We're going to begin our worship this evening by singing to God's praise in Psalm 96a.
Sing Psalm's version, page 1 to 6 of the psalm books.
We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 10.
Psalm 96a, the tune is Bloxam.
We sing from the beginning,
Sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name and his salvation day by day,
let all the earth proclaim.
We sing from verse 1 to verse 10 to God's praise.
We stand to sing.
Oh, sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name
and his salvation day by day, let all the earth proclaim.
His glory and his mighty deeds to every land declare.
How great and awesome is the Lord, with him no cross compare.
For other gods are wood and stone, the Lord made heaven's height.
All power and majesty are his, he dwells in glorious light.
All nations to the Lord, ascribe the glory that is due.
Glory and strength ascribe to God, and praise his name on you.
Enter his words with joy, and bring an offering with you.
Worship the Lord in holy faith.
All earth before them bow.
Tell everyone, the Lord is king, established is the earth.
And cannot move.
The Lord will judge the people's sin is true.
Amen.
Let's come to God in prayer.
Let us pray.
Lord, our gracious God, our Father in heaven,
as we gather to unite our hearts and praise this evening hour,
we thank you for the blessings of this day.
We thank you for your mercies in it.
Lord, we thank you for the joy that we have in worshiping you.
And even for the song, the psalm that we've sung,
it reminds us that you give us a new song to praise you,
to praise your name.
And we thank you that it's a song of salvation,
for you are the one alone who is able to save.
And we thank you for your ongoing work of salvation to your people.
That you are a God who continues to remember us
and to help us in all our different needs.
That you are a God who reigns over the world
and calls the people of this world to come
and offer up glory and praise to you.
Tell every nation, tell every land,
the Lord is king, the psalmist says.
And we thank you that your word goes out with power
in so many different ways and places.
We thank you for all your people who serve you
in proclaiming the gospel,
in proclaiming it far and wide
to people of every tribe and tongue.
We thank you for all the gifts that you have given
down through the generations to your people.
For as we hold your word in our hands this evening,
as we have the holy scriptures before us,
we realize that it is through your great works of providence
and through your will and your gifts given to many
down through the generations
to translate and to print
and to make your word in a form
that is so unchanging and unchangeable.
And we thank you that your word is passed down
and that it's translated into so many different languages.
Even throughout the world today,
when we hear the numbers of languages
and forms that your word is translated into,
we marvel.
We marvel that there are so many
and we marvel that you are a God
who remembers each one
and longs for all to come to know you.
And so we pray for your power
and your glory to be seen
throughout our world and throughout our nations,
that we would remind ourselves,
as your word does so often,
that when we feel a sense of despair
and dejection in the day in which we live,
that there is nothing new under the sun.
There have been times,
even as we see in your word,
that high points when your people
have been blessed so richly
and praised you so lovingly and so loudly.
And yet there are other times
when your people have turned away,
when they've turned to their own hearts
and to their own ways
and forgotten God.
And the warnings are there before us so often.
And we know today, Lord,
that we live in a day
when many do forget you,
where many choose to have nothing to do with you
and even to reject you in vehement ways.
Not just to reject,
but to persecute those who believe
and to seek to destroy
the Christian faith and the Christian church.
But we do thank you
that you are God and Lord,
head of the church,
that you have established
and that nothing can overcome.
We thank you that even,
as the word says,
the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
And so we thank you
that in this day in which we live,
we have these assurances,
these promises,
and these things that we can take
as confidence and hope
that you are building your church
upon the rock that is Jesus Christ.
Christ.
And we thank you
that the gospel is founded in him,
that in him there is good news,
in him there is the one
who gives that assurance
of forgiveness for sin
as we put our trust in him,
that he is the one
who gives the hope of eternal life,
that he is the one
who spoke to disciples long ago,
reminding them that he is the way,
the truth, and the life,
that there is no way to the Father
but by him.
And so we thank you
that that is still true to this day.
And may we know you
leading us in our worship this evening,
leading us into your truth,
leading us into your word,
and helping us to hear
what you have to say to us,
helping us to be established
and grounded in your word
and in your truth
in a way that it doesn't just
impact us for a moment here,
but that it will go with us
into the rest of the week ahead.
That the word that we hear
will be a word that we are able
to share and lean on
and rely upon in all the days
of this week ahead, God willing.
That it will be your truth
that shapes us,
that gives us discernment,
that gives us willingness,
that gives us boldness and courage,
that gives us all that we need
to live in this world
and to be the light of the gospel
among the people around us.
And so we ask, O Lord,
that you will unite our hearts
and praise and worship this evening
and unite our hearts
in all that we seek to do
in your name.
As we especially pray
for the week ahead,
we think of that meeting
on Wednesday evening,
a congregational meeting,
and we just commit it to you
for your unifying presence
as we read in the bulletin
for that to be in our midst
in these days.
That you would unite our hearts
together in praise
and worship and prayer to you
as the one that we depend on
for all things.
And we pray, Lord,
for that spirit of oneness,
spirit of encouragement,
spirit to look to you
that we might know you're leading
and your guidance
in all of these things
as we appoint a vacancy committee,
as we seek to invite preachers
to come and minister here,
as we seek to call a minister,
God willing,
in the not-too-distant future.
We do pray, Lord,
that your will be done
and that you would give us
your wisdom and your help in it.
And we thank you
that we have so many people here
who you use for your glory,
that the work goes on day by day
and week by week.
Among our young people,
we thank you for our Sunday school
and creche and tweenies
and Bible class.
We thank you for the youth fellowship.
We thank you for the explorers.
We thank you for the toddler group.
Thank you for all these ways
of coming alongside people,
especially our young people,
teaching them,
helping them along the way,
guiding them in your truth
and in your word
to walk closely with you.
We do pray, Lord,
that our young people,
that they would seek you
in the days of their youth.
They seek you while you are to be found.
Seek you while their hearts
are close to you
and tender to you.
Because we know, Lord,
we live in a world
filled with so many distractions,
so many things
that will lead us away from you.
And so we pray
that you will guard them
and guard us all,
guard us in our hearts and minds
that we might know
your peace with us.
We pray, too,
for the Fridays at the Free
and the over 55s.
We thank you for that meeting
last Friday
and, God willing,
the meeting of the Fridays
at the Free this coming week.
We thank you for all the encouragements
it gives
and gathering in fellowship together
and gathering
to encourage one another
and to come alongside each other
in different ways.
We do pray your blessing
upon all that we do
to come alongside
in these times.
Above all,
we pray, Lord,
to see people coming,
to be under the gospel,
to be curious,
to be asking questions,
to be exploring the Word
and seeing what it says to them.
And we thank you
for the Thursday evening meetings
of the big questions.
We pray, Lord,
that we will be encouraged
to invite people
to come along ourselves,
even to come and hear
and share
and experience together
the riches of your truth,
the riches of your Word,
and to be built up
in the faith through it.
So, Lord,
may you hear our prayers
for all of these things.
We ask, O Lord,
too,
for your blessing
on the wider church.
We thank you
for those who you have called
into ministry
and those who are training in it.
We think tonight
of Scott and Fiona
as they have gone from us
to the congregation
of North Harris.
We pray for them
as they settle
into a new home
in Scalpy
and a new congregation
in Tarbert
and a new school
for the girls,
for Katie Bell
and Lily May.
We pray that you will help them
and be with them,
that you will help them
to find people around them
who will encourage them
and draw alongside them
and help them
along the way.
And we do pray
that you will continue
to bless Scott
and his training
and all others
who have started back
in the seminary
in these past weeks.
O Lord,
we pray for those
who go on in their studies
and those who are just beginning.
We pray to see
your hand upon them
for good
and for your blessing
over the seminary
and upon all the leaders there,
the lecturers
and the staff
and all who are involved
in the training process.
Lord,
may they know
your rich hand upon them.
May they know
your goodness to them.
We pray for our nation
and our world
and our leaders
and all that we see around us
when there are so many challenges
since we hear
seemingly every day
of those who are seeking
to find peace
and only finding trouble
and we hear of immigrants
crossing the channel
and so many lives being lost
and maybe turmoil
being experienced
by those who are trying
to get across
or escaping
and fleeing
so many different places.
Lord,
there are so many
of these crises
all around us.
There are troubles
every way we look
and Lord,
we just pray
have mercy,
have mercy upon us.
Remember us, Lord.
Come in your power.
Come in a day
of your power
into our midst
that your gospel
would flourish,
that your glory
would be seen
to all ends
of the earth.
How we need you, Lord,
and how we plead with you
to come.
So Lord,
hear our prayers.
Continue with us
in all our needs
personally here
and collectively
as a people
in our homes
and our families.
You know our needs
as we were thinking
this morning
and we thank you
for the great comfort
that you are able
to give.
So comfort
all who need you
in so many different ways.
Hear our prayers.
Continue with us now
and help us to sing
to your glory.
Lift up our voices
to you in praise
and to have ears
to hear your word.
May we know
your spirit upon us
leading us
in all of these things.
We ask all
looking to our Lord
and Saviour,
Jesus Christ,
looking to forgiveness
in him
that we might know
his blessing
in each of our lives.
We ask it
in his precious name
and for his glory.
Amen.
We'll continue
to worship God
and sing
to his praise.
This time
in Psalm 20
in the Scottish Psalter,
page 224.
Psalm 20
on page 224.
We're going to sing
from verse 3
down to the end
of the psalm.
The tune is Walsall.
Let him remember
all thy gifts,
accept thy sacrifice,
grant thee
thy heart's wish
and fulfill
thy thoughts
and counsel wise.
In thy salvation
we will joy
in our God's name
we will display
our banners
and the Lord
the prayers
all fulfill.
We'll sing
from verse 3
down to the end
of the psalm.
Psalm 20
to God's praise.
Amen.
Let him remember
all thy gifts,
accept thy sacrifice,
grant thee
thy heart's wish
and fulfill
thy thoughts
and counsel wise.
In thy salvation
we will joy
in our God's name
we will display
our banners
and the Lord
thy prayers
all fulfill.
God's name
now know
thy God
his King
that save
me from
his holy
heaven
will hear
him
with
the saving
strength
by his own
right hand
him
in chariots
some
put confidence
some
horses
trust upon
but
we
remember
well
the name
of
our
Lord
God
alone
we
rise
and
upright
stand
when
we
are
bowed
down
and
fall
deliver
Lord
and
let
the
King
us
hear
when
we
do
all
we
can
turn
to read
God's
word
together
now
in
Deuteronomy
chapter
10
so
in the
Old Testament
the book
of
Deuteronomy
chapter
10
you'll
find it
around
page
185
of the
church
bibles
and we're
going to
read
the whole
of this
chapter
Deuteronomy
chapter
10
from
verse
1
at
that
time
the
Lord
said
to
me
cut
for
yourself
two
tablets
of
stone
like
the
first
and
come
up
to
me
on
the
mountain
and
make
an
ark
of
wood
and
I
will
write
on
the
tablets
the
words
that
were
on
the
first
tablets
that
you
broke
and
you
shall
put
them
in
the
ark
so
I
made
an
ark
of
a
wood
and
went
up
the
mountain
with
the
two
tablets
in
my
hand
and
he
wrote
on
the
tablets
in
the
same
writing
as
before
the
ten
commandments
that
the
Lord
had
spoken
to
you
on
the
mountain
out
of
the
midst
of
the
fire
on
the
day
of
the
assembly
and
the
Lord
gave
them
to
me
then
I
turned
and
came
down
from
the
mountain
and
put
the
tablets
in
the
ark
that
I
to
Moserah
then
Aaron
died
and
there
he
was
buried
and
his
son
Eliasur
ministered
as a
priest
in
his
place
from
there
they
journeyed
to
Godoga
and
from
Godoga
to
Jothbatha
the
land
with
brooks
of
water
at
that
time
the
Lord
set
apart
the
tribe
of
Levi
to
carry
the
ark
of
the
covenant
of
the
Lord
to
stand
before
the
Lord
to
minister
to
him
and
to
bless
in
his
name
to
this
day
therefore
Levi
has
no
portion
or
inheritance
with
his
brothers
the
Lord
is
his
inheritance
as
the
Lord
your
God
said
to
him
I
myself
stayed
on
the
mountain
as
at
the
first
time
for
forty
days
and
forty
nights
and
the
Lord
listened
to
me
that
time
also
the
Lord
was
unwilling
to
destroy
you
and
the
Lord
said
to
me
arise
go
on
your
journey
at
the
head
of
the
people
so
they
may
go
in
and
possess
the
land
which
I
swore
to
their
fathers
to
give
them
now
Israel
what
does
the
Lord
your
God
require
of
you
but
to
fear
the
Lord
your
God
to
walk
in
all
his
ways
to
love
him
to
serve
the
Lord
your
God
with
all
your
heart
and
with
all
your
soul
and
to
keep
the
commandments
and
statutes
of
the
Lord
which
I
am
commanding
you
today
for
your
good
behold
to
the
Lord
your
God
belong
heaven
and
the
heaven
of
heavens
the
earth
with
all
that
is
in
it
yet
the
Lord
set
his
heart
and
love
on
your
fathers
and
chose
their
offspring
after
them
you
above
all
peoples
as
you
are
this
day
circumcise
therefore
the
foreskin
of
your
heart
and
be
no
longer
stubborn
for
the
Lord
your
God
is
God
of
gods
and
Lord
of
lords
the
great
the
mighty
and
the
awesome
God
who
is
not
partial
and
takes
no
bribe
he
executes
justice
for
the
fatherless
and
the
widow
and
loves
the
sojourner
giving
him
food
and
clothing
love
the
sojourner
therefore
for
you
are
sojourners
in
the
land
of
Egypt
you
shall
fear
the
Lord
your
God
you
shall
serve
him
and
hold
fast
to
him
and
by
his
name
you
shall
swear
he
is
your
praise
he
is
your
God
who
has
done
for
you
these
great
and
terrifying
things
that
your
eyes
have
seen
your
fathers
went
down
to
Egypt
seventy
persons
and
now
the
Lord
your
God
has
made
you
as
numerous
as
the
stars
of
heaven
and
so on
and may
God
bless
that
reading
from
his
word
before we
come back
to look at
some of
this passage
we'll sing
again
to God's
praise
in
Psalm
32
Psalm
32
in the
Scottish
Psalter
page
244
we'll sing
verse 7
down to
the end
of the
psalm
Psalm
32
at
verse 7
the tune
is Bedford
thou art
my hiding
place
thou shalt
from
trouble
keep
me
free
thou
with
songs
of
deliverance
about
shall
compass
me
I
will
instruct
thee
and
they
teach
the way
that
thou
shalt
go
and
with
mine
eye
upon
thee
set
I
will
direction
show
we'll
sing
verse 7
down to
the end
of the
psalm
to
God's
praise
the
heart
my
hiding
place
thou
shalt
from
trouble
keep
me
free
I
with
songs
of
deliverance
abide
shall
compass
me
I
will
instruct
thee
and
thee
teach
the way
that thou
shalt
go
and
with
mine
eye
upon
thee
said
I
said
I
will
direction
show
then
be
not
like
the
horse
or
mule
which
do
not
understand
whose
mouth
God
they
life
and
подоб
of
t
jeep
from
real
japan
代
get
to
the
John
In the Lord, mercy shall compass Christ.
Ye righteous in the Lord be done, in him do ye rejoice.
O ye that have my loving heart, for joy lift up your voice.
We can turn back together to our reading in Deuteronomy chapter 10.
We can look at verse 12 to verse 16 in particular together this evening.
Deuteronomy chapter 10 at verse 12.
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?
But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good.
Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.
Yet the Lord set his heart and love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn, for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords.
And so on.
I hope you all make it a priority at some point in the day.
I hope you start the day and end the day looking at the word of God, making it a priority to read your Bibles.
But how do you read it?
What approach do you take to it?
Are you one who just maybe sticks in the same kind of area?
Or do you like to read through it in a more ordinary manner?
Or maybe trying to start from the beginning and just read your way through it?
We can all have different ways of approaching how we read the word of God.
Bishop J.C. Ryle, a bishop in England many years ago and a writer of many books, many books I'm sure that many of you are familiar with.
Most homes will have his book on holiness or other ones like that.
Well, he once said that we must read our Bibles like men digging for hidden treasure.
That is how we are to approach reading our Bibles as men, women, boys and girls digging for hidden treasure.
With that sense of anticipation, that sense of longing that we're going to find something of riches in this word of God.
We've thought about it as we've been looking at Habakkuk, digging for nuggets of gold in Habakkuk.
How in the midst of so many things that just leave people in dismay and disarray,
there are these nuggets, these precious nuggets of gold that give us a sense of encouragement.
And God willing, we'll come back to Habakkuk next Sunday morning, all being well.
But when we come to read the word of God, we might be maybe more inclined to read the New Testament,
to go into the Gospels or the letters of Paul.
Or maybe if we go into the Old Testament, we stick to maybe passages that we've been familiar with from a very young age.
The stories like David and Goliath or Daniel and the Lion's Den or all these kinds of accounts that we read of,
we maybe become more selective.
Who has in their favorite books the book of Deuteronomy?
Is it a book that you keep going back to as a book that you think there's so much nuggets of gold in here
that I just long to go back to it and read it again and again?
It's not always a book maybe that stands out in our list of favorites.
And yet, as you go through the book of Deuteronomy, you find it's such an important book.
An important book in the sense of the Old Testament, but also as you go into the New Testament.
What it's speaking about is so important, not just for Moses and his day, but for ourselves today.
There's so much we can learn from this book.
There's so much we see that has such great significance for us.
There's one commentator, one writer, one theologian called Gordon Wenham.
And he speaks of the significance of the book of Deuteronomy in this way.
He calls it the linchpin of the Old Testament.
So the linchpin is something that hinges things together.
Like a trailer has a linchpin that connects it to whatever's towing it.
So you've got this linchpin that makes sure that everything else is secure.
And he describes the book of Deuteronomy in that way.
It's like a linchpin that keeps things secure.
So what's come before it and what comes after it is held secure by what we read in the book of Deuteronomy.
So why is it so important?
Why is it a book that we should be so interested in?
When you think about how often it's quoted in the New Testament, you maybe think, where do I see it quoted?
Well, alongside Genesis, Psalms, and the book of Isaiah, it is the most quoted book in the New Testament.
So again, that highlights for us that there is significance in this book of Deuteronomy.
We're not putting it above other books, but we're just seeing that it's not a book we should ignore.
It's not a book we should think of just easily passing by it because you find so much riches in it.
And it's important hasn't waned.
It's still important for us today, just as much as it was, as Moses was with the children of Israel here, about to enter into the promised land.
They were on the border.
They were on the cusp of going into the promised land.
The Lord had brought them through the Exodus.
He had brought them out of Egypt through so many trials.
And here they were about to go into the promised land.
And what you find with the book of Deuteronomy is it begins and it ends with a reminder of God's covenant.
That's God's relationship with his people.
That God has promised many things to his people.
If you look in chapter 4, verse 31, there it said,
So there's that promise at the start.
And then if you jump forward to chapter 29, and just even looking at the heading of that chapter,
it's the covenant renewed in Moab.
You go through that chapter and it's a reminder of God's covenant that he made with Moses and with his people.
So you find the whole book has at its bookends, if you like, the covenant.
The reminder of God's promise to his people.
And so Moses is here preaching to the people.
He's reminding them as they're about to enter the promised land that their allegiance is to be to God.
Because they are going into a land that is full of so many other gods.
False gods, idols, temptations that they will be drawn away from worshipping God
and their allegiance going somewhere else.
What was the danger that they faced?
The danger was that they would forget the Lord their God.
And that's the serious nature of this book.
That's what you see as the bookends with God showing his remembrance of his people
and his covenant love to them.
Within and in between that, there is this danger of the people forgetting God.
And you say, well, they wouldn't.
Surely they wouldn't forget God.
After all he's done for them.
After all he's done in taking them out of Egypt, through the wilderness, all these years,
and now on the border of the promised land,
and taking them into a land that's described as flowing with milk and honey,
riches and everything that they need.
Surely they wouldn't forget the Lord.
The warning rings in their ears in chapter 8, verse 11, 14, and 19.
There you see the warning go out so powerfully,
where Moses says,
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.
It's this warning ringing in their ears.
And yet, as are we.
And we say to ourselves, well, we wouldn't forget the Lord.
We wouldn't forget his goodness to us.
We wouldn't forget the blessings of a Christian upbringing, a Christian home.
We wouldn't forget what he's saying to us through his word.
We would.
And we do.
That is the sad nature of who we are.
How quickly we forget the Lord.
Even as we go into this week ahead,
we might have that warning ringing in our ears.
Do not forget the Lord.
Maybe on Monday it's loud and clear.
On Tuesday it's just a little bit quieter.
By Wednesday we've just taken up by the rest of the ways of the world.
We forget about the Lord.
But as we come into chapter 10,
what we want to see together this evening,
as we look at this section,
verse 12 to verse 16, 17 there,
what we are reminded of is an insight of God's love to us.
And it comes about in this situation where,
as we read at the beginning of chapter 10,
the Lord is still remembering his people.
He gives the Ten Commandments to them,
despite, as you see in chapter 9,
the golden calf when they'd just turned their back on God so quickly,
that he still remembers them.
And in verse,
excuse me,
in verse 10
and verse 11 there,
you find that he's talking there about
still remembering and interceding
for his people.
Moses has prayed with God
and the Lord listened to me,
it says in verse 10,
and the Lord was unwilling to destroy you.
There's that mercy you see there.
He's showing mercy
in the midst of their disobedience,
in the midst of their forgetfulness.
He's still a God
who shows mercy.
And the Lord longs for his people
to come and trust in him.
And that's the call that goes out through this passage
to ourselves this evening as well.
To remember that God
is a God who could destroy us.
He could give us what we deserve,
what our sins deserve,
is death.
But he shows mercy.
And he gives time.
And he calls to us to come.
He shows us his great love towards us.
Through his son, Christ Jesus.
And in that love that he shows towards us,
he calls on us to love him
because he first loved us.
And so I want us to take these three things
from these verses as we look at them
together this evening.
As Moses is here
preaching to the people,
as he's ministering to them,
he's saying three things to them.
The first is he's giving them
what the Lord requires.
There's a requirement here.
If we want to know
the Lord's blessing,
there is a requirement.
And then secondly,
he gives them a reminder.
A reminder of his love.
And then the third thing that we see
is this calls for a response.
So we have a requirement,
a reminder,
and a response.
And the first thing we see
is a reminder.
In verse 12 there,
having reminded them
of how he has interceded
and how he has said,
the Lord was unwilling to destroy you,
he's showing God's love to them,
God's mercy to them.
And as you see God's mercy,
does that not demand a response?
Well, it does,
as you see here.
Because in verse 12,
Moses goes on and he says,
and now Israel,
now you people,
what does the Lord,
your God,
require of you?
In light of his mercy,
in light of his sparing you,
what does he require of you?
And he goes on to give them the answer.
He says,
but to fear the Lord,
your God,
to walk in all his ways,
to love him,
to serve the Lord,
your God,
with all your heart
and with all your soul,
and to keep the commandments
and statutes of the Lord,
which I am commanding you today.
there is what the Lord,
your God,
requires of you.
And in many ways,
you could look at that list
and think,
there's an outward side
to that list.
To fear the Lord
is to show
an honor to God,
to recognize
who he is,
to walk in his ways,
to love him,
to serve him,
to keep his word.
And what you see
as you go through the scriptures
is that for people,
God's people
down through generations,
this can be an outward show.
But what he's warning here
is it's got to be more
than that.
It's got to be more
than just an outward show
of things.
And what he's getting at
in this section
is the heart.
And as we'll see later on,
it's the heart
that needs
to change.
And it's the heart
that needs to have
been impacted
by all of these things.
He requires of you
to fear the Lord,
not just outwardly,
but inwardly.
He requires of you
to love him,
not just in an outward showing,
but with all your heart
inwardly.
And your service
must come
from that loving
him inwardly.
Keeping his word
must be just
not to make people see it,
but because you love
the Lord
with all your heart,
you lay up
his word
in your heart.
And it's the goal
that you're searching for,
that you're searching
the scriptures
to see
Lord,
what do you want
of me?
Moses had been assigned
as the leader
of the people.
And if he was
to lead the people
well,
he was to be one
who lived in this way
as well.
And again,
not just outwardly,
but with all
his heart.
So what Moses
is saying here
to the people is,
don't look at me
as your leader.
Look to God.
fear the Lord.
Don't look to me
and love me,
Moses is saying.
Love God.
Don't look to me
and serve me.
Serve the Lord.
Don't look to me
and keep the words
that I am giving you.
It's the word of God.
Keep his word.
not doing anything
for man,
not doing anything
for an outward show
to anybody else,
but doing it
for the Lord.
Because you see
what the Lord
has done
for you.
Do you ever ask
yourself that question,
what does the Lord
require of me?
And maybe you've got
this list of things
that you think,
this is what would be good
before the Lord
for me to do.
And you'll do it
to suit yourself.
Because if you were
to actually do
everything that the Lord
requires of you,
it's a huge challenge.
Just think of what
he's saying there.
Fear the Lord,
walk in his ways,
love him,
serve him,
keep his word.
To do that
means it's difficult,
it's hard.
And you might say,
oh, this is just too much,
I'll just try
and do some of it.
And once you start
to just try
and do some of it,
then you start
to fall away
from the rest of it.
And then you just
fall back
into the old ways.
And then you realize
you're away
from God again.
We forget the Lord.
And that's the cycle
that you see
in Deuteronomy
as you go on
through the word of God.
It's that constant cycle
that you see.
Forget one
and it leads
to forgetting the rest.
It leads
to forgetting God.
So it's to be
our priority
to do all
of these things.
And not just outwardly
but inwardly
with all
our hearts.
There's a great example
in Scripture
for us.
If we're looking
for an example
and I was reading
this about David
in the Old Testament
in the book of Samuel.
There is a man
who is described
as a man
after God's
own heart.
He was a leader
who God chose
to lead his people
as well.
But what was
the qualities
that David had?
Well you could almost
say it was all
of these things.
He feared the Lord.
He walked in his ways.
He loved him.
He served him.
He kept his word.
That was when
David was strong.
Going back to maybe
our favorite passages
as we read in Scripture.
The ones we're familiar
with from a young age.
We know David
and Goliath
and that story
of how David
conquered this giant
Goliath.
But I was reading
about this this week
and it said
it's easy in the drama
of this event
that we miss
what David
was actually doing.
How he was fulfilling
these requirements.
How he didn't listen
to advice
of those around him
of he should do this
or he should do that.
That he listened
to God.
And it was this verse
that the writer
was focusing on
in verse 40
of 1 Samuel chapter 17
where you read
that account
of David and Goliath.
It says there
he chose
five smooth stones.
And you can easily
pass by
and think nothing
of that.
Or maybe
as some people
have done
you're asking questions
why five stones?
What did they represent?
Why more than one stone?
Surely you only needed
one to kill Goliath.
David was a man of faith.
Did he doubt
that God
would help him
in conquering
the giant Goliath?
Well
the writer pointed out
this
that later on
in 2 Samuel
chapter 21
verse 15
to 22
there it mentions
giants.
other giants.
And it mentions
at least four
there by name.
So Goliath
wasn't
the only
giant.
So he didn't
just choose
any stones.
He didn't just
choose the first ones
that he came across.
He knew what it was
to use a sling.
He knew what he needed
to make
an accurate shot.
And so he did
as he had always done.
He chose
the best.
the most suitable.
He didn't say
the Lord
is going to do it
for me anyway.
I'll just pick up
any jagged rocks.
He recognised
his own
responsibility.
And this is a point
that the writer
was getting at.
There was
our responsibility
and God's
divine
providence
in David's life.
And it was
the two
going
together.
It was
what the Lord
required
of David
to use
his common
sense
but to
trust
the Lord.
And as
Moses is
writing to
the people
here
as he is
teaching them
and as he is
teaching us
he's teaching us
these two things
as well.
Yes
we can
trust God
but it's not
a case of
well God's
going to do it
anyway.
It's not that
kind of
trust.
There's
our
responsibility
too and that's
the responsibility
here.
What does
the Lord
require of
you the same
as of David
to fear
the Lord
your God
to walk
in his ways
to love
him and serve
him and trust
his word.
That is what
required
of us.
The Lord
gives us
instruction
for a reason.
He gives us
commands for a
reason.
In verse 13
he says here
it's for
your good.
All of
these things
are for
your good.
In chapter
4, 5, 6
and 12
he's giving
instructions there
in these chapters
with the phrase
that it may
go well
with you.
It's the phrase
that keeps
coming up.
So we have
requirements in
life.
They are for
our good
that it may
go well
with you.
The question
is
are we
fulfilling
them?
Are we
listening to
the requirements
that the
Lord gives?
Are we
choosing to
ignore them
and push
them away
and forgetting
the Lord?
We want
to do
as the
Lord requires.
We want
to love
him with
all our
hearts.
And the
second thing
we see
here is a
reminder.
A
reminder
in verse
15.
yet it
says there
the
Lord
set
his
heart
in
love
on
your
fathers.
And what's
interesting
about this
is what
comes in
verse 14
as well.
It says
he's commanding
these things
for your
good.
behold
to the
Lord your
God
belong
heaven
and the
heavens
of heavens
the earth
with all
that is
in it.
The Lord
has it
all
but yet
the Lord
set his
heart
and love
on your
fathers
and chose
their offspring
after them
you above
all peoples
as you are
this day.
there's a
powerful
reminder
there
of the
love
of God.
The power
of God
is seen
in these
verses
in verse
14.
The Lord
your God
belong
heaven
and heaven
of heavens
the earth
and all
that is
in them.
He is a
powerful
God.
He has
everything
in his
hands.
As we
sang in
Psalm 96
great is
the Lord
and greatly
to be
praised.
God
is an
awesome
God.
But in
the midst
of this
majesty
and this
power
in verse
15
yet the
Lord
set his
heart
in love
on you
your fathers
and on
you.
So he's
asking and
there's a
challenge
there.
What does
the Lord
require of
you?
How is
your heart?
Well here's
a reminder
of God's
heart to
his people.
The Lord
has set
his heart
in love
on you.
With such
care and
attention
given to
us,
how could
we forget
the Lord?
How could
we possibly
forget the
Lord?
The Lord
who has
power over
all things
yet has
set his
heart
on his
people.
You think
of the
kind of
ways that
people can
feel there
to come
and worship
God.
People are
called to
follow and
worship God.
Sometimes
it's out of
a sense
of guilt.
Is that
really going
to make
us worship
God?
Other
times it's
almost when
you feel
that God
is dictating
to us
that we
must love
him.
Is that
how God
wants us
to worship
him?
It's like
thinking of
an arranged
marriage where
someone doesn't
want to go
in it but
they're terrified
and yet they're
forced to marry
someone they
don't love.
But that's
not the
way God
has a
relationship
with us.
Remember
the covenant
at the
beginning and
the end
how he has
not forgotten
his people
and here in
the midst
of even
their turning
away from
him with
a golden
calf in
chapter 9
how Moses
has come
and he's
had this
promise the
Lord is
unwilling to
destroy you
and then you
have this
in verse 15
yet the
Lord set
his heart
in love
on you.
Is there
not a
reason there
to love
him?
Because he
loves us
with such
a powerful
love.
We see
who he
is and
we see
what he
has done
for us.
A love
that has
remembered
us.
A remembering
love that
we see
in the
cross.
A remembering
love that
does not
let us
go.
A love
that as
we were
looking at
this morning
a love
that comforts
us in
all our
different
needs.
And that
is a love
that he
has for
his people.
And not
just the
children of
Israel here
because we
become his
people.
Peter makes
that clear
in his
first letter
as he's
writing to
the people
in 1 Peter
chapter 2
he says
you are
a chosen
people
a royal
priesthood
a holy
nation
a people
belonging
to God
that you
may declare
the praises
of him
who called
you out
of darkness
into his
wonderful
light.
You are
his people
when he
has done
that for
you.
When he
has taken
you and
called you
out of his
darkness
into his
marvelous
light.
Peter goes
on to say
once you
were not
a people
but now
you are
the people
of God
once you
had not
received
mercy
but now
you have
received
mercy.
The mercy
of God
and the
love that
he has shown
to us
through Jesus
Christ.
What a wonder
of that love.
What a power
there is
in that love.
As the hymn writer
says,
how deep
the Father's
love for us,
how vast
beyond all
measure,
that he
should give
his only
son to
make a
wretch
his
treasure.
Why
should I
gain
from his
reward?
I cannot
give an
answer,
but this
I know
with all
my heart,
his wounds
have paid
my ransom.
How deep
the Father's
love.
And that's
the love
that we see
here in
verse 15,
that in the
midst of their
disobedience,
in the midst
of their
turning away,
yet the
Lord set
his heart
and love
on your
fathers and
chose their
offspring after
them, you
above all
people, as
you are
this day.
As you
are this
day, even
imperfect
sinners,
yet the
Lord has
shown his
love to
you.
And is
that not
how we
are ourselves
today?
Imperfect
sinners,
imperfect
sinners,
in so
many ways
and yet
reminded of
the love
of God
to us
in Christ
Jesus.
So what
does this
mean?
As Moses
is telling
the people
all of
these things,
as he's
showing them
this reminder,
as he's
telling them
these requirements,
what does
it mean?
Well, it
calls for
a response.
And that's
what we
see in
verse 16.
Circumcise,
therefore,
the foreskin
of your
heart, and
be no
longer
stubborn,
for the
Lord your
God is
God of
gods and
Lord of
lords, the
great, the
mighty, and
the awesome
God.
It calls
for a
response.
As we
say with
the covenant
before us
here at
the beginning
and the
end, a
covenant
agreement is
between two
parties, between
God who has
shown his
love there in
verse 15, who
has set his
love on his
people, his
steadfast love.
God has
pledged that.
It's an
unchanging
love, but it
calls for a
response.
And the
response is to
do with the
heart.
God has
to show an
outward show
towards God,
but it's to
show an
openness, an
open heart
towards him,
an open
heart that
will receive
the word
of God.
Get rid
of everything
that keeps
you from
loving God.
Stop being
like the
harsh,
stubborn,
like we
were singing
in the
psalm there
in Psalm
32, verse
9.
Then be
not like the
horse or
mule which
do not
understand,
whose mouth
lest they
come near to
thee a
bridle must
command.
There's got
to be this
bridle in
his mouth,
don't be
stubborn like
the horse.
And it's
saying here
as well,
and be
no longer
stubborn.
What does
it mean to
be stubborn?
I'm sure
many of us
could answer
that quite
easily.
We've all
experienced
it, either
by being
the offender
or on the
receiving end
of it.
We are
stubborn by
nature in
so many
ways because
there's an
arrogance and
stubbornness,
an arrogance
that you see
in the people
of God so
often here
in Deuteronomy,
a stubbornness
that's led
them to make
a golden
calf, saying
Moses, he's
not coming
back, he's
gone.
They didn't
trust that
he would
come back.
And so
they took
matters into
their own
hands.
And that's
the stubbornness
that plagues
our heart to
this day.
The stubbornness
that we know
best, that we've
got a plan,
that we've got
a way, that
God doesn't
know what
he's doing.
The stubbornness
that just puts
God away, that
shuns him.
So there is a
stubbornness that's
in us all.
But the
response that
it's calling
for is
circumcised
therefore, the
foreskin of
your heart.
What does he
mean by that?
The male
Israelites, they
had to be
circumcised, to
have their
foreskin cut
off.
It was a
sign of
belonging to
God, but it
was an outward
sign.
But what he's
asking for here
is an inward
sign, that the
heart is what
needs changing.
Not just
putting on an
outward show, not
just putting on a
show that they're
to please other
people around us,
but that our
heart, our
heart is for
God, that our
heart is open
to God.
Circumcise
therefore the
foreskin of your
heart and be no
longer stubborn.
The
requirements that
God asks of
you.
Don't think you
know better.
Don't think you
can manage your
life in any
better way.
The love that
God has shown
for you.
Don't think you
can ignore it.
You ignore it at
your peril and
say that that
love is not
real or that God
did not do
that, that Jesus
never rose from
the grave.
All of these
things, there's a
stubbornness.
God is not
real.
Well, God is
not dead.
God is
not
to be
open to
him, not
to be stubborn
like the horse
or the mule,
because they
don't understand.
And it's a fool
that says in his
heart that there
is no God,
because that
heart is hard.
But we are
not to harden
our hearts.
We are not
to be stubborn.
We are to
listen to the
word of God.
Thankful that
he has spoken
to us, that
the Lord has
not destroyed
us.
As we saw at the
beginning of this
section, the
Lord was unwilling
to destroy.
He showed
mercy.
He has
showed mercy to
you and to me,
that we hear
the word
of God.
And this
word that we
have in
Deuteronomy,
it is a
precious word.
It is a
golden nugget
of God
to us,
that the
Lord requires
of us
to do
these things,
to see
his love,
and to
respond
to it
with an
open heart,
to receive
his grace,
to trust
in him,
to walk
with him,
and to
love him,
and to
serve him
with all
our heart.
So be
not stubborn,
but open
your heart
to the
Lord,
that he
might come
in and
dwell.
May the
Lord bless
these thoughts
to us.
we'll
conclude by
singing to
God's
praise in
Psalm 95,
in the
Sing Psalms
version,
page 1,
2,
6,
Psalm 95,
the tune
is
Cyndenio,
and we're
going to
sing from
verse 6
to verse 8,
these two
verses.
Psalm 95,
page 1,
2,
6,
come,
let us
bow humbly
and worship
the Lord.
Let us
kneel before
him,
our maker
in prayer,
for we
are his
people,
and he
is our
God,
his shepherd,
and he
shepherds
and feeds
us in
his loving
care.
Today,
if you
hear and
attend to
his voice,
don't harden
your hearts
as you
did on
the way.
In
Meribah's
desert,
you
quarreled
with me,
you
tested my
patience
at Massa
that day.
We'll sing
these two
verses to
God's praise.
We stand
to sing.
Come,
let us
bow humbly
and worship
the Lord.
Let us
kneel
before him,
our maker
in prayer.
For we
are his
people,
and he
is our
God.
God,
he shepherds
and feeds
us in
his loving
care.
Today,
if you
hear and
attend to
his voice,
don't harden
your hearts
as you
did on
the way.
in
Meribah's
desert,
you
quarreled
with me,
you
tested
my
patience
at
Massa
that
day.
I'm going
to close
with a
benediction,
and after
the benediction,
I'll go to
the door
to my
left.
Now,
may grace,
mercy,
and peace
from God,
Father,
Son,
and Holy
Spirit,
rest upon
and abide
with you
all now
and forever
more.
Amen.
Let's