Remember!: Deuteronomy 7-9 (5)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 85.1-3
LORD, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin.
Selah
You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.

Psalm 85.1-3
(Lyons: O Worship the King)
O Lord, You Your favor showed to Your land;
Your people You saved by Your mighty hand.
Their sins You forgave, all Your wrath You withdrew;
You turned back the anger which to them was due.

Today’s Text: Read Deuteronomy 9.1-11

Preparation
1. What were the people of Israel not to fear?

2. What were they to guard against?

Meditation
Solomon wrote, perhaps while reflecting on our passage for today: “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORDshall be safe” (Prov. 29.25). Soon the people of Israel would cross the Jordan River and begin “to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself” (v. 1). They would encounter peoples fearsome in aspect, but who were not to be feared, because God would be with His people (vv. 2, 3). No people, no matter how fierce or great or well-armed, and no matter how great and strong their cities, would be able to stand against God and His people (v. 3). So Israel should not fear such people; they should fear God, lest they provoke Him to anger against them (vv. 7, 8). The fear of man is a snare; the fear of God is the path to blessing.

Further, the people must guard against thinking that they deserved the land of promise, and that God drove the nations out because the people of Israel were so righteous (v. 4). They were not (vv. 5, 6). But God had promised this land to their forefathers (v. 5), and the people who now lived there were irredeemably wicked (v. 5). God would drive them out to fulfill and vindicate His Word.

Thus the people would see God’s wrath against wickedness. They should also remember how their parents, by their wickedness, had provoked God to wrath throughout all the time of their wandering in the wilderness (v. 7). This new generation must remember the wrath of God and fear Him accordingly. In His grace, and despite their wickedness, God had given them His Law (vv. 8-11). The people should embrace what God had freely given them by grace; and they should turn from trusting in themselves or in any way considering themselves to be worthy of the gifts of God.

If we do what God calls us to do, knowing that He loves us and is with us, we need fear nothing or no one. Fear God; delight in Him and His Word; and obey Him eagerly. That’s the way to blessing.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Perhaps if people counted the cost of following Jesus, we would have a vibrant Church full of grace, wisdom, obedience, and truth. True commitment would be evident if, when we share the plan of salvation, it included more of the frankness and reality of these preparatory verses: You will face enemies far greater than yourself, and situations difficult and “fortified to heaven”. Those you will encounter are giants, and seriously, who can compete with them? Plus, you’re not being offered this amazing gift because you are so sweet; in fact, you are downright stiff-necked and always have been! Well OK, sign me up. Instead, we offer the “just check here and everything will be good” witness. Our Christian walk is serious business. We need to know it and tell others the same. And the Good News is this (the same Good News that Moses shared), “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast…created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (Eph. 2.8, 9). But do count the cost.

Reflection
1. How does the fear of man keep us from fulfilling our witness for Christ? How can we overcome that fear?

2. How can fearing God help us to resist the temptation to fear men?

3. How does the fact that we are entirely undeserving of salvation magnify the nature of God’s grace? How should we respond to that grace?

Sure it is that God did not act otherwise than He had determined; but Moses goes no deeper than the sentence that was revealed to him; just as we must assuredly conclude that destruction is prepared for us when we transgress; and that God's anger is appeased when we fly to His mercy in true faith, and with sincere affections. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Deuteronomy 9.7

Lord, take away from me every fear but the fear of You, so that I will…

Closing Prayer: Psalm 85.4-13
Pray for revival for yourself and for all God’s people, that the Lord may turn away His wrath from us, restore us to our proper path and calling, and lead us more fully into His blessings.

Psalm 85.4-13
(Lyons: O Worship the King)
Restore us, O God, renew us in peace,
and cause all Your wrath against us to cease.
Will You evermore all Your wrath to us show?
Revive us that we may Your joy again know.

Lord, show us Your love; restore us, we pray!
And help us to hear the words that You say.
Speak peace to Your people; in truth let us stand.
We fear You; let glory and grace fill our land.

In Jesus God’s grace and truth are combined;
both goodness and peace in Him do we find.
Truth springs from the earth as He walks in our midst,
and righteousness flows from the heav’ns as a gift.

The Lord by His grace will give what is good;
our land will produce abundance of food.
And righteousness will go before the Lord’s face,
and make of His footsteps a way in this place.

T. M. and Susie Moore

Listen to our summary of last week’s study in Deuteronomy by clicking here. You can download all the studies in the series by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Ancient Christian Commentary Series III, Joseph T. Lienhard, S. J. ed. in collaboration with Ronnie J. Rombs, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001). All quotations from John Calvin from John Calvin, Commentaries on The Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Order of A Harmony, Rev. Charles William Bingham M. A., tr. and ed. (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1863. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).