Bible reading for June 24.
Deuteronomy 29.
"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." (Deuteronomy 29:29)
COVENANT RENEWAL. Before entering the promised land the Israelites, led by Moses, renew their covenant with the Lord (v 1). They are witnesses of God's glory and works (v 2-3, 5-8). But as confident as they feel at the time, Moses says that there is something lacking in them (v 4): "But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear." The prophets later will say that they (and we) would need a new and better covenant in which God works upon their hearts (Jer 31:33; 32:40; Ezek 36:26-27). This inability to understand and perceive the things of God characterized the Jews all the way up to Jesus day, including even the well-educated. Nicodemus, for example, a leading rabbi, did not understand what Jesus was talking about (John 3:9-11). Jesus' disciples were often spiritually dull-witted, until after the resurrection, when he "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:44-45). In our relationship with God we can't rely on any ability within ourselves but rather on God's gracious work for us and in us.
THINGS REVEALED. The goal of God's work of salvation in history is to "...establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you" (v 13; cf Ex 6:7; Rev 21:3). One thing that I have needed to learn -- along with all the people of God -- is when to stop trying to understand things I can't, and to be content to trust and obey God. Faith is believing God, in God, and in the things he has revealed in his word. Many of us want to speculate beyond what God has revealed, for example, the various mysteries of creation, free will, divine election, predestination, the existence of evil, angels, how the trinity works, how Jesus can be man and God at the same time, how time and eternity interact, and on and on. Sometimes we hit pause on our obedience toward the Lord until we think we understand it all better, or have all our questions answered. The last verse of this chapter (v 29), one that I have memorized and think about often, tells us that there is a limit to what we can know about God and all those mysteries. We can know what he has chosen to reveal to us and beyond that we must be content to trust and obey. In fact we must be like children to enter his kingdom (Luke 18:16-17).
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Psalms 119:49-72.
"The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces." (Psalm 119:72)
BETTER THAN GOLD. We are reading this great acrostic psalm (see earlier post) on the blessings of God's word. Again, the many synonyms used -- words, ways, statutes, precepts, law, rules, testimonies, promises, and commandments -- emphasize that God's mind and will have been revealed to us verbally, in the words of Scripture. God's promises (vv 49-50) give us hope and life. Also, a recurrent theme is that the believer will esteem God's word above all riches (v 72). As you read through this psalm ask yourself, "How is his word described? what does his word do for me? What should be my attitude and response to his word?"
Image credit: Deuteronomy 29:29, written with a black Sheaffer Triumph Autograph fountain pen (mfd. 1940s).
We are following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne (RMM) two-year reading schedule, as arranged by D. A. Carson.
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The NET Bible is a free, online resource, and a ministry of bible.org.
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