Last Week’s Sermon: Devoted To Destruction
[00:02]
The real reason why we should not be obsessed and be devoting our lives to laying earthly treasures is because where you do it, your heart will follow also. There is a directing influence of where you invest. So, if you devote yourself to earthly treasures, you will give your heart to earthly things and that is why Jesus says don't do it, because you cannot devote yourself to earthly things and also love God.
[01:22]

Remembering God’s Goodness in Deuteronomy
[02:00]
Once again, thank you for joining us as we continue our journey through the Book of Deuteronomy. We come to chapters eight to 10 and you ask, what are these chapters all about? I would say it would be summarized in this one simple word, to REMEMBER and in particular to remember God and His goodness.

Someone said, “As you get older, three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.” Or how about this other one, “Someone told me I was forgetful. But I can't remember who it was.” Or the last, “My wife is so negative. I remember the car seat, stroller and the diaper bag. Yet all she can talk about is how I forgot the baby.” Forgetfulness is a problem many of us struggle with but spiritual amnesia is not what God wants.

In Deuteronomy chapter eight, I think the passage here speaks about the importance of remembering God and His goodness. I say that because in this whole chapter, I know it's very busy but I just want to point out that in this chapter, we see two references to remembering God in verse two and verse 18. And also, three references on not forgetting God in verse 11, verse 14 and verse 19. Now this spills over into chapter nine which continues the idea of remembering God because over in chapter nine verse seven, we see, “remember” and “do not forget”. So let me compile all these verses for you, and in chapters eight and nine we see the importance, therefore of remembering God.

Remember and Obey

I want you to also notice that the idea of remembering God is not just a mental exercise or intellectual thing but it requires a life decision to obey. Deuteronomy speaks about remembering but it's also “remember and to obey”. It is very clear, I think, in chapter eight, where you see the close relationship between remember and keeping God's commands.

For example, in chapter eight verse two, “[And] you shall remember the whole way…” and then it ends with “…whether you would keep his commandments or not.” [Deuteronomy 8:2]. And then in verse 11, “Take care lest you forget [the LORD your] God…” and again reference to “…keeping his commandments and his rules and statutes…” [Deuteronomy 8:11]. And one more time in verse 18, “You shall remember the LORD your God…” [Deuteronomy 8:18] and again in verse 20, you see you will “…not obey the voice of the LORD...” [Deuteronomy 8:20].

So, like the Shema, we talked about the Shema a few weeks back which is the central statement for the Jewish faith. Hear O Israel, the LORD is one and you shall love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. The Shema is literally to hear but the Jewish understanding of hearing is not just sound waves hitting your eardrums but hearing with a view to respond in obedience, so very closely related to that to remember God is also to obey Him.

Remember > Obey > Live

And then we see thirdly, this remembering God and obeying God is the key to possessing the possessions in the Promised Land. Remember, obey so that you may live. That is what this chapter opens with, “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply…” [Deuteronomy 8:1]. So, I think this is the framework we are going to approach chapters eight to 10. It is about remembering God and His goodness because that is the key to loving God and the love for God will be expressed in our obedience toward him, and the obedience toward him is what secures that blessed life in the Promised Land.

Remember God That You May Love Him

So, this morning, let's look at what it means to remember God so that you and I may love him, so that you and I may live in the life that God intends for us which is a blessed life. How do we do that?

1. Remember God in Your Pain

Well, number one, I think Deuteronomy [chapter] eight opens with a call to remember God in your pain. So, Moses says in verse two, “[And] you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness,” [Deuteronomy 8:2]. Now the wilderness is not like a tropical rainforest in Singapore, luscious, lots of food and fruit, and animals. The wilderness in those days in that place is the desert. So, they were living, they were… they were just nomadic for 40 years in the wilderness and those are difficult years, there's no question about it, everybody would love to settle somewhere. Imagine, I tell you every year you got to shift house. You tear your hair, right? So, they have to move from place to place for 40 years and God says this is to humble you. Moses said, this is to humble you. It's a difficult time but it's to humble you, to let you know something, to let you know what? Well, two things, number one, to let you know what is in your heart, to test you to know what is in your heart whether you would keep His commandments or not. God allows Israel to go through the hardships to reveal or to surface whether they really love God or not, because at Mount Sinai, remember, that's the wedding day between God and Israel. God said, “If you keep my commandments, I will be your God and you will be my people.” And all Israel say, “Yeah, we will do it.” Do you really love me? Well, these 40 years would show it.

Now, let me ask you to do something. Can you put your hand to your pulse? You know where your pulse is, right? On the outer aspect of your lower arm, just at your wrist, just a little bit further up. You feel it. You should feel your pulse. If you do not feel it… either you are not alive or you are not so familiar with Chinese Kung Fu shows. They always show the physician Bǎ mài [把脉 – to feel the pulse in Chinese], so do a Bǎ mà [把脉] today. And if you feel your pulse, you should feel… a regular rhythm of dub, dub, dub, dub, dub, dub, dub… [08:50] very regular, correct?

Well, when I was 18-19 years old, I was studying medicine and I was aware of the pulse thing, and I would feel my pulse and I felt it, and it went, dub, dub… dub, dub… dub, dub... dub, dub… something is really wrong. I mean the normal heart beat should be dub, dub, dub now when you hear you auscultate, when you put the stethoscope then it's lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub is correct. But when you feel a pulse, it should not be lub-dub. It should be dub, dub… you know what I'm saying? Well… Okay, so… so I knew there was something wrong with the rhythm of my heart. I went to see the cardiologist and what the cardiologist did was to put me on a treadmill machine, run, increasing difficulty and immediately after I run when I'm panting, tired and when my heart is stressed, lie down on my side immediately. And then he will took… take, what took… he will take that ultrasound for the heart. It's a 2D Echo place it on the chest and scan the heart. He will do all kinds of tests but he will stress the heart to scan it so that he may be able to see fully what is going on in the heart. Well, just in case you think I'm going to die anytime, that was 30 years ago and actually after that test, they couldn't find anything wrong. My heart test came out normal and since then my heartbeat has come back to the regular lub or the dub, dub, dub kind of rhythm. So, I think I'm in all clear. I have no idea what went on during those days but I do know that my heart test was normal. It was good.

But what about a hard test for Israel? Was it good? They run and run and run in the wilderness and you know when God puts the 2D Echo there, it shows up serious problem because Moses said, “You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.” [Deuteronomy 9:24]. So, the wilderness stress test revealed the wickedness of Israel's heart. They never really believed God. They never really loved God. And God put them through the wilderness journey to show them who they really are.

And then God is going to show them number two, not only to test them, to show them who they are but to teach them who God really is. Because in verse three, “[And] he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, …” [Deuteronomy 8:3]. You were a rebellious people but God still provided for you all these 40 years. What is God trying to show? God is revealing to Israel their sinfulness and God's goodness because he goes on to say, “…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.” [Deuteronomy 8:3]. And God is so good, free food… 40 years. Have you ever thought about what that means you can eat all you want, all you can eat buffet every day, 40 years. Not only that the Bible tells us their “…clothing did not wear out…” [Deuteronomy 8:4]. Never needed to shop. No need to go Lazada, Shopee. I don't know what else you all go on to… Don't need to shop for clothes! Never wear out and their feet did not swell or have blisters. They don't have those sneakers, sports ones but it served them all these years. God made sure that they lasted. And so, “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….” [Deuteronomy 8:5-6]. Look at how sinful you really are, contrast that with how good God is despite your sinfulness.

Deuteronomy 8:7-10
So don't you think you should turn your heart around to love Him and to obey Him, and to enter into the blessings that God wants for you. So, the wilderness journey is really one to reveal their sinfulness and one to show God's goodness. And Moses is saying, just as you are preparing to enter the Promised Land, love Him and the way to love Him is to remember Him even in the days of pain. Those years of suffering, those years of privation, those years of lack, they are to show you how good God is in spite of how sinful we really are. Remember God in your pain.

C. S. Lewis has this famous quote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”.

Maybe today you are in church because of some pain. Now I am not in any way suggesting to you that the God of the Bible is like the Aladdin in the lamp. He is not here as a vending machine to do our bidding but instead He is a great and sovereign God who may even use pain to lead people to Himself. Just as He used lack and pain in the wilderness journey to point to Israel their need for this good God. So maybe you are here, maybe you are going through some suffering and pain and struggles in life, God may be speaking to you. He is using pain to really shout into your ears because we live in a very distracted world. We live very busy lives. We are all very secularistic in our mindset but sometimes it takes great pain for us to be still, to pause and to remember God. Pain is actually not quite a bad thing.

I kind of overdid my calves these few weeks playing badminton, I think my legs koyak [broken, damaged, spoiled in Malay] already, getting old… I don't want to admit it, still play very hard. So, over the past few days, I've been icing it like crazy so that I can recover and play some more. And in my zeal for it to heal, I kind of ignore the pain even when I ice it. You know, it's like just want to tough it up really get the maximum effect on icing. And so, I realized that the past two days, my both the back of my legs, the calf area is filled with kind of red marks, kind of like frost bites or burns. It's because I choose to ignore the pain.

Maybe God is choosing or using pain and I think it is a wise man who would consider why and what's happening. The Bible tells us that God leaves sufferings, pains, sickness, death as reminders of the curse or they are the curse which are reminders of the sin that man has committed against God. And I think when we look at the pain and suffering in this world, we should be reminded about the sin of man and reminded about our separation from the good God. So, whether you are a Christian or not a Christian, maybe God is calling out to you to remember Him, to love Him, to obey Him in the Gospel.

I think “The wilderness is not an accident. It is God's classroom.” So don't let your pain be wasted. Don't think that if you are Christian today, don't think that God is giving you pain because he does not love you or He is not able to save you or He simply forgot about you. No, the wilderness journey is never an accident. It is always on point, on purpose. It is His classroom to grow us and to teach us. So, to love God, we must remember God in our pain.

2. Remember God in Your Prosperity

But secondly, we switch to the opposite aspect of remembering because not only should we remember God in our pain, Moses goes on to tell us, we must remember God in our prosperity. Now that's in verse 11, “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and…” [Deuteronomy 8:11] so on and so forth. And then he says, “lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,” [Deuteronomy 8:12]. There is a danger that when life is good, you do not keep his commandments because you now forget about God, “[and] when your herds and flocks multiply [and] your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,” [Deuteronomy 8:13]. I think this speaks very much of Singaporeans, we live comfortable, many of us live very comfortable lives. Some of you are very good in investments and you have… and your business and you have multiplied all over. There is nothing wrong in a sense for business to do well but there is a danger. The danger is that when things go well, you forget God. You are full, you have eaten, you are multiplied, and “then your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, …” [Deuteronomy 8:14]. So, Moses says, [18:26] soon you will cross the river Jordan and enter the promised land, and when you get there, and God prospers you, take care not to forget him but remember God in your prosperity because when you are prosperous, there are two dangers.

A. Self-Reliance

The first danger is that you have the danger of pride and self-reliance. I mean, that's what he says in verse 17, “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’” [Deuteronomy 8:17]. Singapore is filled with many self-made men. I think there are people who have succeeded in their business, in their careers and they say to themselves at the end of life, my hands and the power of my might have gotten me all this. When you think like that it's very likely you're going to forget God or actually disregard God and think it's all you. So, Moses warns Israel not to think so but “…remember the LORD your God, for it is God [he] who gives you the power to get wealth...” [Deuteronomy 8:18]. Think about it, why is it that you can work and do business, and strike deals and climb the corporate ladder? It's because God gave you the power to do so, He could easily take that away from you, “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.” [Deuteronomy 8:19]. Know therefore that it is God who will go before you to destroy the enemies and subdue the enemies before you [Deuteronomy 9:3]. And so, the key thing here is be careful that in your prosperity you become proud and self-reliant and say that it is my hands, first danger.

B. Self-Righteousness

But coupled with this danger of self-reliance is the danger of self-righteousness. That is obvious in chapter nine and verse four, “Do not say in your heart… ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess the land…” [Deuteronomy 9:4]. So, I notice this linguistic clue, this link between chapter nine verse four and what we saw earlier in chapter eight verse 17, “Beware lest you say in your heart, …” and “Do not say in your heart…”. One, my power and might. Two, my righteousness. So, the dual danger of self-reliance and self-righteousness when things go well. Don't you ever think that you got all these things because you're so “Pandai” [Smart/Intelligent/Clever in Malay], we say in… is it Malay or Hokkien? I don't know. Malay, right? “Pandai” the younger generation have no idea what I'm saying… But don't think you're so smart that you got this. Don't think that you're so good that God has to obligate himself to give you these things. It's all God's grace. Why did God give Canaan? Because it is not that Israel was righteous or holy but “…because of the wickedness of these nations…” [Deuteronomy 9:4].

Repeated again in verse five, “Not because of your righteousness…” O Israel, or the righteous… “…uprightness of your heart… but [because of] the wickedness of these nations…” and God said, the reason why I give this land to you is because of “…the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.” [Deuteronomy 9:5]. So, the Promised Land is given to you not because you are good but because God is good, He has promised it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. it's because Canaan is wicked and so for reasons that are independent of you. I'm giving you this wealth, when you get it do not think to yourself, I got it, I deserved it or I did it.

And to prove that Moses would give a travelog or a record of their sins in chapter nine verses six to 24 listing out, I will not read through these verses, I think they are simply to show Israel how sinful they have been. This is their evidence, you sin at Horeb, Taberah, Massah, Kibroth hattaavah, we read most of it in our journey through the Book of Numbers. So, O Israel, don't ever be self-reliant or self-righteous. All that you have is God's grace.

I've shared this story before; I'll share it again. It's about this turtle who have always envied his friends, the birds who could fly. He wished he could soar through the skies. And so, one day he was speaking to one of his friends, the bird, and said, I wish I could fly with you. And the bird came up with a wonderful idea. He says, my friend and I, we will hold on to a twig on each end with our beaks. All you need to do, old turtle friend, is to hold it with your mouth and we will fly you up into the sky. And so, they embarked on this amazing… Have you ever seen this before? Okay, probably… definitely not, right? But the birds were so kind, holding on to the stick, he soars to the sky and for the very first time from the high point he could appreciate, the turtle could appreciate the beauty of the world. He was feeling so shocked, so satisfied, so happy. And then someone, some bird flew beside and said, “Wow!!! Who came up with this brilliant idea?” And the turtle raised his hand and opened his mouth, and said, “I did.” And this is what happened to the Mr. Turtle, he opened his mouth and he crashed to the ground to his death.

The Bible says pride comes before a fall. Maybe this is a picture of you and I. We soar into the skies of our corporate industry, our careers, our studies, our wealth accumulation. And again, this is not about the turtle, it's about you, it's about me. We think we are so capable. We think we are so great. We think that God blessed us with these things because I'm so moral, because I'm so godly, because I'm so good, because I go to church, God blessed me. So, I did it, I deserve it and we open our mouth, and say, I am the one. In your prosperity, remember God. He gave it to you not because of you but because He is good. And so, we are warned in the Bible, “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!” [Psalm 52:7]. There are plenty of self-made men and women in this country who would depend on the riches to their own destruction. The wisdom of the Bible is seek God as your refuge. Remember Him, serve Him, honor Him, not just about our wealth but maybe about our moral life or about our spirituality.

The Jews had this problem. The Jews even though they had the Bible, they had this misunderstanding, a crucial misunderstanding. The Jews thought that they have the 10 Commandments and so if they obey the 10 Commandments, they are a better people than all the other peoples of the world. So, they thought they could be righteous on their own but God actually did not give the 10 Commandments for them to prove themselves better than others. The 10 Commandments were given to them to prove themselves equally sinful, if not more sinful than everyone else. So, the Bible clarifies, “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, …” [Romans 10:3]. The Jews were ignorant that God is going to make them righteous not through their own obedience but through Jesus' obedience. Jesus is going to live that perfect life that they can't live and Jesus is going to die on the cross, and take their unrighteousness and then give them his righteousness. But the Jews were ignorant of this righteousness of God, this gift of righteousness from God. And so, they sought “…to establish their own, …” [Romans 10:3].

So, when you read the Bible and you look at the times of Jesus, and the religious leaders during the times of Jesus, they were a very arrogant people. They were proud, they were self-righteous. So, you and I today who come to church and maybe who have been raised in church, who have read the Bible, you may think to yourself, oh, I'm a Christian because I've obeyed all the Laws. I'm not like my friends. They don't worship God. They are not like this, not like that. I'm like this, I'm like that and you have depended on yourself, and your own righteousness to be acceptable before God. Then you have been ignorant and you will crash and fall one day. One day you may stand before God and say, Lord, Lord, didn't I do all these things. And God said, I never knew you. Why? [28:08] Because it was self-righteousness. It was not God's righteousness that is gifted to you. So, what the Bible really calls for is for humbling. Everyone who exalts himself, who thinks he is self-reliant and self-righteous will be humbled. He will crash on the day of judgment but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. So today, remember God in your prosperity, do not be lifted up in self-reliance or self-righteousness. It's all of God's grace whatever we have today, whoever we are today, it's purely God's grace. So, in your success, in your prosperity, in your abundance, remember God, love Him, obey Him that you may live. I am speaking to Singaporeans especially all of us.

2. Remember God in Your Pardon

Finally, remember God in your pardon. That is a carry on because in verses six to 24, Moses listed all their sins and now in verse 25, Moses having listed all their sins said that when you sin against God so badly, you know what I did for you, O Israel? “…I lay prostrate before the LORD [for these] 40 days [and] 40 nights, ...” [Deuteronomy 9:25]. Waa… siong leh [very tough in Singlish]. Planking for… not… not planking but prostrating himself 40 days 40 nights, praying for Israel, pleading for Israel. Why? Because God said, “…he would destroy you.” [Deuteronomy 9:25]. It's a key verse here. I'll show you why.

Deuteronomy 9:26-29
And I prayed to the LORD, please do not destroy Israel. They are your heritage. They are the people you have saved. And then he goes on, remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people. Because if you… if you destroy them all the nations around will say that God, this LORD, this Yahweh, this name of God, that's the name of God is powerless or impotent. He's not able to bring them into the land as he said or he is a cruel and unloving God. He hates them. Either way Moses says, please save Israel. Please pardon them because you promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and your name is at stake, your character, your fame, your glories is at stake but these are the people you have brought up by your great power. And so, Moses pleaded for Israel.

Deuteronomy 10:1,8, 11
And my question to you is, did Moses’ prayer work? Oh, it worked beautifully because immediately after chapter nine, in chapter 10 we read God saying, okay, I reissue you the two tablets of stone, the 10 Commandments. I broke them or Moses broke them because they sinned against God. Now God says, okay, take up and restore these 10 Commandments again. Go make an ark of wood that is the container for the 10 Commandments. Get the tribe of Levi to be ready to carry the ark which symbolizes the presence of God, and you Moses get ready to lead Israel once more. You know these are clear indicators God is saying, all right, I forgive you and we will start all over. You get that? That's the message in chapter 10.

And that is made explicit in verse 10, “The LORD was unwilling to destroy you.” [Deuteronomy 10:10]. Now I want you to again notice a linguistic clue. Verse 10 of chapter 10 is to be understood with chapter nine verse 25, “the LORD [had] said he would destroy you.” [Deuteronomy 9:25]. And now the LORD said, I'm not willing to destroy you. So, I know chapter nine and chapter 10 has to be seen together. It completes the story arc and it is to show how Moses, the intercessor, the prayer warrior for Israel prevailed, and God answered and God pardoned Israel. Why did God pardon Israel? Is it because Israel is such a great people? No, the reason why God pardoned Israel is because God remembered or honors his promise. Remember this is what Moses was pleading, LORD, remember what you said to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, answer this because this is your promise. And number two, Moses reminded God about His power, His love, His glory, His name.

Just a side note, real effective prayer is not pleading to God how great we are. Please don't pray, oh God bless us because we have served you faithfully, because we are so good, because we are so important here in Punggol, because we are so important in Singapore. Please… we are nothing. We are but dust. Please don't be lifted up in pride to think that we are so special that God has to answer us because we are special. No, the effective “please” in prayer, I think is found here. Two things; one, pray God's word and promise. Bao Jiak [Guaranteed okay in Singlish] because it's His Word. Number two, pray God's name and glory. If you pray on these two foundations, I think you have irrefutable prayers before God because it's all about God and His Word, and God and His name. So, Moses interceded for Israel and secured the pardon not based on Israel's goodness but on God's goodness.

1. In Your Pain

So, if you notice chapters eight to 10 is about remembering. Remembering God in your pain because even in your pain, you are seeing yourself for who you are, and you can then realize that when you have nothing at all, that God is my all, that He is good. He is my Provider. He holds me through the difficult times. At the end of the day, when you go through hardship you realize that, yes, we may be surrounded by wonderful people, family, church, friends, it is God who holds us up.

2. In Your Prosperity

In your prosperity, remember God because He did not give these good things to you because you were good, but because He is.

3. In Your Pardon

And in your pardon, remember God because God did not forgive you because you were good, but because he is good.

So, at all points we remember God and this remembrance of God is key to loving and obeying Him. Many a times we ask ourselves, how can we love God more? I think Moses teaches us to love God more, remember him more. Remember that we are nothing but dust. We deserve nothing but wrath. But God in His infinite goodness have selected us, elected us, chosen us to follow His son, to believe in His son and to pour out all His blessings in Christ to undeserving people like you and I. Maybe today you are not a Christian and you might be thinking coming to church, being a good boy is the way to God. I am saying to you, don't establish your own righteousness because it will never work. You break one Law; you are a law breaker in God's eyes. No one can keep the Law completely to earn God's favor. Only Jesus can and he did it, and he died to pay for your sins and to give you, his righteousness. So today, remember God and what He has done in this cross, and may you repent and believe, and enter into the abundance and joy, and peace He promises for you. Just one more thing, did Israel remember and love and obey God? [36:47] Even after this Deuteronomy warning from Moses, they didn't. Read on the rest of the Bible, read Judges, Samuel, Kings, prophets, read all the way to the New Testament and read Israel up till today. You cannot say that they remember and love, and obey God. Like all other nations, they are sinful. Israel could never keep God's Laws perfectly.

But let me tell you someone who did. If Israel is supposed to be a picture of the son of God and they failed, there is a true Son of God who didn't fail because when he was fasting 40 days and 40 nights, when he was desperately hungry, he was led by the Spirit, deliberately led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And the devil in the wilderness said to Jesus, the true Son of God, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” [Matthew 4:3]. Disregard what God is doing for you. Disregard what His will is. Just take things into your own hands. You have the power to do this. But the Son of God, even in his weakest and most desperate point, said in verse four, “…It is written, …” Where is this written? Deuteronomy 8:3, the passage we are studying today. Jesus said, “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” [Deuteronomy 8:3]. Jesus is saying, I remember God. I keep His Laws. I love Him. And this Savior, this Son of God who kept all the Law, who fulfilled the Law would then go to the cross, not because he deserved death but that he would die, to give you his life and to open the way of salvation for those who would repent and believe in him. This is the righteousness of God that we were reading of in Romans chapter 10, an alien righteousness not a righteousness we can produce but a righteousness that is from outside us, that is given to us. For on the cross, this is the love of God fully manifest. Remember God especially what he has done in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, obey him in repenting and believing that you may truly live.

Closing Prayer

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. Father, we thank you for this long passage but a very meaningful passage. So often in pain, we curse God. In abundance, we forget God. But Lord, teach us to remember you in the wilderness of life and in the promised lands. We thank you for your love for us. What an amazing love. A love that is not based on our worthiness but because you are love. I pray for friends who do not know Jesus as yet that this might be the day they know that there is love and there is forgiveness, and there is salvation found in Jesus. So, turn their eyes to Jesus, your Son. Grant them grace to repent and to believe on Him. And then I pray for my brethren, my brothers and sisters in Christ, give us a heart that will not be lifted up in pride. Give us a heart that will not curse God but a heart that will love you, remember you. May we obey you. May we walk in godliness. Help us to Shema, to hear that the LORD is one and we should love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. So, bless each one as we think about these things. We thank you in Jesus' name, Amen.