command – Praying Pint

52.x. Wilderness – 17.c. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today”

Deu 30:11-20 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

It is an intentional choice of the heart and mind and soul to continually follow, trust, rely on, obey, and have faith in Jesus Christ. There is no middle ground. It is all or nothing and it is an intentional choice. We choose to humbly serve, honor, and obey in every aspect of our thoughts, words, and actions so that Jesus Christ is honored and glorified. If we give partial nods toward this absolute, we are not committed, nor have we chosen to give our whole self and all we think, say, and do to honor and glorify Him.

Being lukewarm is a denial of His worth to be honored and glorified and praised and worshipped. What kind of commitment is this to the one and only Son of God who willingly left heaven and came to earth to be beaten and nailed to a cross for our sins? Neglect of God’s Word will lead to being lukewarm at best. Neglect is an intentional choice. Neglect happens when we allow the busyness of life or sin to rule over our commitment to Him.

Our growth in the understanding and knowledge of God comes through His Word and the application of it through the Holy Spirit’s leading. If there is a lack of His Word in our lives we deny the importance of it and are intentionally choosing not to get closer to God. It would seem we fail to understand this principle. Can a person spend too much time in God’s Word? No. Can a person be affected by the lack of His Word in their lives? Yes

Take some time to look into your time in His Word. If you would be embarrassed should anyone know, then you have answered the question. It should be out of humility that we do this and not with pride. The more time we spend in His Word the more we will understand of His grace, mercy, and love. This understanding will humble you in ways that lead to reverence and the want to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions continually.

Spend time in His Word with an open heart and mind. Ask Him to fill you with understanding, knowledge, and wisdom.

52.m. Wilderness – 16.s. “Faithfully Obey”

Deu 28:1-8 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.

Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.

Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

“The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

The idea behind the choice is that God was determined to reveal Himself to the world through Israel. He would do this either by making them so blessed that the world would know only God could have blessed them so; or by making them so cursed that only God could have cursed them and cause them to still survive. The choice was up to Israel. Therefore, if Israel would obey the LORD, He would set them high above all nations of the earth, and the blessings would be so powerful that they would come upon you and overtake you. They wouldn’t be able to escape the blessings. Perhaps the best blessing had to do with Israel’s own relationship with God. God would separate an obedient Israel unto Himself, speaking of a special relationship. If not for this, all the material blessings described previously would be empty. (Guzik)

This chapter is a very large exposition of two words, the blessing and the curse. They are real things and have real effects. The blessings are here put before the curses. God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy. It is his delight to bless. It is better that we should be drawn to what is good by a child-like hope of God’s favour, than that we be frightened to it by a slavish fear of his wrath. The blessing is promised, upon condition that they diligently hearken to the voice of God. Let them keep up religion, the form and power of it, in their families and nation, then the providence of God would prosper all their outward concerns. (Henry)

And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee,…. After mentioned, which should come upon them from God from heaven, by the direction of his providence, and that freely and plentifully, and beyond their expectations. (Gill)

How many blessings are forfeited due to our commitment and desire to study God’s Word and, thereby, grow and mature in our knowledge and understanding of it and things of God? Would we become more obedient due to this knowledge and understanding? Would we honor and glorify Jesus Christ in this obedience?

I get it, the busyness of life attracts us. It is a tangible busyness and occupies our time. It may even give us purpose and satisfaction. However, I think more than likely it gives way to NEGLECT of God’s Word. The Study of it. The Desire for it. The Application of it. The Fulfilling Hope found in it. The Peace of mind found in it. The Joy found in it. The Refuge found in it. The Promises proclaimed in it. We lay our heads on our pillows at night falsely satisfied with what the world has deemed important and fully occupied our day.

Neglect of God’s Word is no excuse. Neglect of God’s Word is an intentional choice to which we give excuses and rationalize in our minds. Growth and maturing (sanctification) does not happen apart from God’s Word. I am amazed at the maturity (knowledge of God’s Word) by Christians who have been born again for 10, 20, 30, 40 plus years. God’s Word is more readily available at every person’s fingertips. Commentaries, sermons, and word searches are all available to grow and mature us. Neglect of His Word is an intentional choice.

Some things that bother me in my personal growth. Am I growing in understanding and knowledge of God’s Word and its application in my life? Can people see a tangible difference as the Holy Spirit leads and I obey? Through the Holy Spirit can I discern truth or the lack of it or doctrine error? Do I see growth? Am I convicted of sin? Do I repent? Am I growing in trust and reliance on God? Do I seek and desire to know Him more and more? Do I want to hear and listen to the leading Holy Spirit? Do I live each day with an earnest desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all my thoughts, words, and actions? Why am I so slow in my understanding? Why can’t I connect concepts and precepts of Old and New Testament scripture? Why are there days of complete trust and reliance, and other days of being like a flopping fish out of water? Why are there days when I am so aware of God’s presence and other days not? Why do I fall back into sinful thinking? Can I spot satan’s attacks and lies?

There is so much more to know about God, His Word, the love of Jesus, the leading of the Holy Spirit, God’s grace, mercy, and love, His promises, creation, heaven, hell, judgment, wrath, anger, the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the examples of faith, the examples of falling away, the difference between worldly and heavenly, obedience, reliance, trust, faith, hope, prayer, etc……..

There is no excuse for neglect.

52.l. Wilderness – 16.r. ” If you are willing and obedient”

Deu 28:1  “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

Psalms 106:3   Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!

Isaiah 1:19     If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

Isaiah 3:10    Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

Isaiah 55:2-3   Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Luke 11:28    But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Exodus 15:26     saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

Psalms 119:6    Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

Psalms 119:128    Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.

“If you faithfully obey the voice of God and being careful to do”. To faithfully obey and being careful to do one must know what to obey, in part and in detail, so that they can be careful and attentive to do it. Knowing and wanting to know what God expects and is honored and glorified in and by us requires us to seek it out with a heart that desires it. This desire comes out of the heart and mind. If there is no desire or weak desire there will be no need to be careful. How many people want just enough of the Gospel to convince them of salvation but have no desire to know and grow deeper in understanding the knowledge of God’s grace, mercy, and love?

God’s Word says of these people “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.”

Desiring to honor and glorify God stems from the heart of man seeking to know and understand the Word of God and things of God. Being ignorant due to neglect is clearly a witness to the desire of the heart. We can come up with all kinds of excuses and reasons for the neglect. “I just don’t have time”, “I’m so busy”, “I just don’t understand when I read it”, “I don’t have time so I listen to Christian music all day”, “I go to church on Sunday”, “I’m to slow to understand”, “I’m so tired I just can’t find the time either in the morning or evening”, “I listen to my conscious and trust the Holy Spirit will lead me”, etc…..

When have you ever made the excuse to not do something so that you could spend time in God’s Word?

When has the desire in your heart to honor and glorify God been so overwhelming that you hungered and thirsted for the Word of God?

The promises of God contain both blessings and curses, mercy and wrath, and love and anger. They are in relationship to the person’s heart, mind, and soul desiring Him or not.

There is no excuse for ignorance due to neglect and allowing the busyness of life to rule over you.

Determine to set your heart and mind to know God through His Word.

52.i. Wilderness – 16.o. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Deu 27:1-8  Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today. And on the day you cross over the Jordan to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. And you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them; you shall build an altar to the LORD your God of uncut stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God, and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God. And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”

1 Thessalonians 4:1  Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.

James 2:10    For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Luke 11:28    But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Moses finished his preaching to the people of Israel, so there was nothing more to say, other than the simple encouragement to do what God commanded. It isn’t enough for Israel to be hearers of the word; they must also be doers of the word. An altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them: This was commanded because God did not want the glory of the stone carver to be the center of attention at His altar. God, at His altar, will share glory with no man – the beauty and attractiveness would be found only in the provision of God, not in any fleshly display. (Guzik)

The end of the gospel ministry is, and the end of preachers ought to be, to make the word of God as plain as possible. Yet, unless the Spirit of God prosper such labours with Divine power, we shall not, even by these means, be made wise unto salvation: for this blessing we should therefore daily and earnestly pray. (Henry)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us who believe forgiveness, salvation, redemption, hope, and eternal life. This alone atones for our sin(s). It does not abolish or diminish the commands of God. It gives us reason to study them and know them for the purpose of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ our savior. The whole Word of God is given to us so that we would learn from it and not be ignorant of what pleases and displeases God, what is honoring and glorifying to Him, what is right and wrong in His sight, and what is good and bad for our souls. Neglect of His Word is no excuse. Busyness of life is no excuse. Saying it is too hard for you to understand is no excuse. “I don’t know where to begin,” is no excuse.

I recently was at a wedding and settling around listening to what people (men) were talking about. Football, baseball, basketball, golf, etc….. They were spewing out facts and figures and stats with expertise. I was amazed at how much they knew about college or professional teams, players, sports, drafts, salaries, winnings, rules, etc…… It is not wrong to know this stuff. How much time must be engulfed in watching and reading about it? Think about it, these men still had families, jobs, and homes to take special care of. Time is consumed by /TV, the Internet, and worldly sports and busyness leads to neglect.

What would our lives be like if we intentionally chose to leave the TV shut off or we allotted equal time to study and being in God’s Word, or doing intentional things for God? Habits are hard to break and mindlessly sitting in front of the TV for hours does nothing for your mind or soul other than filling it with something other than the Word of God.

There is no excuse for neglect of God’s Word.

I like listening radio stations of pastors preaching God’s Word. I like to listen to Christian music radio stations. When I listen to the pastors and their proclaiming God’s Word, I listen for truth and that which is fluff. Do they preach deep or are they feeding baby food? Many times they will have studied historical background information and other scriptures that open new thoughts and applications for me also. When I listen to worship songs I listen for sound doctrine in what is in the words they sing. Many times my heart will be filled with rejoicing and praise and overwhelming awe of God.

However they are only supplements to my time in God’s Word.

51.d. Wilderness – 15.j. “Being careful to do all this”

Deu 15:4-6  But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

Proverbs 11:24-25   One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.  Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 14:21    Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

Proverbs 28:27    Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

Isaiah 58:10-11   if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.  And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

God established an economic system wherein no one had to be chronically poor. If people would obey the LORD, He would bless (both sovereignly and as the natural result of the obedience), and they would not be poor. However, Deuteronomy 15:11 – just a few verses down – states: For the poor will never cease from the land. Is God contradicting Himself? Not at all. He knows that He has established a system where no one must be chronically poor, yet He knew that because of disobedience, some would, and there would always be the poor in Israel. So, God did not guarantee prosperity for any one in Israel; but He did guarantee opportunity for prosperity for an obedient Israel. If Israel obeyed and the individual citizens of Israel enjoyed the blessing of God’s prosperity, then they would as a nation be prosperous, and blessed above other nations. (Guzik)

The law is spiritual, and lays restraints upon the thoughts of the heart. We mistake, if we think thoughts are free from God’s knowledge and check. That is a wicked heart indeed, which raises evil thoughts from the good law of God, as theirs did, who, because God had obliged them to the charity of forgiving, denied the charity of giving. Those who would keep from the act of sin, must keep out of their minds the very thought of sin. It is a dreadful thing to have the cry of the poor justly against us. Grudge not a kindness to thy brother; distrust not the providence of God. What thou doest, do freely, for God loves a cheerful giver. (Henry)

For the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it; which is either a reason why there would be no poor, should they observe the commandments of the Lord; or a reason why they should release the debts of the poor because they were so greatly blessed with a fruitful land, which brought them such an increase, as enabled them to free their poor debtors, when in circumstances unable to pay them. (Gill)

We do well to first and foremost obey, follow, trust, honor, and glorify Jesus Christ. If this is our desire and purpose in life, then we will be moved by the Holy Spirit in many virtues including being generous, kind, and giving to those in need. Sometimes it is hard to know of those in need but our churches know and if you ask the question you will certainly be put on a path to honor and glorify Jesus Christ through meeting the needs of someone in need.

50.u. Wilderness – 15. “If you will indeed obey”

Deu 11:8-15 “You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.

Remembering what God did in history should lead Israel to greater obedience and enable them to take the Promised Land. The sacrifices in obedience were well worth it for Israel. They had the promise of a land which was far superior to Egypt, which did not need to be artificially irrigated, but was watered by rains which God would send upon the obedient nation. God simply promised to provide for Israel if they chose to obey Him and put Him first. As Jesus said: seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. The promise of the blessing of rain was important, because one of the attractive Canaanite gods was Baal – the god who was said to control the weather and rain. Perhaps the Israelites would be tempted to think, “well, we are in Canaan, and if we want rain, we should worship the Canaanite god of rain.” But the LORD makes it clear that if they would worship and obey Him, He would supply abundant rain. God declared His special care for the land of Israel, both then and now. (Guzik)

Moses sets before them, for the future, life and death, the blessing and the curse, according as they did or did not keep God’s commandment. Sin tends to shorten the days of all men, and to shorten the days of a people’s prosperity. God will bless them with an abundance of all good things, if they would love him and serve him. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil. Revolt from God to idols would certainly be their ruin. Take heed that your hearts be not deceived. All who forsake God to set their affection upon any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived, to their own destruction; and this will make it worse, that it was for want of taking heed. (Henry)

“You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong”.

What is it that nourishes the mind and strengthens the soul? Paul and Peter both have said in their letters to Christian churches that many of them in these churches were like infants and only eating baby food. They were not growing. They were just surviving – barely, and they were satisfied being babies in both their understanding of scripture and its application in their lives. Let this not be said of you. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

50.j. Wilderness – 14.p. “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God”

Deu 8:11-18 “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Proverbs 1:32   For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

Proverbs 30:9   lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Psalms 106:21    They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

Hosea 13:5-6     It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought;  but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me

Jeremiah 2:31   And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, we will come no more to you’?

1 Corinthians 4:7   For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Psalms 127:1-2    Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.  It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

When everything is fine and our lives are filled with abundance, it is not hard to have our hearts lifted up. We can easily forget the LORD Himself and forget it was all His work on our behalf. In times of abundance, it is easy to forget the LORD, or to at least no longer seek Him with the urgency we once had. We often think highly of our own hard work and brilliance. Yet we must see that God gives us the body, the brain, and the talent. It is all of God. His plan is that it would ultimately further His eternal purpose. Therefore, we have no right to use our material blessing to further selfish purposes; instead, we use our resources to advance His kingdom. (Guzik)

Moses directs to the duty of a prosperous condition. Let them always remember their Benefactor. In everything we must give thanks. Moses arms them against the temptations of a prosperous condition. When men possess large estates, or are engaged in profitable business, they find the temptation to pride, forgetfulness of God, and carnal-mindedness, very strong; and they are anxious and troubled about many things. In this the believing poor have the advantage; they more easily perceive their supplies coming from the Lord in answer to the prayer of faith; and, strange as it may seem, they find less difficulty in simply trusting him for daily bread. They taste a sweetness therein, which is generally unknown to the rich, while they are also freed from many of their temptations. Forget not God’s former dealings with thee. Here is the great secret of Divine Providence. Infinite wisdom and goodness are the source of all the changes and trials believers experience. Israel had many bitter trials, but it was to do them good. Pride is natural to the human heart. Would one suppose that such a people, after their slavery at the brick-kilns, should need the thorns of the wilderness to humble them? But such is man! And they were proved that they might be humbled. None of us live a single week without giving proofs of our weakness, folly, and depravity. To broken-hearted souls alone the Saviour is precious indeed. Nothing can render the most suitable outward and inward trials effectual, but the power of the Spirit of God. See here how God’s giving and our getting are reconciled, and apply it to spiritual wealth. All God’s gifts are in pursuance of his promises. Moses repeats the warning he had often given of the fatal consequences of forsaking God. Those who follow others in sin, will follow them to destruction. If we do as sinners do, we must expect to fare as sinners fare. (Henry)

50.i. Wilderness – 14.o. “Today you shall be careful to do”

Deu 8:1-10 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

Obedience must be, 1. Careful, observe to do; 2. Universal, to do all the commandments; and 3. From a good principle, with a regard to God as the Lord, and their God, and with a holy fear of him. To engage them to this obedience. Moses directs them to look back. It is good to remember all the ways, both of God’s providence and grace, by which he has led us through this wilderness, that we may cheerfully serve him and trust in him. They must remember the straits they were sometimes brought into, for mortifying their pride, and manifesting their perverseness; to prove them, that they and others might know all that was in their heart, and that all might see that God chose them, not for any thing in them which might recommend them to his favour. They must remember the miraculous supplies of food and raiment granted them. Let none of God’s children distrust their Father, nor take any sinful course for the supply of their necessities. Some way or other, God will provide for them in the way of duty and honest diligence, and verily they shall be fed. It may be applied spiritually; the word of God is the food of the soul. Christ is the word of God; by him we live. They must also remember the rebukes they had been under, and not without need. This use we should make of all our afflictions; by them let us be quickened to our duty. Moses also directs them to look forward to Canaan. Look which way we will, both to look back and to look forward, to Canaan. Look which way we will, both to look back and to look forward will furnish us with arguments for obedience. Moses saw in that land a type of the better country. The gospel church is the New Testament Canaan, watered with the Spirit in his gifts and graces, planted with trees of righteousness, bearing fruits of righteousness. Heaven is the good land, in which nothing is wanting, and where is fulness of joy. (Henry)

Henry, Barnes, Poole, Keil, Ellicott, Gill, Brown, Benson, Guzik, Ryles, Tozer, Piper, Spurgeon, and many more span from the 1600s to the present day. I love to read their thoughts about how people were living too close to the world they lived in. If they could only step into our day and witness what a Christian life has become, what is tolerated by society, and how it is finding way into congregations. Wouldn’t it be glorious to have discernment and know right from wrong, good from bad, and holiness from sinfulness? I fear our prosperity, technology, and comfort have yielded fruits that only serve this world and much of the time do not honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

50.d. Wilderness – 14.j. “You shall therefore be careful to do”

Deu 7:11-15  You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today. “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you.

Deuteronomy 4:1    “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:32    You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

John 14:15    “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments,…. The laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, urged thereunto both by promises and threatenings, in hopes of reward, and through fear of punishment: which I command thee this day, to do them; in the name of the Lord, and by his authority; by virtue of which he made a new declaration of them to put them in mind of them in order to observe them. (Gill)

We are in danger of having fellowship with the works of darkness if we take pleasure in fellowship with those who do such works. Whatever brings us into a snare, brings us under a curse. Let us be constant to our duty, and we cannot question the constancy of God’s mercy. Diseases are God’s servants; they go where he sends them, and do what he bids them. It is therefore good for the health of our bodies, thoroughly to mortify the sin of our souls; which is our rule of duty. Yet sin is never totally destroyed in this world; and it actually prevails in us much more than it would do, if we were watchful and diligent. In all this the Lord acts according to the counsel of his own will; but that counsel being hid from us, forms no excuse for our sloth and negligence, of which it is in no degree the cause. We must not think, that because the deliverance of the church, and the destruction of the enemies of the soul, are not done immediately, therefore they will never be done. God will do his own work in his own method and time; and we may be sure that they are always the best. Thus corruption is driven out of the hearts of believers by little and little. The work of sanctification is carried on gradually; but at length there will be a complete victory. Pride, security, and other sins that are common effects of prosperity, are enemies more dangerous than beasts of the field, and more apt to increase upon us. (Henry)

What does it mean to be careful to do the commandments, rules, and statutes? How is this manifested in the life of a believer? What would you expect to see in their lives, or for that matter, your personal life?

We seem to look more outward than inward. We can apply what it looks like to another person but for ourselves, we seem to be, if not clueless, less critical. Why is this? I think the root of our indifference stems from a lack of commitment, purpose, and the desire to wholly serve, honor, obey, trust, and rely in and on God. Our desire to have our sin made known to us so that we might grow and mature in our honor and glory of Jesus Christ, seems to be lukewarm at best.

Do we wake each day with the first thought of thanksgiving and how we might better honor and glorify Jesus Christ in our thoughts, words, and actions? Do we ask God to show us our hearts? Do we really want to know our hidden sins? Do we want to grow in our understanding of God’s grace, mercy, and love? Do we seek to understand His holiness and our sinfulness? Do we spend time in His Word? Do we spend time praying? Do we truly love others? Do we seek to encourage? Do we find fault with other’s actions all the time? Do we criticize others frequently about what they said or didn’t say, or did and didn’t do? Neglect and complacency are the effects of a lukewarm heart, mind, and soul toward service to God.

50. Wilderness – 14.f. “Take care lest you forget the LORD”

Deu 6:5-12 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

What God most wants from us is our love. We often think God demands a hundred other things from us – our money, our time, our effort, our will, our submission, and so forth – but what God really wants is our love. When we really love the LORD with all of our heart, soul, and mind, then everything else is freely given to the LORD. If we give the LORD all the rest – money, time, effort, will, and so forth – without giving Him our love, it is all wasted – and perhaps, all is lost.

God planned to bring Israel into an abundant, prepared land. In this abundant blessing God had for Israel, there was an inherent danger: That they would forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt. This cycle would be repeated through the history of Israel, especially in the time of the Judges. God would bless an obedient Israel, and they would prosper; they would begin to set their heart on the blessings instead of the LORD who blessed them; God would allow chastisement to turn Israel’s focus back upon Him; Israel would repent and obey again, and God would again bless an obedient Israel and they would prosper. (Guzik)