ESV Chronological Plan, Day 64 | Deuteronomy 9-11

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 9:1-11:32

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the general stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 9-11). For an easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

The unmerited grace of God. We ended with a note yesterday about how God did not choose Israel because it was the mightiest of all nations (for it was the least), and Israel did not accumulate wealth by its own strength (for God enabled them to gain it). But now in Deuteronomy 9, we see that Israel was not even considered a particularly righteous nation, either: 

"Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust [the Canaanites] out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (Deut. 9:4-5)

Why is God telling them this? Because as fallen people, we are quick to look at ourselves in a positive light, and to become proud, and that turns our focus away from God's goodness and towards ours. So humbling ourselves like this is important for us to do to. If you spend a lot of time around people, you will know that there's a difference between a righteous person who is still humbly aware of their many faults, and a righteous person who struggles to think of any faults that they might have. There's a difference between someone who has found peace in Jesus, and someone who is constantly defending their own identity as a good person. There's a difference between someone who gives because they are aware that they, themselves, are in need, and they want others to be blessed as they have been blessed--and someone who can barely conceal their belief that they, themselves, are a blessing to be received by others. Pride is destructive. It's the original sin. It's the most subtle deception.

Call to mind where God has blessed you. Deuteronomy 10:22 says "Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven." It's often worth it to take a look at where God has brought you. I have so far left to go, and yet I've come a long way from being the son of a stripper, repeatedly kicked out of school, growing up in a crummy apartment in downtown Toronto. Just re-reading that last sentence, and it's clear that something changed! I could continue to recount my blessings here: I have two wonderful daughters. I belong to an amazing church. Although I am aware that there is a loneliness epidemic in many areas of the country, I myself have not experienced it. We continue to see God's favor on the things that we are doing, in such a way that we can see that we are not the ones doing it. Is there also a lot of difficulty and hardship? Yes--continually. But just like Israel could look back and remember when they were only 70 people, we can also look back and see that God has already brought us so far. The same God is still at work in you and me.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our attitudes, I think the things above would make us more humble, kind, gentle people if we carried them in our hearts. It is possible that we might often feel the opposite: that we are pretty good people, and that despite what God has done in our lives, we feel like we were expecting more. Those two attitudes together are like a quick and easy, two-step, no-bake recipe for lifelong bitterness. We could find so much healing just by reversing them and replacing them with the takeaways described above. In our worship we can become more God-centered, seeing him as the main character in our stories. Come to think of it, for all the famous people in the Bible, God is the main character in their stories. Without God, Abraham is just a guy wandering around in Canaan who did well for himself. David is just a rags-to-royalty story that ends with a descent into corruption. Job is just a guy who lost everything and then recovered and then died eventually. But their lives take on a special, important meaning because their lives pointed to God as the central character of their stories. In our actions we might benefit from prayers or practices designed to call to mind how (a) we have been blessed by God, and (b) performing an examen each week in our personal journaling time--a spiritual examination of our conscience and of how we are on our knees before God asking him to transform us into Christlikeness.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, please help me to put my focus on you. Show me your goodness and glory. Make me willing to be considered small in my sight and in the sight of others, so that you might be glorified."