Week 13

Deuteronomy 16-34 and Psalms 1-5

Ok what in this world Stortz? I was following with the flip flop between the New and Old Testament but now we’re randomly in Psalms? 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Even though I don’t understand- let’s do this. We are done with 9 books out of the 66 total so let’s add Psalms to that list and make it an even 10 that we’ve gone through!

The first thing that really jumps off the page here is in Deuteronomy 16:19 “Do not pervert justice or show partiality.” Not getting into a political debate here; it doesn’t matter which side of the aisle you’re on- if you’re Team Trump, Team Biden, or something else entirely- I think it’s safe to say we can all agree that the world would be so much more peaceful if this one “small” sentence were followed. Can we frame this and send it to DC?! DO NOT PERVERT JUSTICE! DO NOT SHOW PARTIALITY. FOLLOW JUSTICE AND JUSTICE ALONE.

But just like we know that the American political system is a mess, God is acknowledging that the Israelites, His chosen people, are a mess. He has Moses go over all these reminders, everything they are going to get if they just follow the rules, what to do when a rule gets broken, what will happen if the rules get broken, and ends Deuteronomy by basically saying- I already know they are going to mess up. Regardless of the miracles they witnessed, regardless of the blessing of living in the promised land, regardless of everything God has done for these people- God already knows and is acknowledging that He knows- that they are going to get comfortable and start doing their own thing instead of His.

First of all- OUCH! We’ve already talked about how we do that in our own lives. Things get comfortable, so we start slipping away from God; maybe pray a little less, read the Bible a little less, maybe just not giving God ALL the credit He’s due!

But let’s dive just a little deeper for a moment. He already knows and He does it anyway. How amazing of a God we serve. He knows these people are hopeless. He knows they are a mess. He knows them and He knows us. But does He give up? Decide it’s not worth it? Move on and find someone else or a different group of people? No. He still loves them. He still leads them to the promised land. He still gives them the comfort and the blessings.

Turning that around and using that to examine my own life- God loved them, He loves me, He loves you- IN SPITE OF OURSELVES. In spite of our mess ups. In spite of our selfishness. In spite of our hardheadedness. HE LOVES US.

That’s pretty amazing.