A Call to Reflect

Deuteronomy 8:1–9 ESV

1 “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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 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 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 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.

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Introduction

It is edifying, encouraging, and often sobering to look back over the past year and trace God’s gracious dealings with us; to call to mind His many interventions on our behalf, and to remember also some of the serious lessons which He has taught us over the past months. In Old and New Testaments, God was continually calling His people to such an exercise of heart and mind (; , ). It was a call to:

I. A Thoughtful Reflection (8:2)

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Deuteronomy 8:2 ESV

2 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.

1. God’s Patience (8:2)

2. God’s Purpose (8:2)

II. A Thankful Reflection (8:2–4)

Deuteronomy 8:3–4 ESV

3 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. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.

1. God’s Provision (8:3)

2. God’s Protection (8:4)

III. Trustful Reflection (8:2, 7, 18)

1. God’s Continued Presence (8:2)

Deuteronomy 8:2 ESV

2 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.

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2. God’s Continued Promise (8:7)

Deuteronomy 8:7 ESV

7 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,

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3. God’s Continued Power (8:18)

Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV

18 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.

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Conclusion

True remembrance leads to rejoicing and resolution. If we have needed God’s sevenfold blessings of patience, purpose, provision, protection, presence, promise, and power in the past, how much more do we need them in coming days! Let us turn these blessings into promises, knowing that our God “doth undertake to guide the future as He has the past.”