Remember!: Deuteronomy 7-9 (6)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 105.1-7
Oh, give thanks to the LORD!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!
Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
O seed of Abraham His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
He is the LORD our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.

Psalm 105.1-7
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
Give thanks unto the Lord Most High; call on His Name, before Him cry!
Make known His deeds in every land; sing praise for all the works of His hand.

Glory in God, rejoice in heart, all you who seek His holy part.
Him and His strength and Presence seek; His works proclaim, His judgments speak.

You holy children of Abraham, You chosen ones of Jacob, stand!
He is our Lord, of wondrous worth; His judgments are in all the earth.

Today’s Text: Deuteronomy 9.12-29

Preparation
1. What episode in Israel’s history did Moses recall here?

2. Of what was Moses afraid? Why?

Meditation
Again, Moses points back to the disobedience of the previous generation of the people of God. They could not wait on Him, while Moses was with Him on the mountain, but instead, turned and made an idol to worship (vv. 12-16). Moses’ act of dashing the tablets of the commandments dramatized how thoroughly sinful their actions were (v. 17).

But Moses didn’t give up on them. Fearful lest God should destroy them (v. 19), Moses interceded for the people, that God would have mercy on them. God listened to him (v. 19), and Moses destroyed the idol the people had made.

But that was not the end of the disobedience of that generation. Again and again they “provoked the LORD to wrath” (vv. 22, 23). The parents of those to whom Moses had just given the Law (Deut. 5) were a rebellious generation, and Moses was urgent that their rebellion should not remain with their children (v. 24).

For the sake of God and His glory, Moses interceded in prayer, that the Lord might not destroy His people (vv. 25-29). He pled God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and called on the Lord to bring His people into the land of promise, lest His Name be mocked among the pagan nations (vv. 27, 28). Moses wanted the people before him to remember two things: They were God’s chosen people (v. 29), and they were naturally inclined to sin and rebellion. He called them to remember that they were sinners, so that they would shelter obediently in the grace and Word of the Lord.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines sin as “any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God.” Very inclusive. All-encompassing. Here is how Moses dealt with sin: “Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain” (Deut. 9.21). Job described his own repentance thus: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42.5, 6). First, we need to remember our sinfulness, be horrified by it, grind it fine as dust, and throw it away from us. As Jesus tells us, “be zealous and repent” (Rev. 3.19). Then these words of comfort and hope can flood our souls with delight: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1.9).

Reflection
1. Why is it important always to remember that we are sinners?

2. God has granted us grace in Jesus, so we don’t have to languish in our sin. What should we do instead, whenever we become aware of sin in our lives?

3. What is repentance? How should we practice this important discipline?

…he again repeats what they had deserved, and consequently that he discharged the office of a herald, so as to denounce, not by word of mouth only, but by a solemn rite also, that God's Covenant was broken and made void by their perfidiousness. For which reason also he cast down and broke the tables before their eyes, in order that being alarmed by so awful a punishment, they might more earnestly betake themselves to the expiation of their sins. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Deuteronomy 9.17

Give me grace, Lord, to resist my natural tendency to sin against You, so that I…

Closing Prayer: Psalm 105.26-45
Recount to Him in prayer the many ways God has been faithful and gracious to you. In silence, listen as He searches your soul to bring to light any sins or areas where you need to grow in Him.

Psalm 105.26-45
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
He brought His people from Egypt alive, and made their joy and song revive.
He made the nations’ land their own, and all the wealth that they had known.

To them He granted the promised land ,the portion of His gracious hand.
Though they were few, and wandered far, He kept them close within His heart.

So let us all in our Savior confide, and in His holy Law abide.
Let us observe His glorious Word, and praise our sovereign, faithful Lord!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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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).