Today is catch-up day for me. Traveling out of town prevented a post yesterday, so I will try to catch up today. Yesterday’s reading included Deuteronomy 32:28-52, Luke 12:35-59, Psalm 78:56-64, and Proverbs 12:24.
We made it through another book of the Old Testament! As you know by now, this year I am focusing my studies on the Old Testament, though I am reading the New Testament and the Psalm and Proverbs. Next year, I plan to focus on studying the New Testament. I believe that studying the Old Testament will make the New Testament much clearer. And visa versa. So, let’s keep pressing on through all the confusing text, knowing that God has a plan and purpose through all of it.
So, in this last chapter of Deuteronomy, what do we see? We see that Moses ends his days with a song of praise. The gist of the song is this: God is great, His ways are perfect, He is faithful though His creation is not. This song begins as a praise and ends as a prophesy. It is a recounting of the lessons Moses learned and an admonition to the current and future generations.
Let us begin our day with this same praise. Say it aloud as a prayer:
I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
Moses wants the people to reflect and remember.
Remember the days of old;
consider the generations long past.
Vs 7
He wants the people to reflect on their propensity to wander from God, the Rock and salvation. We, too, have that propensity to wander. “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the One I love.”
Jeshurun[c] grew fat and kicked;
filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned the God who made them
and rejected the Rock their Savior.
They abandoned the God who made them
and rejected the Rock their Savior.
16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods
and angered him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God—
gods they had not known,
gods that recently appeared,
gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot the God who gave you birth.
Vs. 15-18
He wants the people to remember that our Rock is not like the rock (foundation) of the rest of the world. The world’s rock (foundation) is based on many lesser things—rock, with a lower case r. Our Rock is a person, with a capital R. Our Rock is steady and sure and everlasting. The scripture in the New Testament that even the demons understand who Jesus is—and tremble.
For their rock is not like our Rock,
as even our enemies concede.
Vs. 31
And Moses ends his prayer song, his prophetic words, his life’s work with these important words:
45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.
Vs 46-47
He said take to heart—hide them in their hearts that they may not sin against God. Hide them in their hearts so that their children would learn—and live. Hide them in their hearts because these are not just idle words, they are the life of the people. May we apply this truth, too. May we know that these words found in the Bible are not just idle words—they are our life.
Can u post Bible readings for April?
Hey, Barb! I have been praying for you! Yes, I will try to do that. They are at the top of every post, but I haven’t gotten around to an April reading schedule. Love to you!