Remember!: Deuteronomy 7-9  (7)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 78.1-5
Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children…

Psalm 78.1-5
(Foundation: How Firm a Foundation)
Give ear, O my people, attend to my word,
dark sayings and parables sent from the Lord,
things we have before by our fathers been told,
which we would not dare from our children withhold.

The glorious deeds of our God in His might,
and all of the works He has done in our sight,
together with all of the words of His Law,
would we on ourselves and our children bestow.

Review Deuteronomy 7-9; meditate on Deuteronomy 8.11, 18-20

Preparation
1. What does it mean to “forget the LORD your God”? How does this happen?

2. How does God respond to our forgetting Him?

Meditation
The danger of Israel forgetting their God was great. It must have been, or Moses would not, over and over, have called on them to remember Him in these three chapters. He called them to remember God’s promises to their forebears; His deliverance of Israel from Egypt and all the wonders that accompanied that great event; His Presence with them through the wilderness; the fact that He had constituted them as a holy people unto Himself, and that He chose them on the basis of His love alone; that He is faithful to all His Word and promises; that He set before them blessings of abundance, safety, and prosperity in the land of Canaan; and that He would continue with them to defeat all their enemies.

Remembering these things would keep Israel from fearing their adversaries. It would lead them into obedience to God and fullness of life. Remembering God and His Law would ensure bounteous provision and safety for them and their offspring. And remembering all that Moses called them to remember would keep them from the mistakes of their parents, who rebelled against the Lord, preferred worshiping idols to serving Him, and provoked Him to wrath in various ways.

Moses certainly remembered all these things, and he was determined that the people to whom he spoke on the plain of Moab should remember them, too.

But they would do so only if their hearts were right with the Lord. Only if they feared Him would they obey Him, and thus flourish in His love (8.6). Only if their hearts were fully devoted to God in gratitude and love would they be able to resist the temptation of turning to other gods, which are no gods at all.

And Israel’s problem lay precisely here: They did not have a heart for God. Not yet. Their hearts were fickle, and prone to seek out other loyalties (7. 1-4). They were inclined to be prideful in their hearts (8.11-17; 9.4). Like their parents, they could be stubborn and rebellious against the Lord in their hearts (9.13, 24). And they more easily feared the people around them than the Lord Who was with them always (7.17-23).

We need to remember all the ways God’s grace has worked for, in, upon, and through us, that we may be careful always to follow the path He has marked out for flourishing in that grace. But if we allow our hearts to wander from loving God supremely, we won’t remember what we need to, and we’ll miss the blessings He intends for us.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
If you expect an appliance to work, it needs electricity. No matter how you talk to it, cajole it, and plead with it, it won’t get started unless you plug it in. God warns us of the same thing: “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power…” (Deut. 8.18). Likewise, Jesus told His disciples, and tells us, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1.8). No matter how badly we want to remember God and obey His commandments, we just cannot do it, until we plug into the Holy Spirit’s power, for “without Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15.5). But once we’ve hooked into the Power, we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens” us (Phil. 4.13). Through Him we can actually love God and keep His Law – powerfully!

Reflection
1. How do the heart and mind work together to help us obey God?

2. Can we love God apart from keeping His commandments?

3. What power does Jesus give us to love and obey Him? How does that power work in us?

But this is the sum, that they needed the utmost care and attention to beware lest forgetfulness of God should steal over them in happy circumstances, and thus they should shake off His fear, and cast away His yoke, and indulge themselves in the lusts of their flesh. For he shews that contempt of the Law would be a token of ingratitude; because it could not be but that they would submit themselves to God, and keep His Law, if they only reflected that it was to nothing but His blessing that they owed their prosperity. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Deuteronomy 8.11

Thank You, Lord, for the abundance of Your grace toward me. Keep my heart only unto You, O Lord, so that I…

Closing Prayer: Psalm 78.6-16
Use your time in prayer to remember all the ways God has been gracious to you. Make a point, throughout the day, to thank Him again in prayer, and to renew your love for Him.

Psalm 78.6-16
(Foundation: How Firm a Foundation)
Lord, let all our children arise and declare
the truth of the Lord every day, everywhere,
and set all their hopes in God’s wonderful Word,
and never forget all the works of the Lord.

Our fathers were stubborn; they would not obey;
when faced with their foes they in fear turned away.
God’s work of redemption they wholly despised,
forgetting the pow’r He had shown to their eyes.

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).