Deuteronomy 8

you again in this new 2017.

Since Sunday fell on New Year's Day, some of you probably weren't here last week, so

we're going to do New Year all over again.

No, I'm not kidding, but we're going to, but this morning I do want to talk a little bit

about thinking about the New Year and coming up.

I don't know what you think about New Year's resolutions.

Anyone a fan?

You don't have to raise your hand.

The Guilty can, I'm not a big fan of them, to be honest with you.

It feels like they're mostly more wishful aspirations than actual commitments, and I think they often

can lure us with false hopes of instant change when it doesn't really happen.

But having said all that, I do think that New Year and the change of the season gives us

an opportunity to reflect, to reflect on where we've been in the past year and to reflect

on where we are going in the future.

So I want to begin this morning by asking you a few questions.

What have the last 12 months held for you?

What trials have you faced?

What hard things as part of life in a fallen world have you walked through?

Where have you seen your own failures and your sin rear its ugly head in your life?

What joys have you had?

Where have there been things to celebrate, to rejoice in, to throw a party for?

What successes and victories have you seen in your life?

Where have you seen God's faithful love for you expressed in this past year?

And when have you felt like you've walked alone in the darkness?

Reflecting back is part of what we do in New Year's.

The other part is looking ahead.

Where are we going?

What does the future hold?

So let me ask you this.

What do you worry about as you look ahead to the year?

Where do you find fear creeping in and gripping your heart with its iron fist?

What are you hoping for?

What do you anticipate seeing good things in parts of your life?

What parts of your life are you despairing that change will never happen?

And where do you see, with eager anticipation, hope that you might grow and change and explore something new this coming year?

I don't know if you've thought about those questions.

I don't know if you've taken time to do that.

I don't always.

Sometimes it's just another week, another day in the long span of life.

But I've actually set aside some time this coming week to think about these things and reflect upon them.

So I don't come to you with all, having all of my answers full out.

But I hope that you might consider joining me in doing that.

As we think about these things, as we think about these questions, as we reflect back on the last year and as we look ahead to the new year.

I was meditating on this and wanted to reflect a little bit this morning to you about what God might have to say to us in the midst of this process.

So we're going to look for a few minutes at Deuteronomy chapter 8.

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

It's page 152 in your pew Bibles.

If you want to turn there, we'll be reading it in a few minutes.

But as you turn there, let me just give a little bit of context.

If you've forgotten where we're at in Deuteronomy 8, which of course is not a part of a series, which we're usually doing.

So maybe you have.

Deuteronomy 8 is where Moses is now speaking again to the people of God.

They have wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

And he is speaking now to a new generation because the old generation of Israelites,

most of them have died off in the wilderness as a part of God's judgment on their unbelief 40 years ago

when they would not enter the land in faith because of their fear.

And they're now standing on the plains of Moab.

And Moses is recounting to them what God has done and reminding them of who God has been for them

as they're about to cross the Jordan River and enter into the promised land.

And in the book of Deuteronomy, he's restating what God has already done for them and said to them

to prepare them to be his covenant people as they enter into the land that he has prepared for them to live in.

So that's the context of Deuteronomy 8.

Let's go ahead and look at it together and we'll read it and pray before we continue.

So Deuteronomy chapter 8.

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

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.

And you shall remember the whole way the Lord your God has led you these 40 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.

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.

Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these 40 years.

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 by walking in his ways and by fearing him,

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 the hills,

a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates,

a land of olive trees and honey, 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,

and you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

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.

Lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,

and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,

then your heart be lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions

and thirsty ground where there is no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,

who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know,

that he might humble you and test you to do you good in the end.

Beware lest you say in your heart,

my power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.

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.

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 will surely perish like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you,

so shall you perish because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.

Lord, as we look at your word this morning, I pray.

I pray for your spirit to be at work in us.

Lord, to make us soft-hearted and eager to listen to your voice.

Lord, I pray that you would enlighten our eyes and our minds and our hearts this morning

with the truth of your word.

Encourage us.

Strengthen us.

Lord, prepare us for the year ahead

with this word.

Lord, I pray for your help this morning.

Lord, I pray that my words would be pleasing to you.

And Lord, would be useful

to encourage all of us

as you speak to us.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

What Moses is telling to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 8

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

is what I believe he's telling us today similarly.

That as they prepare to go into the promised land,

as we prepare to go into our new year,

we'll get to whether that's going to look like the promised land or not,

as we enter in.

The most important thing,

the greatest thing for us to do

is to remember the Lord.

Now, that's a really simple sentence, isn't it?

Remember the Lord.

It seems almost empty of real significance.

It seems like maybe it's too simple.

Maybe it's not very productive or practical

to be encouraged to remember the Lord.

But what I want to do is that

as we look at this chapter,

I think we'll see that actually remembering the Lord

is a very rich concept

that Moses is encouraging them.

And with lots of nuances and dynamics for us to consider

as we think about it.

And as we face the realities of our lives,

both good and hard,

and as we face the contours of our own character,

both faithful and unfaithful,

we will see that remembering the Lord

will bear great fruit in our life

and will do us great good.

And so, we're going to look at this chapter this morning.

We're going to think about two things.

First of all,

how we are to remember the Lord

as we face various circumstances.

And secondly, we're going to think about

how remembering the Lord

shapes our character and our lives.

So first of all, let's think about how,

as Moses talked to the people of Israel,

how he speaks to us about how remembering the Lord

is important as we face various circumstances.

And obviously, this chapter's laid out.

There are two things.

These people are coming out of the desert

and they are going into the promised land.

So let's look at what he says about both of those things.

First of all, he says,

remember the Lord in his faithfulness to you in the desert.

Look with me again.

I want you to have your text open

so you can look with me this morning

because the words are rich.

Look with me in verses two through four.

Remember the way he led you.

Remember the particular ways

that he provided for you

and showed his faithfulness in the middle of it.

Remember the story of the exodus

and remember the story of the wandering in the wilderness.

God had raised up a great people

and then he removed them from Egypt.

He delivered them from oppression,

from slavery.

He took them out from under the thumb

of a brutal and oppressive regime.

And he led them into the wilderness

promising to take them to a promised land,

a place where they would be fully provided for

and free to be God's people and worship them.

Moses reminds them,

in the middle though,

you had to walk through a desert.

Maybe up to a million people

walking through a desert.

If you were a logistics expert,

you might ask,

how is that possible?

Where will these people

get the things that they need

simply to live?

Water?

Food?

Food.

Moses reminds them,

God provided for you.

God provided for you supernaturally.

God provided for you

in ways where there was no human hope of provision,

where there was no fallback plan.

There was no,

well, I hope God comes through,

but if he doesn't come through,

I could probably still make it

because my 401k is good,

my pantry is stocked,

or whatever it is.

There is no fallback plan

in these circumstances.

And God came through.

He brought water out of a rock.

He gave to them manna,

which was food

that was supernatural food.

There's no other way to explain it.

God simply provided for them

every day

the food

just for that day.

And he did it to them

while they grumbled

and complained

all the way.

Why did you lead us out here?

God, the desert is so hard.

Oh, we would have been better

as slaves in Egypt.

At least we had food.

Grumbling and complaining

and questioning God's ability

to care for them

over and over again.

And they were to remember.

They were to remember

the way that God

had cared for them.

Even their clothes

did not wear out.

Have you thought about that?

Does anyone have

a 40-year-old

piece of clothing

that they still wear?

And that's in the modern age.

You're not wearing it

every day

walking through a desert.

God provided for them

in remarkable ways.

He showed his goodness

to them

and his faithfulness

to them.

He said,

I remember you.

I have not forsaken you.

I am with you.

Friends,

I wondered this morning

if you can look back

on your last year

and think about

God's goodness.

If you could think

about God's faithfulness.

If you could sit down

and start jotting down,

this is the way

God has provided for me.

Some of you will find

that very easy.

Some of you may find

it more difficult

because the thing facing you

is the lack

and not the abundance.

But I'll bet

if you stop and think,

you could fill

not just a column

but page

after page

after page

of how God

has cared for you

in the last year.

It's not easy for me

to do this.

I feel like I've

been led into

my own personal wilderness

for the last couple

of years.

I still walk

missing my wife

who passed away

two years ago.

Every day.

I wish my circumstances

were different.

I wish I wasn't

in the desert.

But when I stop

and I begin to think,

I think about

how my children

seem to be thriving.

I think of the

financial provision

where I have a home.

God has taken care

of my every physical need.

I think of the love

of this church

and the community

that has surrounded me

and supported me.

I think of

my own family

and my wife's family

and the way

that they have

stood by me

and given

sacrificially to me.

I think of the way

that God has

encouraged me

at just the times

I needed it.

Friends who have

reached out

at just the right

times,

who have been there

for the long haul.

I could go on

and on and on

but I think that

God has been

so good

to me

in the midst

of the desert

that I've been

walking through.

And for some of you,

you may listen to me

and think,

your desert

sounds like

a promised land

compared to what

I've walked through

this year.

Which is the funny

thing, isn't it?

We all have

our own deserts

and our own

promised lands,

don't we?

And yet,

and yet,

God has shown

his faithfulness

to you.

He is the one

who gives life

and breath

in all things.

So Moses

calls us

to remember

that.

As we've

walked through

the desert,

God has been

faithful.

Moses goes on,

he says more

to us.

He says that

not only are you

to remember God

when you're walking

in the desert,

to remember how

he has cared for you

in the midst of that,

but then he turns

and he says,

maybe your life

isn't a desert.

In fact,

you're about to go

into the promised

land.

And he describes

this promised land.

Look with me again,

verse 7 and following.

And picture if you've

been walking in a

desert for 40 years.

I'm not a desert

person.

I didn't grow up

in the desert.

I've barely ever

been to a desert.

Some of you have

seen a real desert

and can imagine

this.

The closest thing

I can think of it

is I've been

watching Star Wars

with my kids

and if you've seen

The Force Awakens,

one of the main

characters,

Rey,

she grows up

on a planet

where there is

only sand.

It is a whole

desert planet.

And do you remember

the line when

she gets into

a spaceship

and she ends up

in another planet

that has lakes

and mountains

and greenery?

She says,

I never knew

there was so much

green in the

whole galaxy.

this is what

Moses is saying

to the people

of God

as they're standing

on the brink

of the Jordan

River.

Look across.

Do you see

what's there?

It has water,

brooks,

streams,

pools,

rivers.

It has

growing things,

wheat and barley,

food to eat.

You're able to

grow plants

to feed yourself.

And he goes on

and he talks about

all these different

things of abundance.

In fact,

it feels like

he almost runs out.

He's trying to

sort of say

everything you have,

everything you

would ever want,

everything you

would ever need,

olive trees

and honey

and bread

without eating.

And when he gets

to verse 9,

he says,

and you will

lack nothing.

In verse 10,

and you will

eat and you

will be full.

You who have

walked in the

desert for 40

years,

God is about

to take you

into this place

of incredible

abundance

where every

desire

and every

need

will be

filled.

But interestingly,

he doesn't say,

well then,

it'll be easy,

right?

Then it'll be

easy to thank

God.

He actually

says the opposite,

doesn't he?

He says,

when you go

in,

be careful.

Be careful

that you

don't fail

to remember

God.

Be careful

that you

don't forget

God

when things

are really

good.

Have you

seen this

in your own

life?

Have you

seen this

in your own

life?

Have you

ever noticed

that when

things get

really bad?

When life

is really

hard?

When a

situation

you care

about

just gets

completely

out of

your

control?

How easy

it is to

pray?

How easy

it is to

say,

God,

help me!

Because we

don't have a

choice.

We don't

have anything

else.

But when

life is

good,

when everything

seems to be

going well,

the bank

account is

healthy,

the family

is getting

along,

work seems

to be a

general

success,

you have

friends,

you enjoy,

how easy

it can be

to forget,

to remember

the Lord.

How easy

it can be

to slip

into the

thinking that

Moses exposes

in this,

when we lift

up our hearts

and we think,

look what we

have done,

I have built

a good life,

I have done

these great

things,

look what my

hands have

built,

look what my

hands have

provided.

How easy

it can be

to think

that the good

things come

because we

deserve this,

we've worked

hard,

we should get

these things.

And we

forget,

as he says

in verse

16,

or verse

18,

that it

is the

Lord,

it is the

Lord who

gives us

the power

to gain

these things,

that everything

we have

comes from

him.

Everything.

So friends,

I wonder

as we think

about it,

I don't

know what

your next

year is going

to look

like.

I don't

know whether

it's going

to feel

more like

a desert

or more

like a

promised land.

It might

feel like a

little bit

of both,

that's often

true I

think.

In some

parts of

our life

it feels

like a

desert,

other parts

of our

life it

feels like

a promised

land.

But what

Moses wants

us to see

is to

remember that

every,

in every

circumstance

we are to

remember the

Lord because

he will be

faithful,

because he

will be

good,

because

everything

that we

have,

the good

things that

we have,

and the

hard things

that we

have,

are all

from his

hand.

When things

are hard,

he will

provide for

us.

And when

things are

good,

he has

provided

for us.

And everything

that is

ours there

comes from

him.

how are

we to

do this?

Well,

you know,

it's funny,

the basic

spiritual

disciplines of

the Christian

life are

an awfully

good way

to think

about it.

When you

stop and

eat a meal,

do you

stop and

give thanks?

Do you

recognize this

food has

come from

God's hand

to feed you

in this

moment and

in this

day?

That would

be a great

thing for

you to

spend some

time cultivating

that practice

and then

cultivating that

prayer to

get beyond

a rote,

thank you

for this

meal,

amen,

to actually

allowing it

to be a

time of

thanksgiving

for you,

for your

family,

for your

friends as

you pray.

Gosh,

God has

been so

good to

us today.

Let's be

thankful

about those

things.

remembering

the Lord.

Things like

fasting.

Fasting is

setting aside

something that's

good that God

has given us

so that we'll

remember that it

comes from him

and so that we'll

remember that our

hearts, as much as

we love the things

that he gives us,

we want the Lord

more than that

and that's why we

sometimes fast from

things,

just to train our

heart and to

remember.

I read on a

blog last week

about someone

who's spent

their year with

a book at their

dinner table and

they write down

every day an

account of God's

blessing, an

account of God's

faithfulness to

them.

Maybe you'd

consider doing

that.

If you don't

have a family,

maybe it

wouldn't be the

dinner table,

but maybe in

your personal

devotions or

prayers before

bed.

Simple

Christian

devotion can

go a long

way to

cultivate this

remembering the

Lord and his

goodness and his

faithfulness to

us.

God

Let me also

just apply this

briefly to us

as a church.

I want to

think about it

because in the

next 12 months

it's very

possible that

there will be

cranes and

earth movers and

pile drivers and

all sorts of

things right in

our backyard as

the construction

happens.

It might feel

like a desert

for us.

It might feel

like a hard

season for us

as a church.

Are we prepared

to look for and

to trust in God's

faithfulness to

carry us through?

Do we see that in

fact it might be God

leading us into a

promised land where

God will bring a

whole community of

people right into

our backyard to

love and to serve?

I don't know what

it's going to look

like.

Who knows?

The city might

just not give

approvals and

nothing might be

nothing for the

next year.

But are we

prepared?

Are we prepared to

remember that the

Lord is sovereign and

good in all of it?

And to face that as

well.

So remembering the

Lord in all of our

circumstances good and

hard is the first

part of what Moses

wants us to think

about.

But the second

thing is that he

wants us to

recognize that in

the process of all

of these things in

remembering the

Lord there are ways

in which it shapes

our character and

our lives in

profound ways.

Look with me at

verses 2 and 3

again.

Do you see the

purpose clause at

the end of verse 2?

You shall remember

the way the Lord

your God

led you these 48

years in the

wilderness that

so that for the

purpose that he

might humble you

testing you to know

what was in your

heart whether you

would keep his

commandments or not.

And then

interestingly if you

go back if you look

again in verses 14

through 17 you see

again this theme of

how God led you into

the wilderness to

humble you.

Part of remembering

the Lord is

recognizing that

he is God and we

are not.

Part of what

remembering the Lord

is meant to do in

our lives one of the

dynamics of remembering

the Lord is that it

deepens our humility.

humility.

Because the converse of

course is what he

warns of in the second

half of this chapter

right?

That we lift our

hearts up and we

think of ourselves as

proudly self-sufficient.

As arrogantly

self-sourced.

I'm able to take care of

my own life.

I am able to provide for

myself.

I am the source of all

good things in my life.

When we lose sight of

the Lord we exalt

ourselves into his

position as the

ultimate provider.

The ultimate source of

life.

And so a part of what

Moses is helping us

see is that remembering

the Lord isn't just a

simple thing but it's

one of the ways in

which God wants us to

have our hearts shaped.

Because when we

remember him we are

humbled before him.

When we see his

provision we don't

think oh I did that.

We think wow this is

what God has given to

me.

What a wonderful thing

it is.

It helps us to be

humble when we have

times of great abundance.

When God gives us the

greatest gifts.

When you enter into the

most wonderful things

that you can imagine.

Success at work.

Your relationship with

a spouse.

Your children's growing

up and having great

growing up to be great

kids.

When you have these

things that you most

hope for.

When you remember the

Lord you say what a

great blessing.

What a great thing that

God has done for me.

And in every trial the

sting of it is softened

by the remembrance of

his provision.

When I couldn't provide

God was with me and he

provided for me.

Why would he love me

that way?

But he did.

And it humbles us.

And tied to humbling

is dependence.

We recognize that what

we have comes from him

and this is of course the

lesson of the manna.

Did you notice that twice

in this chapter Moses

riffs on the idea of

manna?

He doesn't just say oh

yeah and he provided food

and he provided water.

He says oh yeah and you

were hungry and what did

he do?

He provided this thing.

This supernatural thing

for you.

And he provided it in a

way.

Do you remember the

rules of manna?

Manna shows up every

morning.

You go out and you

collect it.

You can't keep it.

If you try to keep it

it rots.

If you try to go out

and collect for two

days you can't do it.

Except for on the

Sabbath because you go

out on Friday you

collect for two days

and then you have it

for Friday.

And oh yeah it

supernaturally sticks

around for Saturday and

then you can eat without

working to gather it.

And then it's gone.

He says God gave you

manna.

This incredible

supernatural provision

of very basic proteins

and nutrients that you

need to live.

And he provided this in a

supernatural way so that

you would remember that

man does not live by bread

alone but by every word

that proceeds from the

mouth of the Lord.

God.

Friends this is how

profound dependence really

is.

Do you think that by your

great work and by your

great hand you have

achieved the successes in

your career that you have?

Do you think that it's

because of your brilliant

personality and great love

that you have achieved the

marriage that you find

yourself in?

Do you think

do you think as a kid

that because you've been

so wonderful that you

deserve all the great

things that your parents

do for you every day?

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

It's because the Lord loves

you that he gives you good

gifts.

All that you have has come

from him.

And at times he takes you out

in the desert and strips you

of all those illusions so that

you can see that you have

nothing.

And that what you get from him

and what you get is from him.

And there are times when he

takes you into the promised

land where you have

everything.

And he says remember me in

this.

It is I who have given you the

power to gain these things.

this of course is what Satan

tried to tempt Jesus with in

the wilderness when Jesus

quotes this passage.

He says you want the kingdom?

Provide for yourself.

Don't depend on God.

You can do it.

You're the son of God.

You can make bread out of a

stone.

Go ahead.

Jesus replies no.

No because I have come to walk

with these people to be a

human and to be dependent on

the Lord.

And I will not I will not usurp

that dependence for my own

pleasure.

Dependence is recognizing that we

cannot manufacture, we cannot

capture, we cannot store, we

cannot reproduce God's goodness in

our lives.

It comes from him and from him

alone.

Thirdly in our character remembering

the Lord produces praise.

Look with me at verse 10.

Again this is a remembering of

them as they've entered into the

promised land and the goodness of

it.

And he says you shall eat and be

full and you shall bless the Lord

for all the good land that he has

given you.

Remembering is not only just

understanding that everything we

have comes from God and seeing

God's faithful hand of provision

but it's also responding to it

where we actively acknowledge what

I have comes from God, has come

from God.

It means we praise God for him, for

these things.

It means that we verbally bless him

and acknowledge that he has been

good.

We announce to our own hearts, to

those around us and to the world,

that this is the God who has provided

for us.

Let me ask you this.

Take stock this morning, today.

The fruit of your lips.

How often do you thank God?

And really do it.

Not in the sort of offhanded, you

know, almost non-theistic way that

sometimes we do in our modern

culture.

Oh, thank God.

But really, wow.

I have a car to drive to work in.

I have an office to work in.

I have a, I have co-workers who I get

to work with and I get to serve.

I have peanut butter and jelly for

lunch.

Thank God for all these things.

Thank God for the ability to wake up

in the morning and walk to work or

walk to class.

Thank God for the ability to think,

to study.

Thank God for the ability to love the

people around you for life and breath.

I wonder, have you stopped thanking God?

Have you stopped praising him?

Have you stopped talking about him?

Maybe you've grown weary.

Maybe your life in the desert has been

so long that it feels hard to find

those things to remember.

Maybe you've allowed grumbling to

conquer your heart.

And so the only thing on your lips is

complaint rather than praise.

But maybe you've lived in the promised

land so long that you've lost sight of

the source.

And you're enjoying the goodness

without acknowledging the giver.

In our age today, in our world today,

maybe you've stopped giving thanks

because it feels awkward.

Because you wonder how the people

around you will respond when you

actually thank God for the goodness

in your life.

When you acknowledge it that way.

And look, we can be weird about that.

Let's not be weird about it.

Can we just acknowledge that?

We can be weird about it.

Like, oh, I have to insert that into

every conversation.

Oh, thank God for that.

But if we have honest hearts of

thanksgiving, it will come out.

It will be the fruit of our lips as we

remember God and see that he is at work

in our lives.

And maybe, as Moses warns us,

you have fallen into the trap of thinking

that the good things you do have

is because you've earned it

and because you deserve it.

But friends, Moses reminds us that

as we remember God,

one of the things that it produces

in our lives is blessing to him.

And blessing here means a verbal

proclamation.

That's why I'm talking about thanking God.

Because blessing God is verbally saying to God,

God, I bless you because these things

have come from you.

And finally,

maybe some of you have been waiting for me

to get here the whole time,

is obedience.

Because if you look through this passage

in verse 1, in verse 2,

verse 6, in verse 11,

and in verse 20,

Moses is saying,

what I'm calling you today to do

is to fear God

and obey his commands.

To do the things that I,

that God has instructed you to do

as his people.

Remember, in the book of Deuteronomy,

God has been,

God is,

Moses is retelling the story of Sinai

as a part of it.

He's saying,

this is how God has given you the law

to instruct you as to

what it means to live as God's people

in the world.

And so part of what he's saying

in chapter 8,

in fact, in some ways,

the greatest rubric is,

if you're going to be my covenant people,

I've given you instructions

that you need to obey

in order to live out this covenant with me.

But what I want you to see

is the brilliance of what Moses does here

and what God does

in helping us see our hearts.

Because it's so easy for us,

isn't it,

for obedience to become drudgery,

for obedience to become

assent with our lips,

or simply going through the motions

of doing what we have been told is right.

And yet, of course,

this has never been obedience

in a biblical sense.

Instead,

what God does is he tells us

that when we remember God,

when we see how good he is,

when we recognize that it is him

who has done all the good things for us

and not ourselves,

when we see in the desert

how he is provided,

when we see in the promised land

his abundant provision,

when he sees the good

that has overflowed into our lives,

and when we praise him

for all of those things,

our hearts then

have the soil

from which obedience

will flow quickly.

Why would I not obey a God

who has been so good to me,

who has been so faithful to me?

And conversely,

when I lift up my heart

in arrogant pride

and I say,

I have done these things,

I have provided for myself,

I have cared for myself,

and in the wilderness,

God had forsaken me

and only led me into trial and hardship.

when I have allowed my heart

to go there,

then,

when God says,

this is how you ought to live,

my first response

in my pride will be,

well says who?

Or,

I will only do that

if it makes sense to me.

I will only do that

if I agree with it.

I will only do that

if it meets my criteria

for goodness.

And so,

in the context

of this exhortation

to keep the commandments

in order to be

covenantally faithful,

part of what God is saying

is,

remember the Lord

because as you remember the Lord,

your heart will be fertile soil

for obedience.

It will flow

out of a heart

that remembers the Lord.

when we forget God's goodness,

when we no longer

not trust Him,

and our loyalty

is attached to ourselves

or something else

that we trust in more than Him,

that is when

we fail to obey.

So, friends,

remember the Lord

and His goodness to you.

And you know,

one of the amazing things is

this is to the Old Testament

believers, right?

Who had remembered

the deliverance from Egypt.

Friends,

we now stand

as the church of God

looking back

on an even greater deliverance.

We can look back

and see how God

has been good to us

by delivering us

from the greatest oppression

ever of our sin

and the curse of sin

which is death

in our lives.

God has sent

His own Son,

Jesus Christ,

to be our rescuer

and our liberator

and our provider.

And so,

we look at it

and we think,

how much more

do we have to remember?

How much more

do we have

to be thankful for?

How much more

can we say,

I have nothing

to commend myself

to God for,

but God has given me

all that I need

in Christ.

I have no righteousness

but Christ has given me

all the righteousness

I need

to be God's son

and daughter.

And that would be

a good thing

for us to remember.

But friends,

the gospel

is even greater news

than that.

Because that would be

a commitment.

If that were true,

then the whole point

of my sermon

would be go home

and remember more

and do better at it.

Please be better

at remembering God.

But friends,

we have a Lord

who loves us so much

and knows our frailty

and knows our weakness.

And friends,

the really good news

of the gospel

is that God

has remembered us

first.

That God

is the one

who initiated

this work.

And in fact,

God sent one

in our place

who came

and remembered

God perfectly.

That's what Jesus is.

Jesus walked

through the wilderness

of life

in a fallen world

having left

the promised land

of life in heaven.

He came

and walked

through those things

and lived

dependently

and humbly

and with praise

on his lips

to God.

In every moment,

he was the one

who fulfilled

the command

to remember

the Lord

perfectly.

And in that,

God has remembered us

and provided for us

a substitute

to do what we

could not do.

And so,

he extends

to us then

grace.

Goodness undeserved,

a Savior

who loves us

this much.

And so,

friends,

yes,

we are to

try to remember

the Lord

better.

That would be

a good thing.

That's a good effort.

But recognize

that the fruit

from that

will be

going to a God

who has already

remembered you,

who has already

provided for you

in every way,

who has already

given you a Savior,

who has been

the perfect

rememberer for you,

the one who

allows you to be

in covenant

with him,

with God,

not because

you obey the laws

and the commands

well,

but because you

recognize that

you can't do that

and you simply

put your trust

and faith

in this one

who has,

in Jesus Christ.

So as we face

the next year,

whether it will be

one of desert

or whether it will be

one of plenty,

let us think of him.

Let us think of this

Jesus.

Let us meditate

upon him.

Let us fix

our hearts on him.

Let us remind

one another

about him

because in doing so,

all of the richness

of a life

of remembering God

and his goodness

to us

will be ours.

Let us pray.

Lord, we thank you

for your faithfulness

to us.

Thank you for Jesus

who is all

that we need.

Lord, we pray,

Lord, that

we might

by your grace

remember him

more and more.

And Lord,

as we remember him

that our hearts

would be filled

with humility,

that we would

recognize our dependence

and we would praise you

that we would be moved

to obedience.

Lord,

we know that

this is a work

that you alone

can do in our hearts

and we ask you

to do it

for your glory

and for our good.

We pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.