Word of Encouragement (05/15/2024)
And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:55-61)
What should be the posture of those who have been brought into covenant fellowship with God? Solomon answers this question in his exhortation to the people of Israel at the end of his benediction: “Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day” (v. 61).
Did God deserve anything less than this? The very fact that they were living in the land of Canaan testified to the greatness of their God. They were once slaves in Egypt, but God delivered them out of their Egyptian bondage by many signs and wonders. The ten plagues with which He afflicted Egypt showed that He was the sovereign Lord of nature and all its elements, not the gods of Egypt. Without wielding a sword or shooting an arrow, the Israelites were able to come out of Egypt after plundering them. God parted the Red Sea to provide for them a way of escape from Pharaoh’s chariots, and He demolished the pursuers by closing up the sea again. God led them through the wilderness for forty years, feeding them with manna from heaven. He drove out the Canaanites before them so His people could possess the promised land and settle in it. He established a kingdom for Israel. When Solomon built a house for Him, He made His existence, power, and presence known by filling the temple with the glory cloud. Thus, He fulfilled His promise to dwell among His people as their God.
God deserves to be worshipped and served by all His creatures simply for the fact that He created them all: they owe their very being to Him. God also preserves the world and all its creatures by His goodness and generosity: “in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17); “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). The sin of not acknowledging and giving thanks to God as the Creator and Provider will be inexcusable on the Day of Judgment. But Israel received special favor as His chosen people—all the things we mentioned earlier and more. Anything less than total commitment and loyalty to God would be unconscionable.
What was true of Israel is much truer for us. For we have received in Jesus Christ a new, unbreakable covenant, which is better than the old covenant, which Israel broke (Jer. 31:31-32). Are you wholly devoted to Him? If not, what are your reasons/excuses? Do you not think that they pale in comparison to the surpassing excellencies of Christ? And if you don’t see it, maybe it is because you do not meditate on His excellencies. Why don’t you take time to meditate on Christ until you taste that He is good?