It was in the time of daily supernatural provision (miracle food, God's provision of clothes on their back and shoes on their feet (8:4)) and after miraculous rescue (through shed blood and superior protection (8:14-16, Exodus 12:7-13)) that Israel forgot the goodness and spectacular redemption provided by our God. In our good times (when we feel wealthy in one way or another) and when circumstances are without volatility, we detect less danger and are more prone to slip, less reliant on the total dependance we do need in GOD constantly in all circumstances.
"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 ...
God tests his people in the Good times, and the bad, and both are good for us by His gracious work in us and provision for us. The scan of GOD is more detailed and precise than any X-ray or CT. In all things and all details GOD sees the depth of our hearts, and wants us as his people to depend on him, moment by moment and for every spiritual resource, blessing, and provision.
"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."
"Take care, watch out" (v13-14) is the message of Deut 8, for there is a self pride which lifts us to a point of self confidence from which the fall is catastrophic. For some it will be that time when the bank account is healthy, the cupboard is full, and we can afford the heating bill increments. I guess less will go back to work this year with full financial confidence, but I'm sure they partied (drank) just as hard (if not even harder) over Christmas. For others it is when home comforts or family relationships are not disturbed. We don't need lofty ambitions to have a lofty view of ourselves, or a free spirit of independance. Without any great ambitions for this world (thinking ourselves humble) we can reach a time of quiet equilibrium, but even this is not from ourselves and should not be the source of any pride. Every peaceful healthy day is a gift from GOD. If our feet get out of the bed, this a great blessing. If our minds are alert, and we have purposeful work, and roles of responsibility, there is an even greater reason to be humbly thankful.
In whatever form it comes, and whatever our ambition or temperament, self dependance is a total wolf, which prowls on humanity until it devours all of us who forget we are but human beings, created by a God of grace, and sustained in each breath and each moment of health each day.
Considering all that we've been through in 2022 (Covid, the unrest and increasing danger in Eastern Europe, the death of a Monarch / move into multi faith governance, and the shifting sands of both national leadership and the established positions in leadership of the CofE), you would think that we would not be so proud or self confident. Yet fireworks fulminate as we celebrate ourselves, and yearly reviews trumpet our own (human) achievements over covid and as a country and society. We remembered that the Lionesses roared, and as Sam Ryder leads the country into a new year singing and dancing, that we even managed a high placing in Eurovision. In 2023 Britain, we are not short of pride, or for the call for more pride as we are called to aspire to make ourselves "even greater" in the light of the "achievements" last year.
How important then that the church, you and I, should be humbly on our knees before God and demonstrate anything but self confidence. We need to depend on him and his word as more important each morning than food. We need to depend on him each day for spiritual sustenance and wisdom in a world which is so full of wickedness and spiritual hunger. In him we can be truly confident without reservation, it is possible to be more strong and more courageous by faith when we take our eyes off ourselves and onto Him. We need to acknowledge each fresh day that our only hope is in Him, and in Him is the only hope of spiritual protection.As many of us return to the workaday world, and our routines revolve around our business and our busyness,
RATHER THAN SAYING ...
"My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ (8:17)
WE SHOULD SAY...
- I Know then in my heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines me. "
- "it is He who gives power..." (8:18)
His love and His desires for me are constant in the good and bad circumstances of life and the program of eternal redemption. In Christ I have true wealth that this world can not afford. In Christ... His greatest desire is my permanent holiness, which is far more significant than my temporary happiness.
"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 (8:2)"
Humility before GOD is always appropriate, always wise and always yields untold riches as we discover more of Him and His way.
May GOD give us hearts full of his goodness, alert to the danger and void of self confidence. May our love for him and worship of him be displayed in humble obedience. We know that in Christ, our underserved inheritance is greater than any other land of promise, it is the eternal provision of Christ himself. Living in him we lack nothing, either in the good or bad times, and in our certain future in Him we can have total certainty that living for Him now in total trust and humble dependence is the best place to be.
"Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in obedience to him and revering 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. (8:6-7)"
"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. " (8:18).
LORD help us to deal with our pride before you need to deal with it for us.
(1 Peter 5:6, James 4:10, 2 Chron 7:14)
Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of your holy word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfil in us
All Your purposes, for Your glory.
Teach us Lord full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility.
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise
Cause our eyes to see,
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail;
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.
Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us.
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time,
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises;
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, ’til your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.
Stuart Townend & Keith Getty Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music (Adm. by CapitolCMGPublishing.com excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family, songs@integritymusic.com)
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