less value than that which is big. The opposite is often true.

Agur names four small animals, namely ants, hyraxes, grasshoppers and geckos (verses 24-28). According to Agur they have a secret that he wants to tell us about.

The hyraxes are creatures of little power. In their wisdom, they built their hideouts on cliffs and in crags. There they are protected against predators and raptors.

Hyraxes are not guilty of ostrich politics by thinking that they are strong while they are really vulnerable. They are realistic, acknowledge their weakness and keep it in mind.

It is also in our interest that we look at our own weaknesses. As individuals we do not want to be weak. We strive for power. That is the reason why we should observe the small animals. We are foolish to think that we are powerful. We are people who sinned against God and are powerless to do good. Powerless against the onslaught of the evil powers.

What do the hyraxes do? They regularly hide in their hideouts between the rocks and crags. Then they are safe.

The question is where do we find a hideout against the sin and the powers of evil? Where else are we safe than with the Lord our God? It is notable how many times the Lord is compared to a rock. In his grace, He wants to be a rock and a crag where we can hide.

The secret of a believer is the secret of the hyrax. In ourselves weak, but strong in God, the Rock. Paul knew this secret. Earlier he was strong in his own eyes, but when the Lord struck him down, he became powerless. After that Christ became his life’s strength and Paul’s advice for life is: ‘For when I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Corinthians 12:10). In this way he could be in prison later, not as someone who was defeated, but as a conqueror.

Prayer: Lord, be our hideout, so that when the worries of life come through illness, grief, rejection and eventually death, then you are our Rock on which we can stand. Amen.