American Fussiness

Introduction

Hear now the Word of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8 LSB

1 “The entire commandment that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to give to your fathers. 2 “And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 “And He humbled you and let you be hungry 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 by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh. 4 “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 “Thus you shall know in your heart that Yahweh your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 “So you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 “For Yahweh your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 “And so you will eat and be satisfied, and you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which He has given you. 11 “Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God by not keeping His commandments and His judgments and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 lest you eat and are satisfied and build good houses and live in them, 13 and your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14 and your heart becomes lifted up and you forget Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 “He led you through the great and fearsome wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end, 17 lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18 “But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 “Now it will be, if you ever forget Yahweh your God and walk after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. 20 “Like the nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so you shall perish, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Father in heaven, we humbly come before you now, confessing our sins. We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry, and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us. We ask you to set us apart unto your service. We humbly request that you accept the sacrifice of our broken and contrite hearts, that you might receive the fruit of our lips as a soothing aroma upon your altar.

As we open up your Word, we pray that you would grant us the sense of the text and teach us how to receive your wisdom with open hearts and open minds, that we may do all you require of us. We thank you for your Son, who himself is our peace, who elected reprobate man into a holy covenant with you. Bless us, O Father, according to your abundant faithfulness. In the name of your Son we pray. Amen.

Prayer